Museums

Cryptotaxidermia Wurzeltodensis

One of the prize pieces of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists. Suzanne Gerber (above). Suzanne Gerber has collected an incredible gallery of pieces in her “long-awaited Taxidermy, Cryptozoology & Animal Curiosa Überpost – dedicated to a very precious and talented friend” of hers: “The lovely Jessica Joslin.” Open the magnificent door to her Taxidermia Wurzeltodensis and visit her large online collection of cryptotaxidermy and more. By the way, I was watching Showtime’s early Dexter episodes two weeks ago, and was surprised to hear and see that one of the serial killer suspects was a practicing “cryptotaxidermist.” (I wonder the [...]

Prince Arthur’s Feejee Mermaid

Gordon Rutter, a professional botanist and well-known collector of Fortean artifacts, wrote me: “I was in London last week and whilst in the British Museum I stumbled across a rather fine Feejee mermaid which I did not know they had!” Gordon shares the above photograph with Cryptomundo, of what he found. Gordon decided to write the museum and discover more about what was being exhibited: From: Gordon Rutter Sent: Sun 29/07/2007 19:36 To: Collection Enquiries Subject: Collection Request Dear Sir On a recent visit to the museum I chanced upon a Mermaid exhibit in the George II library. There was [...]

Real Or Not, Coleman Frog Lives On

Nine-year-old Noah Blanchard looks upon the stuffed Coleman frog. Rob Blanchard/CanWest News Service.   The Coleman Frog was so-called because of its owner, Fred Coleman. The huge specimen is being mentioned again as a tourist attraction to view, if you happen to be visiting Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Tell me, would you want this artifact in your local museum? At 19 kilograms, the Coleman frog is a monster. Supposedly nurtured to its humongous size on a diet of whey and whisky in the 1800s, the stuffed beast occupies a place of honour in Fredericton’s York-Sunbury Museum, where it is a [...]

TAPS ParaMagazine On The Move

TAPS ParaMagazine moved into new headquarters in Massachusetts, and the GateHouse News Service highlighted the relocation. The following are parts of that story, plus various sample cover pages from my recent “CryptoCorner” columns and feature articles. Note, the TAPS folks are also thinking about opening a museum in the future. Fall River- The slithery, emerald green ‘‘lady alien’’ android had a parrot on her shoulder and a purple sign in her hand that read: ‘‘Welcome to TAPS ParaMagazine. You are safe here.’’ The investigators and writers of TAPS, with more than 20 monthly issues on the paranormal in the can, [...]

First Zanzibar Coelacanth Caught

Small coelacanth from Tanzania caught in February 2007; it is not the one discussed below. Photo courtesy dinofish. The known range of the coelacanth is expanded with this new discovery, and hope remains high that the “living fossil” fish may exist in some surprising locations around the world. Zanzibar, Tanzania – Fishermen have caught a rare and endangered fish, the coelacanth, off the coast of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar, a researcher said on Monday [July 16, 2007]. The find makes Zanzibar the third place in Tanzania where fishermen have caught the coelacanth, a heavy-bodied, many-finned fish with a [...]