Swamp Monsters

Maine’s Mystery Beast Banner

The Maine Mystery Beast banner remains safely in the Pine Tree State! Rogier van Bakel, his wife Debbie, and their two delightful daughters (one shown above) came by over this Christmas weekend to drop off the unique Paul Szauter sideshow art, entitled the Maine’s Mystery Beast banner. Van Bakel is a well-traveled, well-spoken journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wired, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, and other publications. We had a good talk about all matters of cryptozoology and Forteana, and I showed them some of the items around my in-house museum. Of [...]

The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories of 2006

The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories of 2006 by Loren Coleman, Cryptozoology A to Z 1. Darlings of Cryptozoology Videotaped: Coelacanth and Giant Squid 2. Lost Worlds Revealed 3. New European Mammal and Others Discovered 4. Discoveries Debated: Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Kouprey 5. Africa Explored: Mokele-mbembe Quest, Gambia Expedition, and SEALs’ Secret Mission 6. Lake Monsters Photographed: Champ and Nahuelito 7. Canid Capered: Maine Mutant, Montana Creature, and Nebraska Cryptid 8. Cryptids Televised: Mothman, Monsters, and More 9. Thylacine Remembered: Steve Irwin’s Search, New Photo, and National Thylacine Day 10. Cryptozoology and Art Exhibited: A First ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. Darlings of Cryptozoology [...]

Who Coined “Skunk Ape”?

Just as I was curious about who coined “blobsquatch,” I’ve been wondering if there’s a clear history to who invented another term in our field. Who coined the phrase “Skunk Ape”? If you work your way over to the “Skunk Ape” entry at Wikipedia, you will find a simple answer that someone added there to that question. It is presented, as a fact, under the first subsection entitled simply Name. The following single sentence is given: The term “skunk-ape” was coined by David Shealy who heads the Skunk-Ape Research Headquarters in Ochopee, Florida. I’ve known the term “Skunk Ape” has [...]

Three-Toes Revisited

St. Petersburg Times: Tony Signorini said that in 1946 or 1947 his boss saw a picture of dinosaur tracks in a National Geographic and said, "You know, we could have fun with this." Ted McLaren, St. Petersburg Times: Signorini’s tracks, using these 30-pound molds, created a sensation. A zoologist speculated they were left by a giant penguin. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Tony Signorini told the media in 1988 that it was all a hoax, and then recycled it as “news” again last summer. (I refused to post it here as “news” then for that reason.) The zoologist was Ivan T. Sanderson, and he [...]

Ozark Howler: Faux Cryptozoologie

During the last decade, several attempts have occurred to promote the "Ozark Howler" as a real cryptid. After the first round of efforts, I gathered the specifics of the story, discovered the identity of the original hoaxer, and submitted the overview of what happened in a draft manuscript written with Jerome Clark in 1998. The draft would eventually become a published book. A photograph of a real howler, the black howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) of South America. Photographer Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian. The editors at Simon and Schuster, deciding to delete about 25% of the content of the draft mostly due [...]