— By most accounts, the big cat population in upstate New York was eliminated by the early 20th century; how then to explain a series of eyewitness reports of seeing them there, in particular large black cats? The mountain lion is believed to be the only large cat to exist freely in the U.S.–Are people seeing an escaped exotic pet?
It’s MonsterQuest to the rescue, setting up thermal-sensing cameras and sending out decoy calls to lure the elusive cats! As usual, deer, raccoon, squirrels, and even lynx were detected by the cameras. The cameras revealed food sources sufficient to support a large cat. More intriguingly, claw marks were found on a tree, and tracks were found that match those of the leopard…
…additionally, more lions and tigers are believed to be in private ownership than exist in zoos! The first leopard arrived in the United States in 1768, with the first tigers brought in in 1806. Sadly, there is little or no regulation by most states on the private ownership of exotic animals. An animal who is fun when adopted as a cub grows up to be a predator, and “there is no such thing as a tame wild animal.”
MonsterQuest additionally performed a DNA analysis of 30 captive tigers, finding that over half showed moderate to severe inbreeding; this leads to increased genetic abnormalities which in turn can cause behavioral abnormalities, including increased aggression. Such aggression can lead to cases like that cited by MonsterQuest of a couple hiking that were attacked and mauled by a large cat in January of 2007.
The conclusion of the MonsterQuest team was that big cats are out there in the eastern United States, but are not easily found…and as the poet once wrote, “If called by a panther,/don’t answer!”
— Look!–Up in the sky!–Is it a bird?–Is it a plane?–Is Sarah Palin killing wolves from aircraft?–No, it’s an 
More intriguing was the corpse of a immature creature (left) captured in 2007 and now mummified, but reported to have been alive and aggressive when captured; the connection was that perhaps this was an infantile form of a flying humanoid, some kind of previously-unknown species. Described as appearing between a rat and a monkey, this small corpse was at first thought to have been that of a skinned monkey, although it was later found to have rudimentary skin, fangs, and semi-human features including a double arch which is thought to have given the creature the capacity to stand. Large eye orbits in the remains suggest that the beast had good vision. A piece of the creature’s tail was taken for DNA analysis, and it was found to contain no identifiable material! In other words, they’re not sure what it is! The creature appeared primate-like in appearance.
— If you haven’t heard, the Sci Fi channel has been re-branded Syfy; 
– – Not wishing to alarm you, valued readers, but you may wish to know that a cat has been born in Chongqing, China with wing-like growths on their back…moreover, other cats with this feature were noted in Sichuan province in China in August of 2008 (pictured).
–It has a large, somewhat mammalian head, clawed fins, and a trident-like tail…so they say of Florida’s sea monster, with sightings dating back to the 1800’s. There’s apparently more than one of these puppies, and they have the potential to move quickly with a lot of power. Hours of video footage exist by a guy named Sowerwine showing bits and pieces of the creature.
–A pink Bottlenose dolphin has been found swimming in an inland lake in Louisiana, USA. The dolphin is actually an albino variant, which is reflected in its reddish eyes. Other than its hue, the dolphin appears normal and healthy.
–Cattle mutilations repel and fascinate at the same time; examination of the photographic record is not recommended for the overly-sensitive or those with weak stomachs. Thousands of cattle mutilation cases have occurred in North America under abnormal circumstances; cows 
—The Cartoon Network tends to be a mixed bag, with some decent ‘toons and some better left forgotten. A cute, funny, and very viewable series that didn’t originate there is Skunk Fu, featuring a panda kung fu master and a variety of martial-arts trained anthropomorphic animals. Skunk is a likable, spunky title character given to laziness at times and seeking shortcuts. Vulpines are well-represented by Fox, a vixen who is quite graceful and alluring 
–Not to be confused with Howie Mandel, a Yowie is an unidentified hominid reputed to lurk in the Australian wilderness of Queensland. This cryptid is similar to the North American Bigfoot and the Himalayan Yeti. 
FOXSYLVANIA 
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