Cryptozoology

Update: Woolfie Versus Maine Mystery Beast

As an update to this morning’s posting of “Maddening Mystery of Maine Mutant Muddled”, here is the photograph of the proposed candidate, “Woolfie,” followed by ones of the Turner carcass, when first found. The above photograph is of Woolfie (courtesy of Mark LaFlamme). The bottom three are of the “Maine Mystery Beast” (courtesy of Michelle O’Donnell). Click on image for full-size version Please click on image for full-size version Click on image for full-size version What do you think? Do they match?

Maddening Mystery of Maine Mutant Muddled

The dead dog near the road was photographed by Michelle O’Donnell, Turner, Maine, August 2006. Click on the image to make it bigger. The Maine Mystery Beast is back. Well, at least, the animal discovered next to Route 4, which was incorrectly labeled as the killer of livestock and pets, is. Mark LaFlamme called yesterday, and interviewed me about the claims of a Florida woman that the dog probably killed by a vehicle barreling down Route 4 was her’s. Anything is possible, but the problem with this whole new sidebar to last summer’s sensational story rests in the matter of [...]

Abominable Snowmen Are Hot!

New images and news of Yetis being celebrated are demonstrating a growing renewed interest in the ancient hairy ones of the Himalayan Mountains. Above is a new image of the Yeti by artist RobRoy Menzies (pictured below), who was profiled over the weekend on his local NBC affiliate (click here). Menzies’ illustration is intriguing because he is showing how these creatures can seemingly merge with their environment. No doubt a rare few Abominable Snowmen, who are more often reported to be reddish-brown than white, are lighter colored. Perhaps there’s a winter coat color phrase that is off-white in rare cases, [...]

New Indonesia Coelacanth Caught

Fisherman in Indonesia nets rare, ancient coelacanth fish The China Post 2007/5/22 Manado, Indonesia, Reuters An Indonesian fisherman has caught a coelacanth, an ancient fish once thought to have become extinct at the time of the dinosaurs, a fishery expert said on Monday. Yustinus Lahama and his son caught the fish on Saturday in the sea off North Sulawesi province and kept it at their house for an hour, said Grevo Gerung, a professor at the fisheries faculty at the Sam Ratulangi University. After being told by neighbors it was a rare fish he took it back to the sea [...]

Conservative Media Attacks New Species Discoveries

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a rather conservative newspaper in the United States, for Saturday, May 19, 2007, parrots the UK’s The Economist, reinforcing the challenge to the concept that we are in the midst of a wave of new species being discovered. In the WSJ‘s section “Informed Reader” obviously editorialized thumbnail sketches are given of other newspapers’ recommended articles. Under “Nature,” a new article in The Economist is mentioned. Entitled “Species Inflation May Infect Over-Eager Conservationists,” (I was unable to upload The Economist article itself), the WSJ notes that various scientists are overzealously boosting the conversation of seemingly rare [...]

Gorilla Escapes

A 400-pound gorilla escaped from his enclosure and ran amok in a Rotterdam zoo in Netherlands, on Friday, May 18, 2007, biting one woman, dragging her around, and causing panic among dozens of visitors before he was finally subdued, officials and a witness said. The Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo was evacuated and the 11-year-old gorilla, named Bokito, was eventually captured in a restaurant within the park, police spokeswoman Yvette de Rave said. Nature will find a way. For more on this story, click here.