Fish-catching trick may be spreading among dolphins - Yahoo! News

PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - Dolphins in one western Australian population have been observed holding a large conch shell in their beaks and using it to shake a fish into their mouths -- and the behavior may be spreading.

Researchers from Murdoch University in Perth were not quite sure what they were seeing when they first photographed the activity, in 2007, in which dolphins would shake conch shells at the surface of the ocean.

Fish-catching trick may be spreading among dolphins - Yahoo! News

(Warning; dead rat pic) Giant rat killed by pitchfork in Marcy Houses is believed to be Gambian pouched rat

I don't want rats, especially giant ones, running around my place, who does? But there's an air of old fashioned exploitation and titillation in this report on a giant rat killed -- by pitchfork, no less! -- in New York: Giant rat killed by pitchfork in Marcy Houses is believed to be Gambian pouched rat.The article gladly shows the color photo of killed, giant rate hanging from the prongs of the pitchfork. The article describes the rat's tail: "... [which is] hideously dangling." The rat is, specifically, a Gambian pouched rat, illegal in the U.S. since 2003, because the rats carried monkeypox which affected humans.

The rats are, as anyone who's had rats as pets knows, very intelligent, and sweet. These rats can be "... trained to sniff out landmines or even tuberculosis." That's as pets. In the urban wild they're not . Another sad contrast and fact of animals and humans living in the same space.

Raven Flocks Killing Lambs

Very sad, weird and even scary news from Europe, of ravens killing sheep, calves, and other animals: Attack of the killer ravens: Flocks are suddenly slaughtering lambs - what is going on? 

. . .  instead of hanging around for a few discarded bones or a forgotten carcass to pick and claw at, they've started killing live farm animals - by pecking them to death, in horrific scenes reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier's The Birds, turned by Alfred Hitchcock into one of the most chilling movies of all time.

Throughout Britain, traumatised farmers have reported a sudden and disturbing rise in the number of livestock being attacked by ravens.

Farmer John Kirk, 50, from Nethybridge, near Aviemore, has lost more than 40 animals in the past few weeks.

"It's like something out of a horror film. They are horrible, horrible birds. They see the young lambs and just fly down and help themselves," he said.

"Sometimes you find a carcass with the eyes and tongue pecked out, but sometimes all you find is the skin. They peck away until nothing is left." And while some animals have been pecked to death, others have been left to die in agony after birds have feasted on their eyes, tongues and the soft flesh of their underbellies.

Signals; look to the animals as guides to what is happening on our planet. Warnings, to be sure.

Video of "Chupacabra" Capture

Another hairless, blue-gray hued creature that's become known as "chupacabra" has been captured. No one can say what the animal is, (at times it looked like a fox, or some kind of strange little fawn, etc.) Fortunately, no one took a shot at it and they let even let it go. Which annoyed the hell out of the highly irritating hostess on the clip, but typical MSM patter and trivializing of events. That aside, (what else can we expect) interesting to have film of one of these creatures: Chupacabra Captured? Recap - Yahoo! TV

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.

Stoned Wallabies Make Crop Circles

Years ago a British scientist offered the theory that crop circles were made by "mating hedgehogs." Now we have another animal related theory to explain crop circles: wallabies. Stoned wallabies, who've had their way with the poppies in the poppy field, then, loaded out of their little mammal minds, flop about, creating crop circles. ;Stoned wallabies make crop circles

Australian wallabies are eating opium poppies and creating crop circles as they hop around "as high as a kite", a government official has said.

My new article on Monster Tracker: Monsters Creating Monsters

I have a new piece at Monster Tracker: Monsters Creating Monsters.

 I love the History channel's Ancient Aliens; this article isn't a criticism against the program, but I found two segments in the recent episode: Aliens and Monsters, aired August 4th, disturbing.  I understand the episode's context: they included two segments concerning "Dr. Evils" as part of that program's speculations concerning alien manipulation of humans and animals, resulting in hybrids monsters and entities that we call myth today. Nonetheless, those two segments were extremely disturbing.  I couldn't look at those images of animals abused in this way and I'm not including images of these experiments in this article. (You can easily find related information and images by Googling.) 

I'm referring to experiments done, not by extraterrestrials,  but by humans. 

From Lisa Shiel:The Myth of Bigfoot DNA

Author Lisa Shiel (Backyard Bigfoot, etc.) tells us why finding Bigfoot DNA is impossible: The Myth of Bigfoot DNA | Lisa A. Shiel

Minnesota: Mystery Roadkill Prompts DNR Investigation | KSAX.com

Comments in clip include speculation it's a human created experiment, a wolf, and, yes, a chupacabra:Mystery Roadkill Prompts DNR Investigation | KSAX.com

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Police free woman from pig swarm - Yahoo! News

Cujo, the hog version: Police free woman from pig swarm - Yahoo! News

Oklahoma Octopi

Is there a fresh water octopus in Oklahoma?Have you seen the Oklahoma octopus?
Says John Money,of the Oklahoma Aquarium:

"Every now and then I get a call, someone will say they had a fish right at the edge of the boat that looked half fish, half octopus." That sounds odd, but hang on, John has heard it may be a bigger monster "I've heard it's the size of a horse and pulling boats over and taking swimmers to the bottom."

Go to link for story and link to interview.

Woodpecker-Saving Girl's Mother Gets Fined $500 | wusa9.com

Another Kafka like episode in bureaucracies gone mad; this time a woman is fined, and faces a jail term, because her daughter wanted to save a woodpecker:Woodpecker-Saving Girl's Mother Gets Fined $500 | wusa9.comConfronted by someone from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service while inside a store with said bird, they were told what having the bird was illegal. So mother and daughter later release bird:

So as soon as the Capo family returned home, they say they opened the cage, the bird flew away, and they reported it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"They said that's great, that's exactly what we want to see," said Capo. "We thought that we had done everything that we could possibly do."

But roughly two weeks later, that same woman from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service showed up at Capo's front door. This time, Capo says the woman was accompanied by a state trooper. Capo refused to accept a citation, but was later mailed a notice to appear in U.S. District Court for unlawfully taking a migratory bird. She's also been slapped with a $535 fine.

That wasn't good enough, for the authority later showed up at Capo's door, with a state trooper, and attempted to give Capo a citation, which was refused, but she later received one in the mail. The agency later rescinded the citation and presumably, all charges are dropped. It's not clear from the article if that means Capo didn't have to pay the fine, but I think she did have to.

Frame 352: From Oregon Bigfoot.com Blog:More clarification on the Melba Ketchum Bigfoot DNA Study | Oregon Bigfoot Blog

On my Bigfoot blog Frame 352: Frame 352: From Oregon Bigfoot.com Blog:More clarification on the Melba Ketchum Bigfoot DNA Study | Oregon Bigfoot Blog

From C2C: Transcript Snippet, George Knapp on Cattle Mutes

George Knapp's thoughts on cattle mutilations on the Coast to Coast site:George Knapp Transcript Excerpt 7/27/11 - Coast to Coast AM:

These days, I suspect there is a government entity...or maybe a corporate team..that is carrying out a large number of the mutes and for a very spooky reason...

My suspicion is that this "someone" is monitoring the spread of dangerous contaminants thru the food chain. My friend Dr. Colm Kelleher wrote a book called Brain Trust. It traces the spread of "mad cow". This terrible disease was formed into a weapon by our military labs and somehow it got out. It has spread to several species, including cattle and it has already killed far more people than anyone will admit..right here in this country...

I suspect that they have been grabbing and mutilating cattle to see just how far the poisoned prions have spread thru the food chain. It is sadly not confined to cattle because modern agriculture feeds everything to every species...meaning vegetarian cows end up eating contaminated feed...feed that still includes blood from potentially infected animals...then cows get fed to chickens..and cows and chickens are fed to pigs...it's a terrible and potentially devastating problem that no one wants to admit...~ George Knapp