ANIMAL FORTEANA


In the beginning of things men were animals and animals men. ~ Algonquin saying

"For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much — the wheel, New York, wars and so on — whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons." ~ The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Wood Eating Catfish

Wood eating catfish. An armored wood eating catfish. Really. Read about it on Cryptomundo.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Lon Strickler on The Bigfoot Paradox

I'm a contributor to The C-Influence blog, along with Bruce Duensing, Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters, Bruceleeeowe, Eric Ouellet, J.S. Flower,John Carlson, Lesley Gunter, and Rick Phillips. The idea of the blog is to have "seed posts," -- an article by a contributor --  about esoteric subjects that generates discussion and responses by other blog members. Pretty neat, and different, idea!

Currently, Lon has a great post about paranormal Bigfoot: Visit the blog, read Lon's excellent post, and the equally interesting responses by blog contributors, including me :)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Octopus Confessional: Horrific "Corkscrew" Deaths of Seals

Octopus Confessional: Horrific "Corkscrew" Deaths of Seals: "This is a tragic mystery; unsolved 'corkscrew' deaths of seals in the waters off Canada and Scotland. Scientists are working hard to discove..."

Friday, August 20, 2010

Two Foot Long Rats Found

Two 'giant rats' found in East Midlands factory' I assume that's counting the tail within the two foot measurement. Funnily enough, I was thinking about giant mutant rats for some reason today. That's how my mind works: random, geeky and esoteric.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Toad Invasion in Washington

"Millions" of toads are making their way across roads and other hazards in Washington state:
CHIMACUM, Wash. - Anderson Lake was known, at least until now, for its trout and for the toxic blue-green algae that spurred public health officials to close the lake but leave the state park around it open.

For the next several days, however, the lake near Chimacum will be noticed instead for its streams of dime-sized Western toads, first noticed last week.

They're newly metamorphosed ex-tadpoles, doing their amphibious thing and scrambling across the land around the lake - in impressive numbers.
"I was just out there yesterday, and saw a million of them heading toward the woods," state park ranger Mike Zimmerman said Friday afternoon. "There are no more polliwogs," he added.

Go here for rest of story.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Elk in the City

And I was just over there in that area earlier today! Missed it; more odd animal tales.
"Randy Pape Beltline" (recently changed the name from I-5 for one of Eugene's rich citizens. . .) is the freeway!  Fortunately, sounds like the elk is all right.

Elk runs through north Eugene neighborhood before crossing Beltline

By Jack Moran

The Register-Guard

Posted to Web: Tuesday, Aug 10, 2010 02:48PM

A bull elk ran through a Santa Clara neighborhood and ran across Randy Pape Beltline this afternoon, prompting a police search for the animal.

The elk reportedly swam to an island on the Willamette River, but later left it. Police at the scene said the animal was last seen in thick vegetation north of the river.

Read more in Wednesday’s Register-Guard.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Animal Planet's The Uprising: Animals and Humans

Just discovered Animal Planet's The Uprising, narrated by Richard Belzer, about animals becoming aggressive and more prevelant in human habitats. Interesting that this realm of animal behavior -- aggressiveness, increased presence, odd behaviors, etc. -- in "human terrority" has become the focus for a two hour program. It's not surprising Belzer would be the host; he's been a long time fan of the esoteric, as his book UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to be Crazy to Believe shows. (Specifically, I'm watching the segment on coyotes in Chicago.)


Related to this theme of animals "going mad," becoming more aggressive, plentiful, and behaving in anomalous ways is Arthur Machen's story The Terror, George Orwell's Animal Farm; and many more examples can be found. Those were written long ago; before stories of anomalous animal behavior became part of the daily news stream of course, but we can see once again an example of art as a predictor, or mirror, reflecting realities.

I've been fascinated by stories of strange animal behavior for fifteen years or so, collecting newspaper articles, etc. not sure why I was doing so, just sensing that it was important.