I have been in New York City for two days, but I have left various items to be posted in my absence, as you have been seeing. I could not be away without, at least, leaving an intellectual contribution to be posted at the start time of my talk at the American Museum of Natural History. For those looking for an extremely thoughtful discussion of the history of cryptozoology, you may download the following paper here: Cryptozoology in the Medieval and Modern Worlds.
2007’s Top Five Melanistic Deer Hot Spots
2007′s Top Five Melanistic Deer Hot Spots in America by Loren Coleman, cryptozoologist and coauthor of cryptozoological field guides. In the tradition of my list of the top places to find melanistic squirrels in 2006, here’s a list of the top locations to see black deer in 2007. 1. Texas Hill Country, Central Texas. It has been said that the eastern edge of Texas’ Edwards Plateau region and adjacent areas of the Blackland Prairie region are the epicenter of the world’s population of melanistic white-tailed deer, for reasons not well understood by zoologists. In going over the scientific literature, Dr. [...]
The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories for 2007
The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories for 2007 by Loren Coleman, Cryptozoologist and Author, Mysterious America, Cryptozoology A to Z, and other books. From Bigfoot to Yeren, and from dwarf killer whales to dwarf manatees, it was quite a year. Welcome to this year’s top stories in cryptozoology. It wasn’t heaven during 2007 for the cryptids, but instead seemed to have been a year of reflection, mistakes, fakes, and a few new finds. In the 1940s, the Scottish-born American zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson (photo with lemur) began using a word he coined, “cryptozoology,” to describe a new discipline of science that [...]
Ponik Needs Your Love
In The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep (NY: Tarcher/Penguin, 2003), I wrote that the aquatic cryptids seen in Lac Pohénégamook are “supposedly” some of “the ugliest-headed monsters around.” But “ugly” does not translate into disrespect or unloved in my book, and perhaps it is time to send the Poniks a little more love than usual. For centuries people in Scotland have talked about a monster lurking in Loch Ness, called “Nessy.” It turns out, just a few hours away from Bangor there is talk of a similar creature named “Ponik.” Natives [...]
Update Vote Count: “Best Cryptozoologist”
Thank you for enjoying yourself and voting for the “Best Cryptozoologist.” We have now broken all records set in 2006, thanks to Cryptomundians. As you may recall, Paul Kimball opened his “2007 Zorgy Awards” for voting, based on the nominations he had received, a few days ago. He included a new category for voting this year (9th down on his list): “Best Cryptzoologist.” Here’s an update: Kimball reports that the folks from Cryptomundo are “rocking the vote” in his tallies. Of all the polls, as of mid-November, the “cryptozoologist” one is getting the most votes. The others have barely brought [...]
First Sea Serpent Sighting: A Detective Story
Sargon II In the hot-off-the-press issue of The Anomalist 13, historical cryptozoologist Ulrich Magin examines, as he concisely says in the title of his article, “Sargon II’s Sea Serpent Sighting: The First Sighting in Cryptozoology?” I’ve always enjoyed Magin’s high-quality bibliographical and original source research, and this article does not disappoint. Magin gives the essence of his pursuit in his opening: The Assyrian King Sargon had the first ever sighting of a sea serpent. Bernard Heuvelmans, in his In the Wake of the Sea-Serpents, writes: “Thus we learn that Sargon II, who reigned in Assyria from 722 to 705 B.C., [...]
Africa’s Art Deco Dino: Njago Gunda
Syracuse Herald, May 15, 1921 In 1920, the Smithsonian Institution sent a 32-person expedition to Africa, which found unexplained tracks along the riverbank and heard mysterious “roars.” See the “Dinosauria” chapter of my field guide for more details. One hundred years ago, people would grab their weekend newspapers and hurry to find the Sunday supplements. There they might discover new adventures of explorers in deepest darkest Africa, follow the treks of famed safari leaders, and learn of new animals being found in the jungles. Take a moment today, reach back to that feeling, understand the world is not fully explored, [...]
Posse Pursues Penn Ape
Corry, PA, Sept. 20. – (AP) – Fears of a “furry thing resembling an ape” subsided today in this Erie county community after a posse of farmers failed to locate the mysterious animal in a 48-hour search. The “thing” popped up Sunday [September 18] at the edge of a woods three miles south of Corry and sent Rose Marie Clabbatz, 13, and two smaller children of Howard Clabbatz, scurrying across the fields to their father. Clabbatz listened to their breathless story about an animal that “started chasing us” and organized a hunting party of 50 persons, many with guns. Yesterday [...]
Kentucky’s White Vampire
October 7 – An unknown animal is killing the dogs near Danville, Ky., by cutting a hole in the throat and sucking the blood out of the body. It is said to be an immense white animal, unlike anything ever before seen. It is of the greyhound pattern, but larger in every way, being about four feet high and six long.A Ferocious Beast, Waterloo [Iowa] Courier, October 7, 1891. Thanks for this historical item from Jerome Clark.
Bigfoot Film: Happy 40th Anniversary
Once upon a time there were Sasquatch sightings and no film of a Bigfoot in the bush. Those were the early days, before October 20, 1967, when only a few hunters, seekers, searchers, researchers and writers across North America compared notes via a thing called the postal service. Ideas about Bigfoot and Sasquatch were based on artist drawings and sighting descriptions, folklore and native art, and footprints and fecal droppings. In the Dark Time, before computers, email, the internet and stabilization software, the involved researchers, field workers, and authors, all one dozen or so of us, would send thermofax copies [...]
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