Cryptozoology

Shadows of Existence

I posted the cover on July 21, 2006, and gave the book an honorable mention on December 12, 2006. Let me share some more thoughts I have about Matthew Bille’s Shadows of Existence. Starting with the beautiful cover by William Rebsamen, there is a hint that this book contains material you don’t find in most of the run-of-the-mill cryptozoology books. I think that is the strength of Bille’s books. He takes somewhat obscure cryptids, and gives them a platform. His books are historically significant because he does an excellent job in overviewing discoveries. What bothers me about this book is [...]

Not Palm Civet But Flying Squirrel, Scientists Say

Perhaps I got it wrong? “New” Borneo Animal “Discovered” Back on December 5, 2005, I shared the news that apparently a new red-furred animal larger than a domestic cat had reportedly been discovered on Borneo, Indonesia. On December 5, 2005, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) announced that they had discovered the first new carnivore to be found in the region since the Tonkin otter-civet emerged in Vietnam in 1930. Also, the WWF said it would be the first new mammal to be specifically found on the island of Borneo since the Borneo ferret-badger in 1895. The new carnivore [...]

Indian Rhinos in Nepal Vanish

On January 3, 2007, Scientific American shared the news that a group of rare, re-located Indian (Great One-horned) rhinocercos have disappeared. It was announced in Kathmandu that they have mysteriously vanished from a nature reserve in southwest Nepal. The article by Gopal Sharma continues: Authorities introduced 72 rhinos, also known as the Indian rhinoceros, in the Babai Valley, 320 km (200 miles) southwest of Kathmandu, as part of a conservation drive that started in 1984. “We have records showing 23 rhinos had died due to poaching or other causes. The rest are missing,” Laxmi Prasad Manandhar, a senior official at [...]

Animal X Researcher Dies

One of the “Animal X” staff members died in 2006, but I am lacking a specific date on which the death occurred. The program’s Tony White, 54, died an untimely death, from a massive heart attack in Australia. He was the show’s senior researcher and died during the production of “Animal X: Natural Mystery Unit.” White had also been involved in the endangered species series “Before It’s Too Late” and the general animal series, “Animal Allies.” He furthermore had a weekly radio show in the UK and some years ago he wrote a four-part documentary series for BBC Radio on [...]

Wunderkammer

Musei Wormiani Historia, the frontispiece from the Museum Wormianum depicting Ole Worm’s 17th Century cabinet of curiosities. Boing Boing co-editor and Cryptomundo correspondent David Pescovitz wrote a wonderful piece speaking of the chambers of wonders, the cabinets of curiosities, to wit, der Wunderkammer, which was published on New Year’s Day. As Xeni Jardin notes, his response was to the question: “What are you optimistic about?” David’s essay’s wonder-filled title is “We’re Recognizing That the World Is a Wunderkammer“, and some extracts from his thoughts spell out what I consider happening at Cryptomundo, The Anomalist, Boing Boing, and similar websites. David [...]

Southern Fried Bigfoot

Coming to a DVD, hopefully during 2007, Sean Whitley’s documentary, Southern Fried Bigfoot will showcase his several years journey collecting footage about a distinct type of unknown hairy hominoids. Whitley wanted to clarify some recent comments found in a press interview on Chester Moore noted on Cryptomundo, in which a reader might get the idea that Moore was the individual "completing" this film. Sean Whitley, writer/director of Southern Fried Bigfoot (SFB), wishes to share the following…: To set the record straight about Southern Fried Bigfoot for Cryptomundo: Chester Moore, like Craig Woolheater and Loren Coleman, has been a part of [...]

Footprints

This year is starting off with a bang regarding the Skunk Ape. First, I wondered aloud if it was time to ponder the Myakka case anew (please note, not "Port Myakka" as given below), and now this (first published overnight with a different headline, since updated here, as it appears in today’s paper): January 02, 2007 Miami Herald "Kids armed with cameras chase after the Skunk Ape" by Curtis Morgan The scene: the Everglades, mysterious in the darkness. Four college kids, armed only with a night-vision camera, trudge through palmetto thicket, guided by a snake-booted man who claims to have [...]

Maine Mutant #6 in 2006

An automobile travels the sparsely used Route 4 through the Turner, Maine, area, little knowing what it will meet around the next corner. It wasn’t a Stephen King novel, but a real-life incident that captured the media, first in Maine, then more globally last summer, into early fall. Lewiston, Maine’s Sun Journal published their 2006 year-in-review on the first day of the new year. Route 4′s “Mystery Animal” (a/k/a “Maine Mutant”) was on their list. Monday, January 1, 2007 Top stories of 2006 Tragedies dominated the tri-county news in 2006, with young people dying in car accidents, plane crashes, the [...]