“America’s Wolfman” on MonsterQuest

Posted March 25, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal oddities, animals, anomalies, anthropomorphic, cryptozoology, furry, mysteries, rare animal, strange happenings, television, unexplained, unidentified
Tags: ,

– – 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Dogman),  the creature was supposedly revealed on the Gable Film acquired in 2006 with the backstory of having been originally made in the 1970’s and acquired at an estate sale.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!

Comments: 2 Comments

Monkey Business…

Posted March 24, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, furries, furry, strange happenings
Tags: ,

– – In another safety drill at Tama Zoo in Tokyo, an employee dressed in an orangutan suit acted out the scenario of a primate escaping the perimeter fence in the orangutan enclosure.

A member of the staff was seized by the beast before he met his match in a keeper armed with a tranquilizer gun…

A Far Side cartoon is begging to be drawn with zoo visitors viewing obvious “animals” in fursuits, perhaps the result of budgetary cuts…and even the old Planet of the Apes series had far better orangutan costumes!

Comments: 2 Comments

Japanese Zoo Captures Furry!

Posted March 22, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, furries, furry, humor, strange happenings
Tags: ,

– – As if furries didn’t get enough disrespect, a Japanese zoo in February practiced response to a tiger escape using…and I swear I am not making this up…a guy in a tiger suit!

A Tokyo animal park conducted the drill to train the zookeepers in emergencies such as a tiger escaping.  About 100 firefighters took part in the drill, together with police and one person in a tiger fursuit.    To his credit, the cute stunt tiger evaded authorities for minutes while zookeepers practiced taking shots with a tranquilizer gun and eventually capturing the ferocious furry.   He did knock one of them down, and they will probably remember him…this is, after all, the Year of the Tiger!

Comments: 1 Comment

Bee-Venom Therapy?

Posted March 20, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: insects, medical, science, things humans do
Tags: ,

– – I, for one, don’t like being stung by insects, and have gotten more than enough of that while mowing the lawn.   There are those who think, however, that being stung by bees is good for what ails you, including conditions such as arthritis, tendonitis, multiple sclerosis,  fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and even depression. – -Hey, let’s go out and get stung!- -That ought to give us a lift!

Now believers in apitherapy don’t wait for random insect attacks, but rather tend to use groups of up to 100 honey bees raised for the purpose.  Self-treatment seems to be common, while more formal treatments are offered in the orient for the equivalent of about $18.

Does it work?- – Persuasive personal testimonials are out there, but so are sightings of aliens and Bigfoot.   Supportive research studies are few and far between.  Studies in Greece and South Korea have shown anti-arthritic effects in mice, which of course we like to see lively and flexible.  Most results are not conclusive, and while the benefits of such therapy are uncertain, the dangers are clear with about 2% of the population susceptible to allergic reactions from the stings of bees and wasps.   Those considering a full bee barrage should also consider the fact that your body tolerated the first 99 stings doesn’t guarantee it can handle the 100th…

Comments: 5 Comments

Leprechauns on “Destination Truth”

Posted March 19, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: cool things, cryptozoology, television, unidentified
Tags: ,

– – Right on time for St. Paddy’s Day, Destination Truth opened its new season with episodes featuring paranormal activity at Masada and the possibility of leprechauns.

The Ghosts of Masada installment was handled far more seriously as befitted the historical occurrences at the site, and we won’t dwell on it here.  The attribution of sounds heard at the site to reverberations from the surrounding geography was logical, while the visual image captured of an apparent robed figure was striking, and not as readily explained.

When it came to the matter of leprechauns, Josh Gates and his team knew better than to take the matter seriously, and it was all done in good fun.  Downing a few pints at a local Irish pub in the name of “research” set the tone which continued with the presentation of a leprechaun “skeleton” at the pub (apparent chicken bones), and went so far as a spirited discussion on the components of Lucky Charms cereal.  There were also the bones extracted in the field which turned out to be those of a sheep.- –May all the saints preserve us!

Fun and games aside, the historical and cultural Celtic background of leprechauns was fascinating, and I prefer my leprechauns on the dark side rather than cutesy.  In earlier times, belief in fairies and woodland spirits paralleled current belief in UFO’s.

Sure wish we could find some leprechauns…competent cobblers are hard to find these days!  And we can always catch some Lucky Charms; they’re magically delicious!

Comments: 2 Comments

The Sierra Nevada Sasquatch

Posted March 18, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal occurrences, animal oddities, animals, anomalies, cryptozoology, mysteries, television, unexplained, unidentified
Tags:

– – 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!)

Comments: 2 Comments

One Tough Dog!

Posted March 18, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal occurrences, animal oddities, animals, strange happenings
Tags: ,

– – From our tough dog department, we bring you the tail of a dog in Chattanooga, Tenn. that escaped from a fence in a nearby welding shop, and decided that he could take on a local cop who was running radar, and ruining the day for some otherwise law-abiding motorists…

…well, imagine the look on that public servant’s face when he felt his squad car shaking, and saw a bulldog chewing on his tires!   The mighty mutt also attacked two passing cars and a second police car, and was not deterred when the police used pepper spray and a Taser on him!

By the time that animal center staffers captured mighty dog and two others, he had chewed two tires and the entire front bumper off the first patrol car!- – Talk about bulldog tenacity!  If a Klingon owned a dog, it would be like that one!

Comments: 2 Comments

Meaning in Randomness…

Posted March 17, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: psychology, strange happenings, unexplained
Tags: ,

– – There is that in the human mind which wants to see patterns in chaos, and order in the random.  Pareidolia is the term for the psychological phenomenom where a vague or random stimulus is assigned a pattern or meaning by the person perceiving it, and regarded to be significant.  Examples of this might include seeing faces or animals in clouds, Elvis in bathroom mold, or Jesus in food residue…

Consider this instance of an image of Christ found in bacon remnants that were created when a young English gentleman went to cook up some bacon in a frying pan, falling asleep and awakening to find an apparent divine image in what remained.  Dependent upon the nature of the image, their size, and their location, crowds of the faithful or the merely curious can be drawn, and fortunes made by sale of the item on eBay.

We will leave it to others to ponder whether the bacon was cured by Jesus, or if the real miracle was that the gentleman didn’t burn his house down!- -No wonder some think bacon tastes divine!    😉

Comments: 1 Comment

Sock Monkey Mania!

Posted March 16, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal oddities, Brilliant but twisted, television
Tags:

– – Sock monkeys seem to be going through a renaissance lately.  I’ve always found sock monkeys vaguely unnerving, and I’m not sure that I entirely trust them, feeling that there’s more to them than meets the eye.  This impression has been heightened for me by the Kia Sorento “Joyride” commercial featuring a life-sized sock monkey together with his equally-unlikely companions that include a robot, a teddy bear, a knobby orange thing called “Muno,” and “Mr. X.”

Well, no good can come from this unholy alliance, and the strange crew goes on a road trip that includes stops at a bowling alley, a mountainside hot tub, a tattoo parlor, and even Las Vegas where they gamble and show off a few dance moves; what goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas, often for good reason.

But suddenly, we flash back to reality, where the characters in this surreal little drama turn out to be toys in the back seat of a Sorento!  It’s kinda like A Toy Story on acid, or maybe a rejected Twilight Zone episode…

…and I’m still uneasy about sock monkeys!   Perhaps it’s because he’s shown driving the car, although from what I’ve seen some cars might be better driven by a sock monkey…at least he’s not texting!     😉

Comments: 7 Comments

Billy the Exterminator!

Posted March 13, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal occurrences, animals, Brilliant but twisted, cool things, furry, television
Tags:

– – You may not want to watch this show while eating, especially when he’s grappling with cockroaches, but otherwise Billy the Exterminator on the A & E network is a hoot!

Now Louisiana has lots of critters needing removal, and Billy together with his brother, Ricky, and other members of his family run a small but effective operation that’s shared with you.   Billy himself looks like an over-aged punk rocker or goth, complete with spiked hair, black clothes,  spiked armband, and  an aura of cheerful insanity; such apparently helps in that business.   He seems like a really nice guy and knows his stuff, even if you wouldn’t want him to marry your sister…anyhow, ladies, he’s taken!   As far as exterminators go, Billy’s also refreshingly humane, and tends to be into relocation of most of the life forms he removes, except for the insects.- –Catch and Release, three words to live by!

Watch a few episodes, and you’ll see Billy remove poisonous snakes, raccoons, bats, beavers, and a variety of other mammals and invertebrates from sites where they’re not wanted.  In a recent surreal episode, the intrepid exterminator was called upon to remove a nasty, p.o.’d rattlesnake from the cremation area of a funeral parlor.  It’s not all the glory stuff, however…in an another episode, you crawl along with Billy as he goes underneath a building to remove the festering and rancid corpse of a bloated, decomposing cat that’s stinking to high heaven.–“Fluffy’s not so fluffy anymore,” jokes Billy, noting that bugs are crawling in and out of the late cat’s head.- -Sure am glad that I wasn’t snacking during that one!

So give Billy the Exterminator a look…he’s got an interesting if offbeat life, and you might find a new role model!


Comments: 3 Comments

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »