Cryptozoology for Real?

Bravo to the Institute of Zoology, which is a division of the Zoological Society of London, for bringing up topic of Cryptozoology.
Click here for info
Can't wait to hear how this event goes...

Bigfoot...

In popular culture, there is quite possibly no other larger cryptid than Bigfoot. The image of a large, bipedal, hairy creature is on countless t-shirts, toys, beef jerky, beer, and even bicycles. Numerous toys are in the likeness of Sasquatch, some of which are remote controlled. Almost a day does not go by without seeing the image of Bigfoot. Pretty impressive for an animal that some people do not even believe exists. Countless books have been written on this creature, some great, some not so great, but this is a very broad topic, that you could dedicate an entire blog to. I'm sure someone has done that already. So to make things a little easier, I will stick to Bigfoot sightings that have happened only in Ohio.

The history of Bigfoot in Ohio goes back to the late 1800s. The very first sighting was in Gallia county, near the town of Galliapolis. In January of 1869, a man and his daughter were traveling by carriage when a "wild man" covered in hair and gigantic in height attacked the father by grabbing him and throwing him to the ground. After a drawn out struggle, the daughter picked up a rock and hit the creature in the head. This in turn, did not startle the animal, just made it stand up and walk away back into the woods.

Some of the more recent Bigfoot sightings have been all over the state, especially in the northeastern, and also southeastern unpopulated areas. In the northeastern areas, particularly around the Akron area, Bigfoot has been dubbed the Grassman. The area that brings the most attention is the so called, "Bigfoot Triangle," which is a larger, unpopulated area around the Coshocton/Amish country area. In this triangle, is Salt Fork State Park, which hosts the Ohio Bigfoot Conference every year. This state park, in Guernsey County, has had numerous sightings since the mid 1990s. Some of the other interesting sightings/possible encounters from around Ohio:

-Summit County, 11/10: Man hear vocalization similar to this.

-Fairfield County, 10/10: Clear Creek Metro Park. Photo session interrupted by something throwing rocks into the lake. Photographer takes many shots in the area, getting a couple that show some promise.

-Clermont County, 6/09: East fork State Park. Two fisherman hear large rocks being thrown into the lake, and loud howling that neither could identify.

-Ross County, 12/02: A young hunter encounter a large, hairy biped near Bainbridge while hunting. Man placed weapon on the ground to show animal that he meant no harm, creature ran past the young man, passing just 25 yards from him.

These are just the tip of the iceberg of Bigfoot encounters here in the Buckeye state. Hopefully this year I can get out and make some trips to some of these areas to investigate for myself. It should be noted, that the famous cryptozoologist Loren Coleman is his book "Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America" placed Ohio in the top 20 best places to see Bigfoot, especially in the Tuscarawas-Coshocton counties. Of all the places in North America, Ohio in the top twenty? Pretty impressive if you ask me. This summer I also plan on making the trip up to Newcomerstown to the annual Ohio Bigfoot Conference, hope to see you there! Now off to drink a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot!

Check out the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization if you have not already, to start your own research.

Scientists Solve Chupacabra Mystery - Louisville News Story - WLKY Louisville

Scientists Solve Chupacabra Mystery - Louisville News Story - WLKY Louisville

Chupacabra in Kentucky???

Normally, I do not get too excited about the local news. Normally, it is just stories that will either make you angry, or depressed. Today however, had a different effect.

Thanks to a couple friends, I was tipped off to this story. Seems like a man in Kentucky has shot and killed what he believes to be a Chupacabra. Since I have not done an official write up on the "Goat Sucker", here is a quick run down.

The Chupacabra has been in popular culture since around 1995. Historically, they are normally spotted in Mexico, South and Southwestern United States, and Puerto Rico. The name Chupacabra comes from the Spanish language, meaning chupar "to suck" and cabra "goat." Basically, this animal bites its prey, leaving only a couple puncture wounds, and draining all of the blood out of the animal. Lots of sightings have been reported, but mostly they end up being coyotes with a bad case of mange.

That brings us to the new case. When I first read about this animal, the first thing that I did was look up where it was located. From where I am located, the area is only around two and a half hours away, so I started to plan my trip. After doing a little more digging, I decided that a trip would not be necessary. Lots of photos of the creature have been taken, and to me it appears that it is just a fox or small coyote with a case of mange. It does not appear to be anything out of the ordinary. Early next week, a biologist from the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife department will be examining the animal, so I am sure this will be determined to not be a Chupacabra. It is a shame, but at the same time, it is great that something like this breaks up the monotony of the nightly news, and brings creatures like this into the public eye.

Hopefully in the near future, we can find a true specimen of one of these amazing animals. Never stop searching, never stop believing.

Fox News
WLWT

Happy Holidays...

Have a safe and happy holiday this year! Look for big things from the CCzS this coming year!

Dover Demon...

Dover Massachusetts, probably not the first place you would think of when you hear the word cryptozoology. You might think of Scotland, or Walnut Creek California, or even Loveland Ohio, but Massachusetts? One of the classic cryptozoology cases comes to us from 1977, in the town of Dover.

In the spring of 1977, three teenagers were taking a joyride when the headlights of their car illuminated something in the road. At first glance, the driver thought it was a dog or a cat. Once they were a little closer, they realized that it was not anything that they had ever seen before. The creature was not very large, around three feet tall, hairless, long spindly arms and legs, and a huge, almost watermelon shape to its head. It also had no visible mouth, nose or ears, only bright orange eyes. The creature scattered away from the road to not be seen again. By these three anyway.

Around an hour later on the same night, two other teenagers were walking down the same road. They described seeing the exact same type creature, this time it crossed in front of them, ran down into a gully, climbed up the other side and watched the two teenagers from a distance. These two had no previous knowledge of the earlier incident.

The next evening, two other teenagers driving in the same area spotted the same creature. The only difference in their description was that it had glowing green eyes instead of orange from the original description. Everything else was described as all of the other accounts.

So what could all of this mean? Was this an alien? An escaped hairless monkey? A hoax from area teenagers to liven up their town? Or was this something genuine, something so real that one of the teenagers drew out a sketch of what he had seen, and wrote "I swear on a stack of bibles this is what I saw."

If you go back into history, way back in to Native American times, you normally find some similarities. The tribes of Eastern Canada, specifically the Cree, had a creature they called the Mannegishi. They described the Mannegishi as short, hairless, lanky creature with no mouth, nose or ears, and an excessively large head. The exact same description as the ones from the 1970s. For the Cree Indians, these creatures were tricksters, known for flipping over their canoes, and sending their people into the rapids. Another tribe, the Iroquois, had a similar creature called the Gahonga.

Once again, Native American legends are explaining phenomenon that we see in today's world.

Thunderbirds...

Imagine a large bird, for example, an Andean Condor. It has the largest wingspan out of any living bird on the planet, around 10.5ft at its max. That's pretty large. Now think bigger. That is where the thunderbird comes in. It was a creature that struck fear in many Native American tribes all over the world. Tribes believed that when this bird flapped its wings, it created thunder. Lightning would flash from it's eyes. They also have the knack of carrying away livestock, and sometimes even humans.

The above picture is from a rock painting near Alton, Illinois. This is a newer version of the painting, based off of much older sketches, but a cliff painting was originally here in this same location from the local Native American tribe. This was a depiction of the Piasa, the "Bird that devours man." Local legend says that this large animal lived in the caves of the area, and terrorized the local villages. This just sounds like Native American legend, but in 1977, it started to become more real.

North of Alton Il, by car around 2 hours, is the small town of Lawndale Il. One summer day in 1977 a boy was playing in his back yard when his mother noticed two large birds in the sky. One of the birds swooped down, grabbed her son, and started to fly off with him. In her frightened moment, she started to scream, which startled the bird, and it dropped her son. Many people witnessed the event, and many sightings happened in the area during the 1970s.

Sightings like this are not that uncommon throughout history. From Illinois to Alaska, down to Texas, and many other places in the world. Some people were not as lucky as the boy from Lawndale. In Canada, in 1886, the Manitoba Daily Press reported a large bird had devoured the brain of a two year old, by using it's beak to open the child's skull. In 1924, in South Africa, a child's remains were found with puncture wounds from what they estimated to be a 14cm long talon. The common theme for thunderbirds is to prey upon smaller children, and eat their internal organs. Looks like the child from Illinois lucked out. In 1890, the Tombstone Epigraph reported two cowboys shot and killed a thunderbird. This is the only recent account in history of man killing a thunderbird. The wingspan of the animal was claimed to be 160ft. The animal was pinned to a local barn for a photo op, which of course, no photos seem to remain.

These creatures are not just from North America, but are found in folklore from all over the world. Some of the more popular names: The Demaj of Persia, Imgig of Mesopotamia, Anka of Arabia, Rukh of Madagascar, Vekher of Russia, Simurgh and Garunda of Asia, and the Norse called it the Hraesvalg. Marco Polo had an account of Thunderbirds, the native people of Madagascar told him great stories of the Rukh, which had the ability to carry off elephants with it's wingspan of 50ft.

So whether this is a misplaced Andean Condor, a living fossil like a Terratorn or Pterodactyl, people are seeing something all over the world that resembles a large, winged creature. Since birds are the most accessible, and easiest observed animal in the world, I would imagine that one of these will be one of the first "new" discoveries in the natural world. Especially a bird with the wingspan anywhere from 50-160ft!