– – When MonsterQuest has a re-run marathon fest, I can usually tell by the number of renewed hits that I get on my old posts on past episodes of The Quest. It’s the good episodes that get the hits…like myself, most people aren’t as interested in installments on wild dogs, rats, or bees.
So mundane and unexciting were some of these episodes, in fact, that we can bring you this picture of a MonsterQuest reject…in fact, he might have been more interesting than some of the episodes that aired!
— 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!”
–More convincing than other installments, the latest episode of MonsterQuest re-examined the classic Patterson film footage (vintage 1967) of a supposed Bigfoot as well as looked to the “Cripplefoot tracks” of an injured Bigfoot from Washington state in 1969. Lastly, the mid-tarsal break evidenced in Bigfoot tracks was examined.
Bends to the mid-foot represented in alledged Bigfoot prints show a skeletal structure more similar to primates than humans. The Cripplefoot tracks show a low probability of being a hoax due to the accurate representation of the deformity, and are judged to be not human in nature. Lastly, the Patterson film footage in simulations was judged in the MonsterQuest episode not to be a human in a suit, and to represent a figure of a size larger than human. The movement of fur and underlying tissue reflected in the film would also appear to present a level of realism and technology that was not available using 1967 materials and methodology.
The Patterson film (aka, the Patterson-Gimlin film) has been subjected to many attempts over the years both to debunk and authenticate it; scientists remain divided on the authenticity of the sighting. We won’t go into the Patterson film in detail here as books can and have been written about it, one by Greg Long. Some maintain that the film is a well-executed hoax, with Planet of the Apes special effects pioneer John Chambers being judged capable of having made the Patterson film suit. At least one person claims to have been the person inside the suit.
Understandably, the MonsterQuest presentation was sympathetic to the viewpoint of the Patterson film being the real deal. Whether you believe in the authenticity of the film or not, it is among the most renowned artifacts in the field of paranormal study. Many, like anthropologist Grover Krantz, have concluded that the film depicts a genuine unknown creature…
…we can only keep hoping for additional verifiable confirmations.
– – Heh, you gotta love MonsterQuest for its theatrical episode titles, and this one sounds like a B-movie out of the 50’s! Anyhow, the Monkster is described as up to 8′ tall but nimble; he’d be a great b-ball player. Monkey Man also has black hair, a gorilla-like face, and makes strange sounds. It’s a complete package.
Indigenous to India, accounts of Monkey Man date back to 77 B.C., when he was described by Pliny. Supposed attacks of the creature reached a high in May 2001 in Delhi, with victims beaten and clawed by a powerful assailant; three people died while fleeing the creature, and dozens were hospitalized. The most recent attacks are attributed to Meghalaya, where 14-1/2″ footprints and broken branches were found. Natives in this part of India call the creature “the forest man.” Blood samples were taken from the walls of a dwelling where an encounter occurred, and hair samples were also found elsewhere.
And what, you may ask, did MonsterQuest find?–Interestingly enough, the bites that were found on supposed victims were of a different nature than those inflicted by a monkey or another animal. Hairs that were found and subjected to microscopic analysis were found to be similar to those of the red panda; blood samples were human. Police investigations in Delhi were negative, and experts suggest a mass hysteria/psychosis phenomenon.
A Hindu deity also has simian features, but he is noted to be a benign type, not really into the biting, scratching, and clawing thing…
– – Do pterosaurs still exist in the 21st century?- -Perhaps in Papua, New Guinea, suggests MonsterQuest. Called the Demon Flyer or Ropens by natives, stories exist concerning the creatures going back to the 16th century. The creature is said to have killed men and scavenged graves, and may boast wingspans of over 30 feet. It is largely nocturnal, and most strangely is in some accounts said to be bioluminescent.
Now the smart money says that pterosaurs survived to the end of the Cretaceous Period, becoming extinct about 65 million years ago. Sightings of pterosaurs may be misidentified frigate birds or a new bat species. Known species such as the greater flying fox (gotta love that one!) may have a wingspan of six feet.
Not to be discouraged, MonsterQuest deployed a thermal camera and a 300 square foot bat net. The thermal camera yielded images of two campfires, and the bat net caught a blossom bat. More intriguing was a 2006 video showing two lights thought to be the bioluminescence from some creatures; analysis of the video showed that the lights were not flashlights, fires, or meteors.
While the MonsterQuest inventigation failed to yield a video of a glowing pterosaur, New Guinea is rightfully noted to be a remote island boasting amazing biodiversity and many uncatalogued species, some of which may be surprising…
FOXSYLVANIA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.