Vintage snake images

I found these vintage images of snake charmers, snake farms, etc. while writing the post below about the live eating of animals for your entertainment pleasure.

Fortean Name Game and More: Beebe, Arkansas

Last New Year's, birds fell to their deaths in Beebe, Arkansas. The cause of the deaths was said to be from fireworks. Or gunfire. Or both. Or maybe something else. No one was sure, but officials did their best to stick with the "celebratory noise" explanation. Many other reports of bird falls in the U.S. came in last year around that time. But Beebe, Arkansas seemed to be the point of origin for the Fortean falls.

Then this New Year's, a new report of birds falling to the ground, and again, in Beebe. A Fortean coincidence to be sure. Same town, twice? At the same time of the year? So I looked up Beebe, Arkansas and I found that the town was named after Roswell Beebe. Roswell! Also on the Wikipedia entry is a section on the bird falls from 2011, but also, information on the current bird deaths. That was quick!

Data Mapping, Cryptids, ET and Us: Nickell Provides the Answers

The ever disingenuous Joe Nickell, self-described "paranormal investigator" debunker, has discovered answers to all myths of a crypto nature in the following article by Ed Grabianowski:  Paranormal Investigator Joe Nickell Reveals the Truth Behind Modern Cryptozoological Myths. (All of them? Impressive.)

Regarding Bigfoot, Nickell combines finding patterns in sightings data, his theories, and the usual skeptic based psychology: us humans love to make stuff up. We create myth and don't want to solve mysteries -- well, you know the routine.

"Bigfoot is our stupid cousin from the past."

That's humans for you, projecting our fears and dreams onto made up entities. As far as ET goes:

"The alien is the future version of ourselves."

Which alien version would that be? Reptilian? Bug eyed gray? Gigantic praying mantises? Good looking long haired blond Nordic Space Brothers and Sisters? Lizard Men? Hairy dwarf? I don't know about you, but that's a future self I want nothing to do with. (Well, maybe the good looking Space Sister but I don't look good as a blond. And I prefer the swarthy types to Nordic guys.)

Nickell looked at "convergent iconography" which led him to the conclusion we've simply created Bigfoot and aliens out of our own heads; the two are modern living myths. We did the same with Santa Claus and Jesus:

"The same convergent iconography can be seen in artists' depictions of Jesus Christ and Santa Clause."

There is some truth in the idea that we shape our gods and heroes and they ultimately morph into a sort of set version dependant on the culture. To suggest to a religious person however that Jesus, the BVM, or angels are just in their head, based on agreed upon cultural imagery is both insulting and missing the point. And while I am not a Christian or believe in any sort of monotheistic god that watches over us like a somewhat authoritarian parent, using Jesus Christ and Santa Clause in the same sentence subliminally suggests they are one and the same in terms of fantasy.


Grabianowski asks Nickell about cryptids that don't look anything like human beings. Using  "data mapping" once again, Nickell finds that reports of water monsters coincided with otter activity.  People mistaking otters for a sea serpent: "It really happens," (I love that) Nickell says. Of course it "really happens" people mistake things all the time. Not every weird light in the sky is a UFO, not all strange creatures in the forest are Sasquatch and so on. 


Nickell distances himself from combative skeptics and says he treats witnesses with respect; they're not liars or insane, just mistaken.

The article ends with a dismissal of paranormal programming which is "like wrestling" Nickell says. I'll agree with much of that sentiment, to a point. All TV is "like wrestling" when you think of it. For his arguments on how he's treated by producers as a skeptic, UFO researchers and other paranormal investigators can cite the same. It's about ratings, and whatever angle the show wants to present. Researchers and skeptics both can be damned; it's not about the individual ghost hunters, UFO investigators or cryptid chasers, it's about the producers, the station owners and their own agendas. Skeptic, paranormal investigator, or witness: they're all just the talent. Fodder for the program.

For some reason, most programs that deal with fringe topics believe that having skeptics on is "balance." To me it's just annoying. But it's not balance they want; it is, indeed, "like wrestling." There's an innate belief that conflict and tension is necessary for entertainment. Like wrestling.

Release the Kraken, er, Meme!

The meme has been released that the chupacabras mystery has been solved, thanks to skeptic Ben Radford's theory that a witness confused/overlaid imagery from a sci-fi movie onto some kind of creature she saw but was unfamiliar with. Of course, nothing  has been "solved" instead, an interesting theory has been presented that may help explain part of a complex phenomena. But, for those who need to find closure to mysterious events, this theory will be held up as proof the chupacabras was only a case of misidentification.

No one will ever know what's really happening here; trickster afoot within the weird works that way. Still, there are those who persist in finding answers in order to close the door on intruding events from other realms.

What if the witness had indeed seen something that could be compared to the creature in the movie Species? It is possible the creature did look like the Species figure; because it was that weird. But, as I've pointed out, to my eye the two share as many disimilar features as they do similar ones. Plenty has been written about Hollywood and government working together to release information  disinformation on covert topics, like UFOs, aliens, war crimes and so on. That wouldn't quite explain all of the characteristics of the Species creature; the chupacrabas descriptions are as alike as they are different. And I'm not seriously suggesting Species was an intentional Hollywood/government disinfo movie.

It could be that the witness Radford references did see something out of place and unknown -- Forteana is full of out of place creature events -- and the closet she could get to describing what she saw was to compare it to something accessible to most in pop culture. Because she saw Species, comparing the chupacabras  with the movie image, doesn't necessarily mean there wasn't a cryptid running amok at the time.

The Owls are turning browner

(thanks to The Daily Grail for link.) Owls are turning browner, changing color to adapt to our changing environment due to climate changes.

BBC - Earth News - Owls change colour as climate warms

Central Oregon Home to Rare White Buffalo Herd

Central Oregon home to rare white buffalo herd (Associated Press | The Register-Guard)

BEND, Ore. (AP) -- Pendleton Woolen Mills is making new Navajo-style blankets using wool and blended hair shed by an unusual herd of white buffalo in central Oregon.

Ranching experts say fewer than 50 white buffalo, or American bison, live in the U.S., The Oregonian reported.

On a sanctuary east of Bend, 11 of them roam acres of isolated juniper forest under the care of Cynthia Hart-Button and her husband, Charles Button. It's one of the larger collections of white buffalos.

Some Native American tribes consider them sacred.

"The significance of the white buffalo has been recognized by all the tribes that are buffalo culture people," Jim Stone, a Yankton-Yanktonai Sioux, told The Oregonian. Stone is executive director of the Intertribal Buffalo Council in Rapid City, S.D., an organization created to restore buffalo to Indian nations.

The white buffalo's presence is a prophesy of spiritual rebirth - "an indicator of better times coming to tribal people," Stone said. "Historically, that has been the view."

For more visit link.

Deer are Stealing Xmas

Here's another example of deer and human colliding: A Rogue Valley (Oregon) Christmas tree farmer says deer are causing damage to his crop. Other xmas tree farmers are having the same problem.

Larry Ryerson with the U-Cut Christmas Tree Farm in Medford estimates that deer have gotten to about 1,000 of their 10,000 trees. They say bucks can even ruin some trees beyond repair.

It seems there's been a "deer meme" what with reports of aggressive deer -- termed so because they're attacking humans on our own turf -- crashing through windows, chasing after dogs, etc. Despite commenting that xmas tree farmers still expect a good crop this year, even with the deer damage, the idea of deer causing trouble for humans seemed noteworthy enough to write an article about it, no matter how short.


My point here isn't that I'm not sympathetic to those losing their livelihood. I'mjust struck by the Fortean irony and juxtapositions of Christmas trees and deer as iconic symbols on the one hand, and a would be battle between human and deer on the other, as one tries to earn a living by ensuring the availability of one product (xmas tree) while fighting against another (deer) who has been invited, even though unintentionally, by the plethora of trees in its habitat.

More here.