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

Saturday, November 30, 2013

From EsoterX: Bears, Ainu and more

A blog I recently discovered has become of my favorite blogs: EsoterX. Most recent entry is about bears, and the importance of being mindful. Oh, there's a lot of history and mythology in there as well. Bear Necessities: Ursine Origins of the Menominee, Ainu, and Arcadians.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Animals Attacking Animals

Two recent stories about animal attacking animals: one, a golden eagle attacking, and killing, a deer in Russia, and the other, from Brazil, of a jaguar attacking a crocodile. Both items contain images; game cam photos of the eagle attack and video of the jaguar. Why do we want to see these, and why are stories like this considered important?

Notice I am not linking to the stories; easy enough to find on Google if you have the need to watch one animal killing another. 


Sunday, September 8, 2013

William Henry's Revelations | William Describes a Bizarre Horror Show at a UFO Conference | unknowncountry

It's events like the following that make me glad I'm often out of the loop UFO Land; ennui, work, personal life often keep me from really wallowing. But here's something that happened that isn't news to most in UFO Land. Definitely not the first time this has been pointed out, but there seems to be something inherent in Fortean and UFO research that drives many a researcher/witness/investigator bat shit crazy.
William Henry's Revelations | William Describes a Bizarre Horror Show at a UFO Conference | unknowncountry: William Henry tells a horrifying story of imprisonment of the audience at the Contact in the Desert Conference August 9--11. He says that David Wilcock came with a bodyguard, and that Steven Greer arrived with a whole group of bodyguards, who proceeded to lock the doors and allow nobody in our out during his presentation. If this happened, it was illegal, and we urge all UFO conference attendees to demand that they not be imprisoned during any performance for any reason.

DRUNK WASPS: Just When You Thought They Couldn't Get Worse: Huffington Post

Killer bees, now drunken wasps. Huffington Post reports:
DRUNK WASPS: Just When You Thought They Couldn't Get Worse: Humanity's worst fear has been realized: wasps are getting drunk. And they're not fun drunks, either.

The British Red Cross is warning citizens of a record number of wasps in the UK that are out of a job. That is, their queens are fully supplied with nectar, leaving worker wasps to do nothing but laze around and drink fermenting fruit.

The Independent reported that as winter approaches, wasps are becoming bolder and angrier as they get older. And now these retirees are getting wasted and stinging with more frequency.

Here Be Dragons: The Evolution of Sea Monsters on Medieval Maps - Yahoo! News

I want this one!
Here Be Dragons: The Evolution of Sea Monsters on Medieval Maps - Yahoo! News: WASHINGTON — The iconic sea serpents, mermaids and other mythical creatures found on world maps from medieval and Renaissance times splash to life on the pages of a new book.

Chet Van Duzer's "Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps" (British Library, 2013) charts the evolution of the mythical creatures that adorned atlases from the 10th century through the 17th century. Cartographers used the beastly art to illustrate mysterious, unexplored regions of the globe and the possible dangers of seafaring.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Elephants take revenge on village after herd member is struck by train - Yahoo! News

Elephants take revenge on village after herd member is struck by train - Yahoo! News: About 15 elephants appear to be mourning the loss of one of their own and have returned to the site of the incident, the Times of India said. The elephants have refused to move the last several days, causing train disruptions.

Strange Creatures, UFOs & Disclosure - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Love tonight's topic:Strange Creatures, UFOs & Disclosure - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Friday, August 2, 2013

Woman describes raccoon attack in Central Park

Woman describes raccoon attack in Central Park - Yahoo! News

Giant Bug Zappers, Daisy the Goat, and Devil Dog Stew: Mountain Monsters

     Seriously. The mountain men monster hunters of Destination America's Mountain Monsters show built a giant 'bug zapper' trap to capture Mothman. Then they set up lit torches along a path -- all this in the woods -- to lure Mothman to the trap. A bit later, the torches were found re-lit, burning unattended. Why, Mothman must have done it! Because, the mountain monster hunters insisted, those torches were put out!
     Three things disturb me about shows like this. One, the arrogance of the "investigators." Armed, tromping around in habitats, disturbing creatures just for the hell of it. They'd tell you, no doubt, that it's no mere joy ride, they are indeed chasing after mysterious -- and often dangerous -- creatures, which is very important business. The assumption however seems to be these mysterious creatures are inherently evil and deserve to be trapped, harassed, placed in captivity, and possibly killed.
     Two, in their lust for chasing down non-human beings, they are generally disrespectful of the environment. It's their personal monster playground. Hell, they almost set the place on fire in the Mothman episode.  Building giant traps and luring would be monsters -- simply ridiculous. I assume they get permission from various authorities; Fish and Game, etc. before constructing their contraptions. (The website has a disclaimer about not attempting to build traps yourself, and getting permission from authorities.)

Ulisse Aldrovandi,  Italian illustration.

     Exploiting animals for para-tainment; like Daisy, the poor goat used as bait. Now, Daisy, we were constantly assured, was not going to be harmed. But imagine Daisy's freaked out mind, and how can we be sure that something unpredictable could happen? Can these armed mountain monster hunters move fast enough to protect Daisy from a fast moving predator -- "monster" or not?


     Food porn is another aspect of these kinds of shows.  On the Mountain Monster section of Destination America website, there is a recipe for 'Devil Dog Stew':
'Ever wonder what a Wampus Beast tastes like? How about the Ohio Grassman? All this hunting for fearsome creatures on Mountain Monsters got us wondering...what would you do with a trapped mountain monster? They might be kinda tasty, no? We decided to find out and it turns out, mountain monsters make delectable meals. Here is a recipe for one such creature.'
     Of course I don't believe real devil dog meat -- or, hopefully, any kind of dog -- is the main ingredient. The point here is the appeal to the gratuitous, the titillation.

Mothra

     Three, the fact that these shows are popular is disturbing.  Mountain Monsters isn't the only program that relies on entertainment, and ignores facts and data. For example: Mothman is not a giant moth with evil intent, akin to a malevolent version of Mothra, as the producers and actors in Mountain Men would have us believe. When it comes to the unexplained, including Mothman, producers have their own agendas. They then set out to find willing participants who will partake in their made-up monster scenarios.
     Not to say that shows exploring UFOs, cryptids and other anomalous topics can't be, or shouldn't be, entertaining.  With all programming, not matter the topic, producers have their agenda, and editing is brutal. But some do attempt to present a deeper look into whatever phenomena is being explored. Shows like Mountain Monsters are gratuitous and are not concerned at all with authentic cryptid research.


Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Nick Redfern: Lair of the Beasts: The Strangest Monsters of All - Mania.com

Lair of the Beasts: The Strangest Monsters of All - Mania.com: “What is the weirdest monster that people have reported?” That was the question put to me on a radio show earlier this week, while I was promoting my latest book, Monster Files. It’s a good question, since there is said to be a wide range of bizarre critters out there! But, for me at least, there are a handful of creatures that, in the high-strangeness stakes, beat all the rest. Let’s take a look at them. ~ Nick Redfern

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Doggie-chupie in Texas

In Texas, a recent sighting of a chupacabra:SPOTTED: Chupacabra sighting in San Antonio city limits on Bitters | kens5.com San Antonio Except, of course, this isn't a real chupacabra, it is Chupacabra, Version 2. The canine variety; those mange ridden, coyote looking animals (often shot dead) that, for intriguing folkloric reasons, have come to be called "chupacabra." Linked to item includes video clip.

SAN ANTONIO -- Margaux Huckabay said her brother spotted the legendary chupacabra on Bitters.

"At first he thought it was a coyote," said Huckabay. "It definitely looks weird."

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Animal-Human Chimera Embryo Experiments To Be Given ‘OK’ By Regulatory Panel - :

Wonder if Monsanto will get in on this. Are we scared yet?
Animal-Human Chimera Embryo Experiments To Be Given ‘OK’ By Regulatory Panel - :: A series for experiments in animal-human bio-engineering proposed by a team of Japanese researchers has cleared its first regulatory hurdles, news sources inside Japan reported Tuesday.

The purpose of the proposed experiments is to grow human organs inside the body of a non-human animal.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Biologists race to solve mysterious mass animal deaths in Florida lagoon | Fox News

Very sad, very scary...

Biologists race to solve mysterious mass animal deaths in Florida lagoon | Fox News: At least 111 manatees, 300 pelicans, and 46 dolphins — emaciated to the point of skin and bones — were all found dead in America’s most biologically diverse estuary.

Something is seriously wrong. The northern stretches of the Indian River Lagoon of Florida has a mass murder mystery that biologists are racing to figure out. The lagoon contains more species than anywhere else in the U.S. It is a barrier island complex stretching across 40 percent of Florida’s coast, around Cape Canaveral, and consisting of the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River and the Indian River Lagoon.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Fortean Times: Woman finds pig with two heads buried in yard -

As odd as this story is, so is the writing :)Woman finds pig with two heads buried in yard -

Massive number of bumblebees due near Target store

In the Portland, Oregon area:
Massive number of bumblebees due near Target store: t least 25,000 bumblebees were found dead on Monday under linden trees at the Target store in Wilsonville.

“They were literally falling out of the trees,” says Rich Hatfield, who first documented the massive bee kill. Hatfield is a conservation biologist with the Portland-based Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a world leader in bee conservation research and protection efforts.

“To our knowledge,” Hatfield says, “this is one of the largest documented bumblebee deaths in the Western U.S. It was heartbreaking to watch.”

Xerces has suggested two potential causes of the bee death. One is acute pesticide poisoning of the linden trees. There is also a concern that the trees are a poisonous European species.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Mystery solved: Not the Jersey Devil, or Chupacabra but a hairless squirrel in Oklahoma | NJ.com

Hairless squirrel in Oklahoma. With link to a frontal image of said squirrel. While it may not be a mini-Jersey Devil or Chupie, it is still very mysterious -- what caused this squirrel to become completely hairless? If a disease, is it an indicator of something larger, a signal that something is very wrong in the environment? Assuming this is a real squirrel of course ;( Mystery solved: Not the Jersey Devil, or Chupacabra but a hairless squirrel in Oklahoma | NJ.com


Wednesday, May 15, 2013

'Tiny fish that survived tsunami, ocean crossing from Japan makes debut in Seaside'



Why not keep all the fish in the aquarium, instead of killing them save for one?

Tiny fish that survived tsunami, ocean crossing from Japan makes debut in Seaside | OregonLive.com: About five striped beakfish were found on a boat from Japan that washed ashore near Long Beach, Wash., last month. The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife euthanized most of them, perhaps because of fears that the fish would become an invasive species.

But not before someone spirited away one of the black-and-white striped fish to the Long Beach City Hall.

Employees there in turn called the Seaside Aquarium, which came to the rescue.
More
Continuing coverage of the debris washing up on the Oregon and Washington coasts from the Japanese tsunami.
"They didn't want to turn it loose," said Seaside Aquarium curator Keith Chandler. "And they didn't want to let it die."

So Chandler and the aquarium staff rescued the critter they have dubbed the "tsunami fish."

Monday, May 13, 2013

BBC News - UN urges people to eat insects to fight world hunger

Just can't get past my deep deep deep disgust and fear about eating bugs for dinner. I get all the cultural global bigger picture ideals. But as long as I don't have to, I'm not going to.
BBC News - UN urges people to eat insects to fight world hunger: "Insects are regularly eaten by many of the world's population, but the thought may seem shocking to many Westerners.

The report suggests that the food industry could help in "raising the status of insects" by including them in new recipes and adding them to restaurant menus.

It goes on to note that in some places, certain insects are considered delicacies."

Cryptomundo : Coelacanth DNA Does Some Weird Stuff!

At Cryptomundo, this item about the DNA of the Coelacanth:
Cryptomundo  Coelacanth DNA Does Some Weird Stuff!: "The genome of a primitive fish that was once thought to have died when the dinosaurs did has now been sequenced by scientists — and when put into mice, some of the fish DNA caused mice to sprout limbs."

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Fla. Mexican Restaurant, Employees Face Threats Over Lion Meat Tacos - Yahoo!

Lion meat tacos, at $34.00 per taco. Just to satisfy the curious-gluttony gene. The owner's disingenuous rationalization is bull. It's like jokes: if you have to explain why this is wrong, there's no hope.Fla. Mexican Restaurant, Employees Face Threats Over Lion Meat Tacos - Yahoo!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Woman eaten by vultures - UPI.com

France has a law that requires farmers to burn the dead bodies of animals, which has left the vulture population without its natural food resource:
Woman eaten by vultures - UPI.com: he body of a tourist was devoured by vultures in a matter of minutes after she fell over a cliff in the Pyrenees in France.

The 52-year-old woman tumbled down a 300-meter drop while taking a shortcut while hiking with friends on Pic de la Pista, in southern France, gendarmerie Major Didier Pericou told The Times of London.

"There were only bones, clothes and shoes left," after the vultures got to her, Pericou said. "They took 45 to 50 minutes to eat the body."

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Trickster's Realm: Anomalous in Art

binnallofamerica.com: Recent Fortean tinged artistic events have been in the anomalous news lately: fairy doors, mermaid tales, and eerie radio sounds among them.

Probably by now you've read more than one article about the fairy door in San Fransico's Golden Gate park. This idea of creating fairy doors as wee public art installations isn't new; here's a link to an article on the fairy doors (courtesy of The Anomalist) from 2009. A recent article on the current Golden Gate Park fairy door -- the Parks department put an end to the citizens and their whimsy. But not quite, thankfully.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology: Puerto Rico: A New Spree of Chupacabras Attacks in Guayama

New sightings of Chupacabras, from Inexplicata:
Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology: Puerto Rico: A New Spree of Chupacabras Attacks in Guayama: They stopped the pickup truck and looking over a small mound of earth, the saw a dark figure resembling a short-statured man who appeared to be crouching. Chaka reached for his flashlight, got out of the vehicle and pointed it at the figure. He was only able to make out the glow of a single eye; we are uncertain if this was due to tis position. It had a yellowish or bright orange color that gradually diminished in brightness. He also noticed the figure had something strange on its head and back, resembling quills.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Accurate Citation: Christ O'Brien's Stalking the Trickster


Chris O'Brien, in his Stalking the Tricksters: Shapeshifters, Skinwalkers, Dark Adepts and 2012 writes:
Another recent incident of a so-called "man-bat" sighting was e-reported to Tim Binnell (sic) by a witness in Oregon.
This is the so-called "e-report" O'Brien writes that Tim received:
The "thing" was about 15 ft. from the witness at about 1:15 A.M. behind his house. He accidentally locked himself out of his house while working in his garage late last night. He went around to the back of his house to climb in through a window. He heard something and used the light from his cell phone, pointing it in the direction of the sound. The thing had a human form only quite large over seven feet with red reflecting eyes and very large wings. It jumped into the air flying off with the sound of massive air displacement with each wing stroke.

Actually, that passage was from my article Sacrificial Lambs Unto the Demon: Batsquatch in Oregon, May 5, 2009 that I wrote for my Trickster's Realm column, which appears on Tim Binnall's site.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Virginia Proposes Expanding List Of Animals Banned As Pets

Excellent; one day, hopefully, we'll see a national ban on all exotic animals as "pets." But, um, who keeps a rhino in Virginia -- or anywhere else in the U.S. -- as a pet?
Virginia Proposes Expanding List Of Animals Banned As Pets: HENRICO, Va. -- Time could be running out for you to get that special gorilla or rhino for your home.

A state panel on Wednesday proposed expanding the list of animals Virginia doesn't allow as pets.

The list, maintained by the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, already includes animals such as big cats and bears.

The panel, which is studying whether to tighten rules on keeping dangerous animals, proposed adding to the list creatures such as chimps, rhinos, orangutans, hippos, baboons, powerful Cape buffaloes and giant lizards called Komodo dragons.

Man tries to take photo of beaver; it kills him | The News Journal | delawareonline.com

Man tries to take photo of beaver; it kills him | The News Journal | delawareonline.com

Millions of wasps discovered in gigantic 21-foot nest | Watch the video - Yahoo! News

Millions of wasps discovered in gigantic 21-foot nest | Watch the video - Yahoo! News

Monday, April 8, 2013

6 states that might criminalize taping animal cruelty - Salon.com

6 states that might criminalize taping animal cruelty - Salon.com: Tennessee is one of six states currently debating legislation that would ban this form of whistle blowing. So-called “ag-gag” bills vary in provisions, but all aim to make it more difficult, or in some cases, criminal, to shoot undercover factory farm footage. Last year, the statehouses of Missouri, Utah and Iowa passed ag-gag bills, bringing the total number of states with such laws to five. As Think Progress’ Katie Valentine notes, many of these laws received backing from the American Legislative Exchange Council.

They’re (almost) here! The cicadas are coming

Every seventeen years, in the east. And now it's time:
They’re (almost) here! The cicadas are coming | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News: "Most people say it is like a science-fiction movie UFO sound,” cicada researcher Dan Mozgai wrote to Yahoo News in an email.

The East Coast, he added, should expect piles of the dead insects around their homes: "They can pile up like dead leaves."

Man buys toy poodles, discovers they’re actually ferrets on steroids | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

This is both funny, kind of, and sad. Sad for the animals involved:
Man buys toy poodles, discovers they’re actually ferrets on steroids | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News: An Argentine man who thought he bought a pair of poodles at an outdoor market in Buenos Aires brought them home to the vet only to be told they were actually ferrets on steroids, reports the Daily M

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Professional Mermaid Linden Wolbert | I am a mermaid

Professional Mermaid Linden Wolbert | I am a mermaid:" A delicate, ladylike blog for mermaids and the humans who love them"

This is very cool!



Friday, March 29, 2013

Starving sea lion pups fill Calif. rescue centers - Yahoo! News

Very sad. Very scary as well, for what it means for humans, and the planet:
Starving sea lion pups fill Calif. rescue centers - Yahoo! News: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hundreds of starving sea lion pups are washing up on beaches from San Diego to Santa Barbara, overwhelming rescue centers and leaving scientists scrambling to figure out w

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Man Buys Stolen Python & Immediately Regrets It | Watch the video - Yahoo! Screen

Van full of snakes, a party, a morning surprise, bad intentions (the humans, not the snake) what could go wrong?Man Buys Stolen Python & Immediately Regrets It | Watch the video - Yahoo! Screen

Interview: Project Seeks To Bring Extinct Species Back

John Dankosky interviews  Dr. Michael Archer on bringing back extinct animals, known as "de-extinction"  (Archer's project is called The Lazarus Project.) He's all for it. 
Project Seeks To Bring Extinct Species Back: "But it's not a Velociraptor we're trying to bring back, although remember, of course, dinosaurs are not extinct. We don't have to bring them back. We live with them. There are birds.

Some people have budgie-saurs(ph) as pets, and others go out and gobble up a Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. We have dinosaurs all around us. So it's really a different kind of an animal and it's not - we're not reaching that far back. Most of these projects that the Revive and Restore group and National Geographic had been focused on in this event are species that have been recently extinct, and many of these are species that we drove extinct."

Kind of missing the point there. . .

Professor Archer sees himself "rescuing" these extinct animals, and the effect of these reintroduced animals into the ecosystem has been considered:
"Yeah, that  [the ecosystem] is such an important question, and every one of us involved in projects of this kind around the world have that question right up in our mind. In fact, it often influences your choice about which animal you're going to try to see if you can rescue."
"...it often" ? Shouldn't that be "always." "Paramount?" 


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Animal welfare bill would restrict tethering | Statesman Journal | statesmanjournal.com

Animal welfare bill would restrict tethering | Statesman Journal | statesmanjournal.com:

It’s finding pit bulls like Angel stuck in inches of feces and urine that get animal welfare groups and investigators riled up about dog tethering.

House Bill 2783 would create an offense for unlawful tethering, which could be punishable by a $1,000 maximum fine.


If tethering results in serious injury or death to the animal, the owner would face first degree animal neglect charges.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Alien Invaders: Armadillos in the Midwest | Show Me Oz

Alien Invaders: Armadillos in the Midwest | Show Me Oz: Surprisingly enough, armadillos also like to swim. By taking in large amounts of air into their lungs to make them more buoyant, they can easily dogpaddle for some distance. If that doesn’t strike you as odd, what may is the fact that when these bulky, armor-plated desert dwellers are faced with a body of water they actually prefer to walk across the bottom while holding their breath, which they can do for up to six minutes.



Tuesday, March 19, 2013

"De-extinction"



Some scientists want to bring back long dead animals. (Scientists Want to Bring Some Animals Back from Extinction - Yahoo! Finance) (Odd this article was listed in the "finance" section.) This is called "de-extinction." Dinosaurs are not on the list of creatures these Mad Scientists would like to bring back from the dead, but not for the obvious reasons, one being: Jesus Fucking Christ, they're dinosaurs!! Did you SEE Jurassic Park?! but because the dinosaur DNA is too "degraded." However, "ethics" or really "criteria" are a part of the process for deciding what gets reconstituted:
They chose the animals using the following criteria: Are the species desirable — do they hold an important ecological function or are they beloved by humans? Are the species practical choices — do we have access to tissue that could give us good quality DNA samples or germ cells to reproduce the species? And are they able to be reintroduced to the wild — are the habitats in which they live available and do we know why they went extinct in the first place?
"Beloved by humans?" Dodos seem pretty cute to me but who can say; that seems hardly the point. And how can one possibly be sure a reactivated animal could be safely introduced into the wild? Astounding that there are conferences where mad scientists gather to seriously ponder such possibilities.



The article includes a list of potential animals on the Dr. Evil Wish List. Among them: the DoDo, the Wooly Mammoth, the saber-toothed cat, and that Fortean mascot, the Thylacine.

The Dodo and the Quagga, among others, were hunted to extinction by man. Will these animals be brought back, only to have that happen again? Will it be legal to hunt these animals? Is it moral to bring back animals just so we can use them for our enjoyment, for example, open "De-extinction canned hunt camps?"




Whale Fall

Antarctic's First-Ever Whale Skeleton Found - Yahoo! News

Monday, March 11, 2013

binnallofamerica.com


I have new Trickster's Realm posted at Tim Binnall's site. It's of birds and art:
binnallofamerica.com: 2012: Year of the Birds, and the Self-Indulgent

New Year's 2012 brought the Fortean realm tons of dead and dying bird stories. The phenomena seemed to have started in the southern states of the U.S., (Beebe, Arkansas) but we saw stories from all over the world of birds falling from the skies. A common explanation from the MSM: fireworks. New Year's celebrations, complete with fireworks going off to bring in the New Year, startled birds from their perches. Disoriented, they fell to their deaths. Other explanations included birds drunk on fermented berries and bad weather.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Anya is a Channel: Throw these architects in the brig!

Anya Briggs has some thoughts on all those hundreds of dolphins that appeared in Southern Calif. seas recently: Anya is a Channel: Throw these architects in the brig!



Nick Redfern's World of Whatever...: The Cult of the Moon Beast

Followed the link to Nick Redfern's blog from the Anomalist -- after all, who can resist the title "The Cult of the Moon Beast?" So go here Nick Redfern's World of Whatever...: The Cult of the Moon Beast and read all about it.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Thousands of Dolphins Spotted Near San Diego | NBC 7 San Diego

Thousands of Dolphins Spotted Near San Diego | NBC 7 San Diego: Thousands of dolphins spanning across 7 miles of ocean were sighted off the coast of San Diego on Thursday, a boat captain told NBC 7 San Diego.

Capt. Joe Dutra of Hornblower Cruises said he saw a “super mega-pod” of common dolphins Thursday around noon while he was on his daily tour. He said the pod was more than 7 miles long and 5 miles wide.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Mass Animal Deaths

Sad and strange list of mass animal deaths worldwide. Mainly sea life, which is chilling, for that's clearly a signal to us all about the quality of our oceans.Mass Animal Death

Opinion: Florida’s Great Snake Hunt Is a Cheap Stunt

Agreed.
No one wants to find a python in their kitchen one morning while stumbling around trying to get the coffee made.
But mass hunts like this, which are actually blood lust fueled sprees to satisfy the basest traits within humanity, are not the answer.


Opinion: Florida’s Great Snake Hunt Is a Cheap Stunt: I registered as a python hunter but I did not really intend to hunt pythons. I wanted to see my first wildlife rumble, a fight between snake haters and animal rights activists, something along the lines of those protesters who dress up as wolves or polar bears, or who splash fake blood onto Canadian politicians to protest clubbing seal babies.

Instead I discovered something resembling a scene in the film Jaws—not the one where the town hires a seasoned shark expert to go out and kill the great white, but the ridiculous scene where every idiot with a pitchfork and an inner tube is paddling out to get a piece of shark meat.

I met contestants who had never seen a Burmese python before, who had never handled a snake. I overheard one man telling some greenhorns from Maine that his technique is to swing a snake by the tail and slam its head into a tree. "It stuns 'em," he said.
I was surprised by the following:
The Nature Conservancy showed up, but they're a partner in the Python Challenge, a contrast to their own python control program, and provided the training materials.

Debate Continues: Did Your Seafood Feel Pain?

Debate Continues: Did Your Seafood Feel Pain?: The scientific debate on the subject has intensified recently, with a team of British researchers proposing this month that electroshock tests suggest crabs indeed feel pain. But the study has drawn scrutiny, while another study late last year pushed back on the idea that fish, more closely related to humans than are crabs, feel pain.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Fortean Times:Runaway Deer In Chelmsford: Woman Injured

From Fortean Times, this incident in England of a deer "hurdling" a woman:Runaway Deer In Chelmsford: Woman Injured

Indiana couple fights charges over rescuing injured baby deer | Fox News

Indiana couple fights charges over rescuing injured baby deer | Fox News. "Drop Charges Against Connersville Police Officer," on Facebook.

Couple saved a dying deer they found on private property, now they face 60 days in jail, the "putting down" execution of the deer, and a $500.00 fine.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Tonight on C2C: Cryptid Encounters

Cryptid Encounters / Open Lines - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Non-Bigfoot Blood Lust

Just my personal little war on a Bigfoot blog that shall not be named nor linked to, but once again I see they have posted footage (vintage TV) of someone killing a deer with his bare hands and drinking its blood, or some such. Details don't matter. What does matter is that this has nothing to do with Bigfoot, and everything to do with animal porn, to drive visitors to their site. Not the first time they've posted this type of blood lust crap; won't be the last. Their excuse, as they once posted, was something along the lines of (paraphrasing, naturally) "Bigfoot probably eats like this in the wild so why not it's all good."Disingenuous bullshit.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Coon Dong: Root and Bone Apothecary

If you need a raccoon penis bone for you spell doings, here's the place:Root and Bone Apothecary

Monday, January 14, 2013

Dogs: The Latest in High Tech Para-tainment

My new Trickster's Realm column is up now at Tim Binnall's place. Be sure to read all the great columns over there. Plus, Greg Bishop is the most recent audio guest. Lots to explore at Binnall of America:

binnallofamerica.com: Animals react to the strange in their own eerie ways. UFO lore, ghost tales and Bigfoot stories are full of examples of how their animals, mainly dogs, reacted to "something." Something usually unseen by the human witness. Barking wildly at something out there. Or, cowering under the bed. Cats hiss and flee, sometimes the family dog takes off and is never seen again. Sometimes their bodies are found; tragic demise; from Sasquatch?

Dogs, cats and other animals alert us to something...something alien, something ghostly, something definitely weird. We watch and listen to the animals, waiting, wanting, hoping to see what they see. Often times we never do see what it is they're reacting to. We just know they are. We too often sense something is wrong, something is there, and heed the animals in our lives, listening to their anomalous responses to this ... something.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

11 killer whales free after being 'locked' in ice, mayor says - World News

11 killer whales free after being 'locked' in ice, mayor says - World News
Eleven killer whales that were “locked in” by ice in a Canadian bay, with only a small area of open water for them to surface, are now apparently free, possibly due to a change in current that helped break open a path to the sea, the mayor of a nearby village said Thursday.
Two scouts sent to check on the killer whales around 8 a.m. local time found a passage of water had been created in Hudson Bay all of the way to the open sea – nearly 25 miles away -- and the ice hole that the marine mammals had been trapped in was empty, said Petah Inukpuk, mayor of Inukjuak, a remote Inuit village home to 1,800, in Quebec.
“They are free. They are no longer here. When there is a new moon, the water current is activated. It could have helped … completely trap them, but in this case it caused an open passage out to the open water,” he told NBC News, adding that they probably were freed overnight. “It was mother nature that helped them. ... They are no longer icelocked.”

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Birdsong Stirs Birds' 'Emotions' Much As Music Affects Humans, Brain Imaging Study Suggests

Of course they do!
Birdsong Stirs
Birds' 'Emotions' Much As Music Affects Humans, Brain Imaging Study Suggests
Birds can sing. They can dance. And they may even experience an emotional response to music similar to humans.

A new study from Emory University in Atlanta found that when birds hear birdsong, their brains show activity similar to that seen in humans when they listen to music.