Canadians Abroad

Apr. 25, 2013 — The rediscovery of a mystery animal in a museum's underground storeroom proves that a non-native 'big cat' prowled the British countryside at the turn of the last century.

The animal's skeleton and mounted skin was analysed by a multi-disciplinary team of Durham University scientists and fellow researchers at Bristol, Southampton and Aberystwyth universities and found to be a Canadian lynx -- a carnivorous predator more than twice the size of a domestic cat.

A neat little discovery, and a good intro to Darren Naish, one of my favorite science bloggers, who has a much more detailed piece on the discovery here.  Darren's into crytozoology, among other things.  I've written about him before.

Not Yeti (At Least Not Yet)

Loren Coleman debunks news from Siberia claiming "indisputable proof" of the Abominable Snowman:

No DNA analysis has been conducted. No results have been confirmed or published.

One footprint, allegedly.

One clump of moss said to be a bed, supposedly.

Meanwhile, another boring day in Canuck politics.

Cadborosaurus, You Have Crushed My Soul!

The long-awaited footage of the Alaskan Cadborosaurus is just a freakin' wave.  Discount the guys in the video.  They're fishermen, after all. I hate you, Caddy!  I hate you!

Background here.  But I can write no more.  Tears stain my keyboard.

The Great Sea Serpent

So I am browsing through the shelves at Argosy Books, which has become my favorite Ottawa Area bookstore, and the owner is showing me some old, hard-bound reports from various archaeological societies, and I see a copy of an early translation (1904, I think) of The Great Sea Serpent by Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans . This was the first attempt to systematize all previous reports of anomalous sea-creature sightings from all over the planet.  A beautiful volume--there's a little drawing of the Daedalous monster (left) on the cover.  I looked at the price...$1,250...thought a moment of selling one of my kidneys, and then said no thank you.

Bownessie, U.K. Lake Monster

The dream:
The reality.
Like so many things in life...

H/t

Unicorns On The Don: Ontario Government Caught In Cryptozoological Hoax!!

A strange story:


Apparently, the Ontario Science Center set this piece of footage loose on youtube in the hopes of that it would go viral, so as to help promote an upcoming exhibit. Well, it has received 127,000 or so views, so I suppose that bit worked. On the other hand, you don't expect a respectable org. like the science center to be involved in a hoax, now do you? And since the center is owned by the province of Ontario (you can see that from the contact info on their news release here: email ends on.ca), I suppose that means that the Ontario Government is now playing pranks on its citizens.

As for the unicorn, well, it looks like its being towed across the screen on a set of wheels, so definitely not the real thing.

h/t

PS. I notice that the show this is an advert for--Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids--has been running since the first week of the month. I haven't heard of it, and I pay attention to such things. So maybe the viral campaign was a bit of a flop.

Madagascar Swamp Monster Discovered!!!

Sure, it looks like a starved beaver, but Salanoia durrelli (named after the author), is important for reasons I am too lazy to explain right now, but which you can discover through this link. And look at those chompers!

Cryptobovine!

One of the least obseved, least photographed animals on the planet. And now you've seen a picture of one. You won't get another look at this specimen, either, because it died in captivity about a month ago.

You don't have to thank me. But you can if you want.

h/t

Caddy In The News

Some time during September, the Discovery Channel will air brand new footage of no less than a dozen swimming specimens of Cadborosaurus willsi, B.C.s 2nd best known (after Sasquatch) cryptid, and the one with the best claim to reality:

The footage was obtained by a Washington state fishing boat captain (his name is known to myself and other cryptozoological investigators who have looked at the footage) who fishes in Alaskan waters in the summer. He and his two sons were on the deck of their boat when they noticed a herd of dark coloured creatures with serrated backs being chased down a channel by a pod of beluga whales. They were stunned to see these animals as they resembled no known animal they had ever seen in their years of fishing.

This is from an account by cryptozoologist John Kirk, who has seen the footage in question:

As the creatures pull level with the boat one is able to see two larger ones protecting what looks like a juvenile from the pursuing belugas. The serrated backs are clearly visible at times. Then one the creatures turns to look in the general direction of the camera and I must say I was stunned because it looked like a living breathing version of the famed Naden Harbour carcass obtained in 1937.

A picture of that carcass can be seen here.

So far, no footage of the animals has emerged, nor any stills. And I must say Mr. Kirk's conclusion comes of as more than a little bit lame:

If these are whales, moose, otters or other known creatures then they are subtypes that no one has ever seen before.

All this excitment over a swimming moose?

In any case, more information here.

And if that wasn't enough cryptozoology for one Sunday morning, here's Darren Naish's latest on the Ozenkadnook Tiger.

New Zealand's Mystery Moose: A Canuck Connection?

So, for reasons that entirely escape me,

A group of North American moose (Alces alces), ten in number, were released in 1910 in New Zealand.

Last official encounter was in 1952, when some poor moose ate a bullet, but there have been alleged contacts ever since, including this one potential ( photographed above) back in March.

So, my Canadian brethren...because us Canucks know Moose like Bo Knows baseball...is this a very young Canadian Moose gone Kiwi...or just a deer?

Note: most of those in the "young moose" camp point to the "horse like snout". To me (whose actually seen a few moose close up in my time), the big eyeball seems more persuasive evidence.

Montauk Monster In Toronto?

Compare: ...with the monster itself:
A bald racoon has been seen running around the Toronto neighborhood of Parkdale. The home-owners there have taken a few pictures, as well as the video below. "Baldy" (or "The Toronto Terror", according to some) appears healthy and well hydrated, but none of the local scientists have seen a totally bald raccoon before. The youtube clip also shows a couple of normal raccoon companions, so the ID is not really in doubt.

Most writers who IDd the Montauk monster as a dead raccoon assumed that the hairlessness was a matter of taphonomy--the fur was lost after death. Maybe not. Mange/Alopecia seems to make them look pretty weird as well.

Ogopogo...Or No?

A picture taken in 1985 and now on Cryptomundo, where the general consensus seems to be "no". Also in the news: Ogopogo carcass found?

I'm betting "no" on that one too.

There's SOMETHING In Lake Champlain!

...maybe an otter, maybe a swimming dog (although they tend to be messier, splashier swimmers), maybe a swimming moose. Maybe.... Champ?

Nessie Lives (New Nessie Footage?)

She's gone to sea in search of a mate.



Not as much the "gray blob" of other recent footage, it still could be a rock or a wave or a floating log or god knows what.

Marine Monsters: How Likely?

Actually, quite likely, esp. if they turn out to be some hithertoo undescribed variety of pinniped which, if you have ever read Heuvelman's classic "In the Wake of the Sea-Serpents", has indeed been suggested for such beasts as Nessie and Ogopogo.

Paleo superstar Darren Naish writes:

By complete coincidence - honestly! - we looked yesterday at discovery rates among terrestrial mammals. All indications are that many species remain to be discovered. It should also be well known, and I hope it is, that the same is true for large marine vertebrates: recent discoveries, and extrapolations based on discovery rates, indicate that there are still new, large marine animals to find. Today sees the publication of a new paper by myself and two colleagues, Michael Woodley and Hugh Shanahan, in which we attempt to estimate the number of pinnipeds that might remain undiscovered (pinnipeds are the seals, sea lions, and walruses).

[...]

Anyway, the cryptozoological literature is full of accounts of weird aquatic creatures, and at least some of these animals sound pinniped-like. In fact it has been speculated by some that certain aquatic cryptids might be undiscovered pinnipeds (Oudemans 1892, Heuvelmans 1968, Costello 1974, Mackal 1983, Cornes 2001, Coleman & Huyghe 2003). What's interesting is that the number of cryptids suggested to be of a pinniped identity is low: as in, around two or three. In other words, the cryptozoological record matches with the extrapolation made from the discovery data. It might seem odd to include a discussion of crypto-pinnipeds in a technical paper, and I know that some people are not going to see this as at all useful. Nevertheless, as we note in the paper, 'the exclusion of many cryptids from the formal literature has prevented technical appraisal. In turn, this has helped perpetuate a cycle in which these alleged creatures remain predominantly in the 'grey literature' and are never really objectively assessed' (Woodley et al. 2009, p. 5).

One fascinating element to this story is that the notion of a "long necked seal" has not always been confined to the cryptozoological "grey" literature. In "A dissertation upon the Class of the Phocae Marinae", from 1751, James Parson's wrote:

'[M]uch slenderer than either of the former [two other pinnipeds were described earlier in the manuscript]; but that, wherein he principally differs, is the length of his neck; for from his nose-end to his fore-feet, and from thence to his tail, are the same measure; as also in that, instead of his fore-feet, he hath rather fins; not having any claws thereon, as have the other kinds. The head and neck of this species are exactly like those of an otter. One of those, which is also now in our musaeum [sic], taken notice of by the same author, has an head shaped like that of a tortoise; less in proportion than that of every other species, with a narrowness of stricture round the neck: the fore-feet of these are five-finger'd, with nails, like the common seal. Their size, as to the utmost growth of an adult, is also very different. That before described, was 7 feet and an half in length; and, being very young, had scarce any teeth at all' (Parsons 1751, p. 111).

And here is the beast illustrated.

h/t Cryptomundo, which has even more information on the upcoming Naish et al paper.

in Ohio?

Apparently. Equus burchelli bohmi. Looks pretty tame too. Somebody's pet.

Storsjöodjuret Lives! (Swedish Sea Monster!)

A group of filmmakers claim to have successfully captured Sweden’s legendary Great Lake Sea Monster (Storsjöodjuret), which is said to lurk in the waters of the Storsjön outside Östersund in northern Sweden.
The film clip shows a blurry, long and narrow silhouette moving in the lake’s depths.

“It clearly shows that it’s warm and is made up of cells, otherwise our cameras wouldn’t indicate red, so it can be a sea snake or some other kind of sea animal,” said a female member of the film crew to Sveriges Television news in Jämtland.

Looks Like I finally beat Cryptomundo to one!

B.C. Sea Monsters!

Ogopogo is back, and there's supposed to be a picture currently being developed! Interesting bit from the story:

...peak season for Ogopogo sightings is from late August to the third week of September.

Hmm. Since Ogopogo usually takes the form of an anomalous wave or wake, could there be something weather-wise going on during this time that generates such things?

Unfortunately, there's still no sign of Cadborosaurus willsi (pictured above left), which used to be seen swimming off my dad's old stomping grounds. And the Times-Colonist story doesn't mention the fact that the actual physical evidence for Caddy, in comparison to other sea/lake monsters, is fairly solid, consisting of a picture of a body pulled from the stomach of a sperm whale.

(...although this website claims that Caddy sightings have taken place right up until present day.)

Its Sea Serpent Week!

By day Darren Naish studies giant Pterosaurs and other magnificent prehistoric beasts. By night, he writes the Tetrapod Zoology Blog, which deals with said creatures for the most part but, occasionally, strays into matters cryptozoological. This week Darren is writing a whole series on famous and not-so famous sea serpents!

Go on over and taste the serpenty goodness!

A Real Life Unicorn!

Born on a nature preserve in Italy as the result of a genetic defect. Not the first time its happened. The Reality behind the myth?

h/t Cryptomundo.