Archive for the ‘strange happenings’ category

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?

Iguanas Dropping From Trees!

January 9, 2010

– – How cold is it in Florida?- -Cold enough so that iguanas are dropping off the trees!

Scientists say that when temperatures drop below 40 degrees, so do the iguanas; they essentially go into hibernation in order to survive!  This fact has spawned at least one urban legend of a guy who collected some stunned iguanas and put a bunch of them in the back seat of his car, thinking them dead.  – –Well, when he ran the heat in his car, the  iguanas came back to life, probably asked to be driven to Taco Belle, and began crawling all over things, to catastrophic effect- -or at least so the story says!

Meanwhile, more than 140 Florida sea turtles have washed up on the shores within a 48-hour period, stunned by the cold.  The turtles simply become lethargic, can’t swim anymore, and wash up on shore.  The Florida Aquarium is helping some of the turtles survive…

At least we have stunned iguanas raining from trees to talk about until the new season of MonsterQuest begins!

Beat It!

December 30, 2009

– – You know those drum circles that are supposed to be great guy-bonding rituals?- -Well, an unnamed female really got into some guys wailing away on skins at the United Campus Ministry near the University of New Hampshire, getting into showing off her moves, and maybe, I dunno, doing the funky chicken or whatever.- – Well, the babe came down with anthrax soon thereafter…

Experts are saying that while dancing, the young lady must have inhaled thousands of anthrax spores from the African drums being used, with such spores becoming aerosolized when the guys started beating on the animal skin heads of their drums!- -Sounds far-fetched, but stranger things have happened…

– – Heh, make our furry hides into drums, will they?!- -We’ll show them to beat it! 😉

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

December 26, 2009

– – We’re not talking The Wizard of Oz, either…but in 2001, police raided a local drugs gang in Atlanta, Georgia who were keeping a lion, a tiger, and a bear cub as status symbols.  Well, the three predators were rescued by the Noah’s Ark Animal Rescue Centre in Atlanta, and lived in the same enclosure upon their arrival at the animal sanctuary.

They were allowed to stay living together, and an unlikely friendship flourished.  Nine years later, Leo the lion, Shere Khan the tiger, and Baloo the bear are still together…Believe It, Or Not!

Whale Wars!

December 23, 2009

– – Animal rights activists and Japanese whalers have had a not always cold war raging for some time.  Last year there was a collision between an activist vessel and a whaler, as well as incidents when activists hurled rancid butter and stink bombs!–Whoa!

More recently this month, anti-whaling activists have accused Japanese harpooners of using water cannons, loudspeakers, and military-grade acoustic weapons as part of skirmishes in the Antarctic.  The Sea Shepherd animal rights group said a Japanese vessel closed in on their boat, the Steve Irwin, and deployed water cannons and long-range acoustical devices (LRADs) against them.  Acoustical devices have been used for crowd control, to repel pirates, and have also been used by U.S. forces in Iraq.  The Japanese whaling vessel, the Shonan Maru No. 2,  also is reported to have chased and circled the Steve Irwin for two hours in a campaign of harrassment, setting off that vessel’s collision alert alarm fourteen times.  In what must have been an awesome water war, the Irwin also deployed its water cannon against the Japanese vessel, resulting in two very wet crews but no injuries!

Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands have called for restraint on both sides before the rancid butter hurling gets totally out of hand…

(…rancid butter hurling and water cannons!–I’d have given anything to have been in on that!- -Then again, I smell funny when my fur gets wet…)

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…

Gollum-Like Creature Found…

December 3, 2009

– – Here at  Foxsylvania, we spend much of our time looking for disgusting and unidentifiable creatures washed up on the shore which might be aliens, monsters, cryptids, or perhaps my old supervisor. It was then regarded as quite a find when this loathsome-looking thing was found by teenagers last September feebly crawling out of a cave in a town while they were playing in  Cerro Azul north of Panama City.

–Well, they did what kids anywhere would do, namely beat it to death with sticks and then threw its lifeless body into a pool of water!   This neatly does away with the need for health insurance or a retirement plan for unidentified life forms.

Regarded by some as a cousin to the Montauk Monster, the creature was later pretty conclusively identified as a hairless sloth, whose last impressions of humans were probably not favorable…and what will those kids say when Santa asks them if they’ve been good?


Camel Chaos!

November 29, 2009

– – And you thought that Joe Camel was bad?- -About 6.000 feral camels are rampaging through a remote Australian town, causing chaos and terrifying the 330 or so locals! The community of Docker River is said by the Northern Territory government to be “under siege!”  Apparently the surreal situation began about four weeks ago with 25 or 30 camels, but more and more continued to arrive, looking for water.  On a number of occasions, the camels have barged into people’s homes, tearing up bathrooms and ripping apart water pipes!   At least Joe Camel only peddled carcinogens.

The camels are part of a wild herd of over a million camels which roam the central Australian desert.  They are the descendants of camels introduced to the country in the 19th century when white settlers built roads and rail across the Outback, and used camels for transportation.   They were set free afterwards, and have been breeding and multiplying ever since.  With few natural predators and abundant land in which to roam, the camel population has soared, putting pressure on  native species by reducing food resources, destroying habitat, and spreading disease.

Sadly, the camels will be culled, rounded up to be taken out of town and shot.   It is said that the camel population needs to be reduced by about two-thirds to reduce catastrophic damage…a sad testimonial to what can happen when humans introduce non-native species to a fragile ecosystem…

Bizarre Calf Mutilations!

November 28, 2009

– -A creepy string of calf mutilations in southern Colorado has a rancher and sheriff’s officials mystified.  Four calves were found dead in a pasture just north of the New Mexico state line in recent weeks; the dead calves had their skins peeled back and organs cleared from the rib cage.  One even had its tongue removed…

There were no signs of human attackers, such as footprints or ATV tracks.  Additionally, there were no signs of an animal attack by a coyote or mountain lion, which usually leave pools of blood or drag marks from carrying off their prey.

There have been other unexplained calf mutilations in the area, including three last March.  One of the other calves, found dead on a ranch near Trinidad, had its ears removed…

…some,  of course, believe that the mutilations are the work of aliens, and a UFO chaser has been to the Costilla County pasture to investigate.  The truth is out there!

Hopping Mad!

November 24, 2009

– – Let sleeping kangaroos lie!–Such might be the advice of a 49-year-old Australian walking his dog who startled a sleeping ‘roo Sunday morning in Arthur’s Creek northeast of Melbourne.

The man’s dog chased the ‘roo into a pond, and that’s when clobberin’ time began!  The kangaroo turned at that point and pinned the dog underwater!  When the man tried to pull his pet free, the ‘roo took on all comers, using his powerful hind legs to tear a deep gash into the guy’s abdomen and face.

The guy had to throw an elbow to the five-foot kangaroo’s throat to get him to end the attack.  His dog, Rocky, was “half-drowned.”

–That was one mighty marsupial!