–The Elephant Bird once inhabited the island of Madagascar off the eastern coast of Africa, and was the largest bird ever to have lived, weighing up to half a ton and standing up to ten feet tall. The birds resembled heavily built ostriches, with small heads, massive legs, taloned claws, vestigial wings, and a long, powerful neck. The eggs of the creature were 13 inches long, and held the equivalent of 200 hen’s eggs; such eggs were bigger than the largest known dinosaur eggs.
Specialized to an island environment with no large predators, the elephant bird was essentially hunted to extinction by good ole homo sapiens, vanishing entirely by 1700. Egg-collecting by Europeans also contibuted to their demise as the birds bred slowly, and their enormous eggs could only be laid in small numbers.
Legends of the giant roc in Arab folklore were probably based on the elephant bird, which is now sadly as dead as the dodo…
–A mysterious creature has been reported around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Described as reddish, weighing about 200 pounds, and looking like a giant beaver, the animal may be a pig or a capybara, although game officials think it is most likely a nutria.
— One impact of the current economic recession has been increasing abandonment of domestic animal pets by their former owners, simply for the reason that their masters can no longer afford them. In some cases, 
–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.
–There’s a special place in my heart for the Jersey Devil, having resided in New Jersey for years in the past. I never liked portrayals of the Jersey Devil 
–MonsterQuest 
–Known as The Swamp Stalker of Boggy Creek or The Boggy Creek Monster, this cryptid is reportedly a large, black-haired, barrel-chested creature who walks upright and stands about 7′ high. He was the subject of a 1972 movie titled, 
—Travis the Chimpanzee was 15 years old and weighed 200 lbs.; an animal celebrity, he had appeared in commercials for Coca-Cola and 
–Some things shouldn’t happen to a dog…but they do!
–A baby reticulated giraffe born at the Buffalo Zoo has been named Malia after President Obama’s oldest daughter. Amazingly, some people have found this offensive whereas the zoo has maintained that it was intended as an honor. Giraffes have been named after other famous people, including Clint Eastwood
FOXSYLVANIA 
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