Archive for the ‘anomalies’ category

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“America’s Wolfman” on MonsterQuest

March 25, 2010

– – The America’s Wolfman episode of MonsterQuest promised much but delivered little.   It was, at any rate, not another feral dogs or killer bees episode. Described as being a husky 7-7-1/2 feet tall with a large head, dark hair, and pointed ears, the American Wolfman seen in the midwest walks on his hind legs, has a foul odor, and uses his forepaws like hands.

Also known as the Michigan Dogman (similar but not to be confused with the Wisconsin Dogman),  the creature was supposedly revealed on the Gable Film acquired in 2006 with the backstory of having been originally made in the 1970’s and acquired at an estate sale.   The Gable Film was later revealed to be a hoax staged by a family.  A sequel, Gable 2, followed in 2008 and detailed a police investigation of the first film.

In its usual dutiful manner, MonsterQuest in this episode sent its team to the Manistee Forest area in Michigan where sightings have occurred, and camera traps were set revealing footage of deer and other animals suitable as a food source for a wolf and coyote population. Footprints were also found which were judged to be a member of the dog family, specifically a wolf.   Some experts regard the creature to be a misidentified timber wolf, or just an unusually big wolf…right!

Eyewitness accounts related included a fall of 1979 hunting encounter when a hunter discerned a large creature who moved when he did.  In another incident in 1987 in Michigan, claw and puncture marks as well as blood and slobber were found on a cabin with canine footprints in the area.  Other accounts are numerous, and date back to Native American folklore.

Does the Michigan Dogman exist?- -As the episode concluded, “Who’s to say?  It doesn’t want to be seen.” We’ve heard this all repeatedly before…

…but I still like the big guy!

Categories: animal oddities, animals, anomalies, anthropomorphic, cryptozoology, furry, mysteries, rare animal, strange happenings, television, unexplained, unidentified
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The Sierra Nevada Sasquatch

March 18, 2010

– – In what may be the last episode of MonsterQuest ever, we were promised “aggressively territorial packs of Sasquatch,” and received, blobsquatch, a short,  low resolution May of 1991 video taken at Mono Lake that shows something east of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  Some contend that the creature depicted was a black bear, while others feel it was a genuine Bigfoot clone.  Enhancements of the footage revealed little in light of its poor quality, while whatever was depicted was calculated to be between six and eight feet high…

Perhaps more promising were the Jamie Avalos footprint casts suggesting smaller than average Sasquatch that may represent evidence of juvenile creatures; we all know how cute Sasquatch are at that age!  An adult Sasquatch print tends to run about 16″ long and show a flat foot.  MonsterQuest’s scientific team determined that the Sierra Nevada area (near the California-Nevada border) could support a group of large primates.

Lastly, there were the eyewitness reports, including a hunter who saw multiple creatures in 2005, and a motorist who had an encounter in 2006.  Such eyewitnesses appear credible, even if a bit shell-shocked.

If this is the last episode of MonsterQuest ever*, they have gone out with a whimper rather than a bang, and even Dr. Meldrum may not be enough to save the series.  At least we still have Destination Truth and possibly similar shows to come…

…and as for the Sasquatch, as one expert concluded on MonsterQuest, “They don’t want to  interact with human beings; if they do, they’ll let you know.”

(* I’ve since learned that another new episode of MonsterQuest is coming…America’s Wolfman, March 24th!)

Categories: animal occurrences, animal oddities, animals, anomalies, cryptozoology, mysteries, television, unexplained, unidentified
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Fishies of Fury!

March 4, 2010

– – I, for one, do not worry excessively about piranha, although Frankie the Fish does tend to annoy me because his McDonald’s jingle sticks inside my head.  (–“Gimme back that Fillet-O-Fish!”)

Anyways, MonsterQuest warned in their current episode that reports of piranha sightings have been growing around the country!–Yes, a Piranha Invasion! Even though these suckers are native to South American countries like Brazil, piranha have reportedly been caught every year for the past three years in the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.

So MonsterQuest sent their team to this very location where a baited underwater surveying system was submerged, using what they termed a “dead chicken”  as bait.  While the deceased chicken was shredded up a bit, cameras showed that native fish did it rather than piranha.  The science team additionally ran experiments to see if red-bellied piranha could survive in cold water as would be encountered in the Ozark lake in winter.  They found that the piranha huddled together in temperatures from 55 to 50 degrees, and below that point, they lost their equilibrium and would presumably croak.   Parts of the Ozark lake in question are fed by underwater streams that stay warmer,  possibly in the mid-to upper 50’s range in winter so piranha could survive.

The historical perspectives of the show were to me the most interesting, with reference made to a mega-piranha four times the size of the current model which became extinct ten million years ago.  None less than Teddy Roosevelt gave an account of Amazonian piranha back in 1914 which cemented their reputation as ferocious.  An old grainy black and white photo of about that vintage was also shown depicting a human body stripped to the skeleton supposedly by piranha.  Today, there are dozens of documented piranha attacks in South America, with many of the victims having lost pieces of fingers and toes.

With over 40 different species of piranha, some like the red bellied variety may be better able to survive cold water, and there may be a handful of piranha in the Ozark lake, although probably not a lively breeding population.   Nothing to lose sleep over…

…and maybe next week’s episode on a “Lizard Man” may be more interesting!

Categories: animals, anomalies, environmental, strange happenings, television
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“Mothman” on MonsterQuest…

February 12, 2010

– – We’ve posted here before on Mothman, but that was before the MonsterQuest edition.  After all of the humdrum episodes on rats, feral dogs, snakes, and killer bees The Quest has again found a cryptid subject worthy of their consideration!   One wonders why they took this long to get to Mothman…

This cryptid has been drawing attention for decades, and is described as appearing somewhat like a man-bat, standing about 7 feet tall, weighing around 250 pounds, and boasting an impressive 10-15 foot wingspan.  He has prominent red eyes, emits a high-pitched shriek, and can reach incredible speeds in flight, readily keeping up with a speeding car!   I love the re-creations of cryptid encounters that they do on The Quest! One idiot, after drag-racing Mothie in his car, was shown pulling over and chucking rocks at the cryptid!    Impressive was another re-creation that depicted Mothman perched gargoyle-like atop a tall bridge; really great stuff! – -This image alone made the episode for me, but I digress…

Anyhow, reports of the winged creature were previously best associated with sightings in Point Pleasant, West Virginia beginning in 1966 when over 100 encounters were recorded.  In 1967, the Silver Bridge buckled and collapsed in that town, causing 40 deaths and leading to the reputation of Mothman as a “dark angel” of some sort who shows up before local tragedies.   More recently,  Mothman is reputed to have branched out, showing up as far away from his original stomping grounds as Wisconsin.  Other supposed sightings were said to have taken place in New York City prior to the 9-11-01 terrorist attacks; even more recent was a 2009 sighting in Sacramento, California.

Now MonsterQuest tested the theory that Mothman is a known animal, most specifically a barn owl.  Their experiment showed that size estimates of Mothman cut-outs placed in locations varied widely, and were generally over-estimated.  In spite of this, a psychological expert testified that people will have high confidence in a distorted memory image, an image which can be fleeting and further distorted by the fear response.   “Psychological contagion” is also known to cause people to see things once they are reported.   MonsterQuest further demonstrated that the eyes of many animals will glow red as they reflect light at night, including barn owls.

Be this as it may, one is hard pressed to believe that misidentified barn owls account for all of the Mothman sightings.  In the absence of hard evidence, however, the truth as often happens is still out there…

…long live this “dark angel!”


Categories: anomalies, anthropomorphic, cool things, cryptozoology, strange happenings, television, unexplained, unidentified
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The Lizardman…

February 10, 2010

– – In the realm of body art and bodily modification, there are those who kind of press the envelope, and move in the direction of more radical transformations. One such person is Lizardman Erik Sprague…

Lizardman is quite intelligent, and at one time was a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy. He currently boasts approximately 700 hours of tattoo work dating back to 1994, leaving him with a disconcerting green, reptilian-skinned appearance. Additional bodily modifications include a split, bifurcated tongue and teeth filed to a point. For all of that, Erik, currently age 37, considers his startling transformation only about 80 percent complete.

A self-proclaimed “professional freak,” Sprague is a permanent performer whose repertoire includes sword swallowing, fire-eating, and other dangerous stunts.  He generates additional income through appearances at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museums and other events. The Lizardman has also recently penned Once More Through the Modified Looking Glass, and is a sane, rational, and thoughtful individual…

Categories: anomalies, scalies, things humans do
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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Dogs

February 7, 2010

– – Not only Good Time Charlie gets the blues; canines do, too!–Well, at least they seem to be capable of obsessive-compulsive disorder…

…the January issue of Molecular Psychiatry reports that scientists have located a gene for obsessive-compulsive disorder among certain canine breeds, especially Dobermans and bull terriers.  Up to 70% of some litters have OCD tendencies, compared to only 2% in the human population.  In canines this might be behaviorally manifested by such things as chasing their own tail or sucking on their own body parts.

Dogs with such behaviors are more likely to express a CDH2 gene.  Located on chromosome 7, that gene mediates communication between neurons in the brain.  The gene is located in the hippocampus in both humans and dogs.

So why should you care?–Well, the canine-human link could lead to preventive medicine and better treatment for obsessive disorders in both species.  The CDH2 gene may also be implicated in autism spectrum disorder as well.  The National Institute of Mental Health is conducting its own study, looking for the CDH2 gene in blood samples of human OCD patients; this would be the first confirmed psychiatric gene in humans, possibly with others to follow.

Neuropsychiatry promises to be a real growth field in the future, or so this fox thinks, and I’m crazy like one…


Categories: animals, anomalies, medical, science
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The Hillbilly Beast!

January 22, 2010

– – Not to be confused with Squidbillies or The Beverly Hillbillies, the Hillbilly Beast hangs out in rural Kentucky, with stories circulated about him for decades or longer.  In  fact, good ole Daniel Boone is reported to have killed a ten foot tall hairy beast that he called a “Yahoo,” not to be confused with the popular website portal and search engine!   In a worthy episode, MonsterQuest went in search of this cryptid.

Also known as “the hairy beast of the forest,” the Hillbilly Beast is reputed to stand eight to ten feet tall, and is a powerful, flesh-eating beastly creature who is covered with matted brown hair and makes strange howling cries at night. Recent eyewitness reports have matched legends, and many encounters with the beast have taken place near water.

Led by a professional animal tracker, the MonsterQuest team went to Henderson, Kentucky where they attempted to capture the beast’s vocalizations using “call-blasting,” projecting pre-recorded sounds out.  A high frequency response was provoked which set off coyote vocalizations.   Analysis of the recording yielded 15 or 16 known vocalizations but 20 to 30 unknown ones!   An unusual tooth was also discovered which could not be directly analyzed as its owner kept it as a “sacred object.”  An analysis of a picture of the tooth noted unusual flutings to it, but little more could be determined in the absence of the actual artifact.

A blurry September of 2009 camera trap image thought to possibly be the hillbilly beast was upon analysis determined to be a bird landing!

Most interestingly, a rock was chucked at team audio expert Joe Fox from across a river during the investigation!

While the Hillbilly Beast is felt by some to be a misidentified black bear, it may also be argued that the sheer number of hunters and locals reporting sightings make it unlikely that such is the case.  The MonsterQuest conclusion was that the study “calls for more investigations like this.”–What could be safer?

Categories: animals, anomalies, cryptozoology, furry, mysteries, strange happenings, television, unexplained
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Rabid Raccoons in Central Park!

December 9, 2009

– – Be afraid, be very afraid…of the rabid raccoons in New York City’s Central Park, that is!  You may also want to stay away from skunks, bats, and stray dogs and cats…(hey, I rhymed!)

The advisory was issued by health officials Monday, who believe that rabies is being transmitted among raccoons in the park.  Three rabid raccoons have been discovered at Central Park, two of them in the past week!   While rabid raccoons are rare in Manhattan, four have been identified so far this year.

Rabies is a viral disease that is usually transmitted from a bite or scratch by an infected animal; if not treated promptly, it can be fatal.  There hasn’t been a human rabies infection in New York City since 1953…

Categories: animal occurrences, animals, anomalies, science, strange happenings, unexplained
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Wild Turkey Plays Chicken!

November 18, 2009

– – A wild turkey…the bird, not the booze…has been running across the New Jersey Turnpike at Interchange 14B, playing in traffic, pecking at the windows of the administration building, and jumping on parked cars (which it especially seems to enjoy)!  Efforts to capture and remove the elusive bird have been unsuccessful, and so for the present time at least, the turkey has been allowed to run rampant, the proud bird with the golden tail!

–Seems to me that this “bird brain” is giving the bird to the naked apes!

Categories: animal occurrences, animals, anomalies, strange happenings
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The Arica Monster…

November 5, 2009

Arica monster– –Destination Truth recently had an episode with a secondary storyline line on the Arica Monster, a supposedly raptor-like creature inhabiting the Northern Chilean desert.  On the desert road, people have reported seeing a dinosaur-like beast keeping pace with their cars, a neat trick.  Described as large, standing on his hind legs, and having leathery skin, the beast is a fast runner with a distinctive three-toed print who attacks with razor-sharp teeth.

Destination Truth often has comic overtones that MonsterQuest lacks (remember the Mongolian Death Worms episode?), and Josh Gates and his team have such a limited budget that they are reduced to pursuing travel arrangements on Orbitz. They tend to take spills and get sick even while thoroughly enjoying themselves.   As for the raptor remnant, expert opinion is that it was a rhea, an ostrich-like bird with a three-toed print…

Categories: animals, anomalies, cool things, cryptozoology, extinct species, mysteries, television, unexplained, unidentified
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