Lindagodfrey's Blog | Author & Investigator of Strange Creatures

Listening to Arcane Radio (hosts Lon Strickler and Sean Forker) right now; interview with cryptic and paranormal author Linda Godfrey. Fascinating topics, including were wolf like creatures and giant birds. Lindagodfrey's Blog | Author & Investigator of Strange Creatures 

Birds Ignite in California Skies

This is sad:

(NEWSER) – A cutting-edge solar technology in California's Mojave Desert may have a bit too much cut. Wildlife officials say they've counted one bird being scorched to death every two minutes by intensely focused rays of light at the BrightSource Energy plant, considered the largest solar thermal power plant of its kind in the world. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System uses more than 300,000 mirrors the size of garage doors to focus the sun's power toward "power towers" as many as 40 stories tall, and can power as many as 140,000 homes. Google is one of three owners of the plant at Ivanpah Dry Lake, near the Nevada border. (Source here)

Bizarre Zoology: Previously Undocumented Oregon Coast 'Sea Serpent' Report

From Bizarre Zoology: Previously Undocumented Oregon Coast 'Sea Serpent' Report.



Who knew -- I didn't -- that one of my favorite places on the Oregon coast, (Yachats) is home to sea monsters? Next time I'm out there I'll have to take a much closer look.

source: Bizarre Zoology blog

Giant Salamander sighted in Kyoto, Japan | The Daily Grail

image: public domain

Love this news from Japan, of the Giant Salamander, one of which decided to take a walk upon the pavement. They can get to be five feet in length! They are not dangerous, and in fact, are celebrated, which is very nice. "Happiness is the giant salamander festival!" Thank you to The Daily Grail for this item, which has links and pics.

Giant Salamander sighted in Kyoto, Japan | The Daily Grail: While the residents of Kyoto may have been shocked to see a Giant Salamander out for a stroll (especially since, unlike other salamanders, they can't actually breathe out of water, so I hope he/she headed back into the river soon after), some 200km (125 miles) East in the Okayama mountains there is an annual festival held in celebration of the creature.

The village of Yubara Onsen has held its Hanzaki Festival for almost fifty years now. Hanzaki is the local name for the Giant Salamander which refers to the ancient belief that if the creature were cut in two, both halves would live and grow into a whole.

A procession takes place through the village every 8th of August. Two floats with gigantic models of Giant Salamanders - a black male and a red/brown female - are followed by singers and dancers.

Oregon Cows Are Tough - Black Bear Loses

I didn't know bears would attack cows -- this bear looks pretty young. Odd item from Eastern Oregon, by way of Rense.com:

Oregon Cows Are Tough - Black Bear Loses: A couple of evenings ago, an Eastern Oregon rancher went out to check his beef herd. He saw a very strange sight -- and was able to photograph an unusual battle between a black bear and some brave cows. The bear began to attack a cow and then the herd came to her aid. One cow in particular got especially aggressive and head-butted the bear right off its feet. Then, two cows sandwiched the bear between their heads. After that, the bear decided to flee and limped back into the woods.

Bigfoot Hunting Preserve - America's ONLY Bigfoot-Sasquatch Hunting

Looking for something different? Try Bigfoot Hunting Preserve - America's ONLY Bigfoot-Sasquatch Hunting



From their FAQ:

Q: What type of ammunition do I need? --A: We only use high-velocity jacketed because soft, expanding rounds were bouncing off their thick skulls leaving the Sasquatch holding his head while he runs through the woods screaming in agony.

It's a joke, a spoof, and not "real" but it just isn't funny. Sigh.

Forteania: 19th Century Chupacabras

From a favorite blog of mine, Tony Morrill's Fortenia:  

     Forteania: 19th Century Chupacabras: While thumbing through one    of my paranormal books the other night, I came across a familiar story. A group of sheep farmers were upset because something was attacking and killing their livestock. The creature was not, however, eating the sheep. According to witnesses, it was biting their jugulars and, apparently, draining them of blood. If this sounds familiar to you, hold your assumptions for just a second. The above the story comes not from Puerto Rico in 1995, instead Charle Fort relates the account in his book Lo! (which I of course read in The Book of the Damned) written in 1931. Fort tells readers:

     In the month of May, 1810, something appeared at Ennerdale, near the border of England and Scotland, and killed sheep, not devouring them, sometimes seven or eight of them in a night, but biting into the jugular vein and sucking the blood. (Fortenia)

Fortean (and UFO) events -- just when you think they're isolated, specific to a decade or era or location, you find they are not. As Morrill and other Fortean researchers have long pointed out, these events pop up in Fortean history, upsetting our ideas about why and how such anomalous episodes occur.

(1) KRIS 6 News - Chupacabra Found Alive in South Texas?

More "jump the shark" chupacabra legend: from spiny backed bipedal red eyed creature to .. . hairless dog like (usually) animals. And the gun happy people that shoot at these animals for fear the "chupacabra" has invaded their lands. Very sad all around.
2 secs · Like
(1) KRIS 6 News - Chupacabra Found Alive in South Texas?:

Post by KRIS 6 News.

School District Seizes Lunches From 40 Elementary Students in Debt

Disgusting. I wonder at the staff who performed the action of literally taking a child's lunch from him or her and throwing it in the trash. I would have refused. Do these people have children? Do they want someone doing that to their kids?

School District Seizes Lunches From 40 Elementary Students in Debt: As many as 40 students at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City had their lunches—which they'd already received from the cafeteria—seized and trashed by school authorities because their parents were behind on payments.

According to Jason Olsen, a Salt Lake City District spokesman, the child-nutrition department realized some students' families had outstanding balances on Monday, but the department's manager wasn't able to notify the school until after lunch had been served on Tuesday. So the department did what any humane, understanding person would do: they snatched the meals from the children and threw them in the trash.

School Teacher Arrested; Up To 400 Pythons In His Home

Very sad for the snakes. And I don't know why but the fact the snake owner is an elementary school teacher makes this not only tragic for the animals but creepy as well.

William Fredrick Buchman Arrested After Police Find Up To 400 Pythons In His Home: A California elementary school teacher was arrested Wednesday after police discovered an estimated 300 to 400 pythons --both alive and dead -- in his Santa Ana home.

"Some [were] in boxes, some in crates and some crawling around," Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said, according to ABC Los Angeles.

Zombie Bees Found in Eastern US : Environment : Nature World News

Yes, that is correct: zombie bees. Zombie Bees Found in Eastern US : Environment : Nature World News

So Not Mothman

     Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, the saying goes, and so I do occasionally check out Bigfoot Evidence, despite their snarky and gratuitous postings of animals that have nothing to do with Bigfoot, and everything to do with the thrills those with blood lust achieve when looking at images of animals eating other other animals, or that have died tortuous deaths, or the gleeful glow of hunters posing with their kill.  Anyway, on to Mothman. Not. This is certainly a very odd looking bird, and yes, it does really exist:Bigfoot Evidence: Creepy, Strange Bird found in Venezuela: Mothman? However, to consider that this bird is the explanation for Mothman is stupid. Of course, I suspect we all know that and as the saying goes, often attributed to P.T. Barnum, there is no such thing as bad publicity. As long as you follow the link, there you go.
     Here's more on this bird from the excellent Shuker Nature blog. Interesting background on this bird and related types, including a link to the bird's call. 

Bigfoot Synchronicity

Bigfoot synchronicity. Even though I don't watch this show, due to the fact it's silly, I know, haven't seen it, how can I say that? Still, the idea of a bounty for Bigfoot does offend. Anyway, the synchronicity part: my mother's name is Natalia, and my name is Regan. Okay, so it's not Reagan, and it's probably pronounced REE-GEN and not REG-AN but still. Bigfoot News | Bigfoot Lunch Club: Who is Natalia Reagan from Spike TV's Bigfoot Bounty

UFO-Mary: Doves released in the Vatican are immediately attacked by seagull and crow | Mail Online

Doves attacked at the Vatican!UFO-Mary: Doves released in the Vatican are immediately attacked by seagull and crow | Mail Online

"If Called By the Cult of the White Panther, Don’t Anther" | EsoterX

A blog I've been following lately, and one that is excellent, has a recent post on the "cult of the White Panther" but it is much more than that; it's about experiencing the out of place (to us anyway) and very, very eloquent as well as well researched:

If Called By the Cult of the White Panther, Don’t Anther | EsoterX: The Wyandott were not alone in their hierophanic experience of the white panther, in so far as they are rare, they represent a clear disjunction in the natural order. The Chippewa (also called the Ojibwe), an Algonquin group spread out around Lake Superior at the time (including Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, and Quebec) refer to talking white panthers that acted as oracles, and had the power to condemn those who offended them to wander the earth as living skeletons. We do not hear of the rise of a white panther-specific cult among the Chippewa, but as one of the largest cultural groups of Native Americans across a wide geographic area, they no doubt felt a little less pressure from encroaching colonists and less competition from adjacent tribes.

Dead Cows Wash Up On Beaches In Denmark And Sweden

Dead Cows Wash Up On Beaches In Denmark And Sweden: COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The carcasses of almost a dozen cows have washed ashore in Denmark and Sweden, puzzling police in the Scandinavian countries.
Since Dec. 29, eight dead cows have been found by people strolling on beaches in southern Sweden and three in Denmark. All the animals had parts of their ears cut off. Investigators suspect this was done to remove the identification tags used to trace the cows.
Danish and Swedish police said Thursday the cows were probably dumped from a ship in the Baltic Sea. They are trying to pinpoint which livestock transports have passed through the waters separating the two countries in recent weeks.

Conjoined gray whale calves discovered in Baja California lagoon; find could be a first | GrindTV.com

Cojoined whale calves. With photos. Sadly, they did not survive.

Conjoined gray whale calves discovered in Baja California lagoon; find could be a first | GrindTV.com: Scientists in Mexico’s Laguna Ojo de Liebre, or Scammon’s Lagoon, on Sunday discovered conjoined gray whale calves, and it could be the first documented case of Siamese twin gray whales.
Conjoined twins have occurred in other species, notably fin, sei and minke whales. However, an online search and a search of the database at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County did not reveal published instances of conjoined gray whale twins.