January 2009

31st January: Take it to the Bridge. The latest episode of Jordan Warner's Cryptid Hunt is now out. This one is
the spookiest yet and covers the saga of Mothman.
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31st January: Six years ago, almost to the day, Jon was at Bolam Lake in Northumberland when he had a life-changing experience. He saw a monster..
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31st January: Jon's stepdaughter is in her final year as a Veterinary Student. She tells us about the stuff that really
shouldn't happen to a vet..
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31st January: The bad news, and the good news of amphibian conservation, with a healthy dollop of crypto.
Nice one Fleur!
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31st January: Karl Shuker follows on from yesterday's article on the buru, and talks about lungfish
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31st January: Tim Matthews goes down the yellow brick road in search of the Oz Factor
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31st January: Jon realises that one of his childhood pets has great significance for those of us trying to unwravel the
mysteries of evolutionary biology: Read about The Great Speciator
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31st January: CFZ member John "Brojo" Wooldridge has a present for us all
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31st January: It was 40 years ago today
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30th January: We have a look in the cryptozoology archives for the story of what we believe might be a hitherto
undiscovered giant lungfish
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30th January: A Cryptozoological Call to Arms: There has never been a better time to get involved with the CFZ
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30th January: Why do whales commit suicide?
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30th January: The peculiar tale of the drug baron's escaped pets. How hippos arrived in South America..
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30th January: Cryptozoology works in mysterious ways.
Max goes in search of big cats and comes back with ravens. Goodness me!
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30th January: Cryptozoology in action On the track of unknown terrapins.
To compliment Glen's article (see below) we revisit a perennial mystery within the CFZ. What the hell is Cuthbert?
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30th January: Guest blogger Glen Vaudrey tells some turtle tales
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30th January: Cryptozoology? Or not? We have recently received photographs of what appear to be enormous
footprints, which were allegedly taken in Northern California. What do you think?
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30th January: John Martyn (1948-2009) is dead. Rest in peace
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29th January: The CFZ Archiving project is finally underway - fifteen years after we announced it.
And there are free downloads
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29th January: A new species of Chinese Babbler -
that is news which makes Jon happy. He tells you why
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29th January: The delightful (and unusually heartwarming for the CFZ bloggo) story of Millie the Fox
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29th January: Over in Illinois, Derek goes to another Hunter's Meal and gets more information
about these damned elusive mystery carnivores..
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29th January: Richard Holland, the editor of Paranormal Magazine goes in search of Man Monkeys
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29th January: A trapped echidna is released into the wild - pictures
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29th January: Richard Freeman concludes his trilogy of articles on Crocodile Cults
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29th January: Colin Higgins: The tench: does it have mystick healing properties?
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28th January: In a CFZ exclusive, legendary Czech explorer Ivan Mackerle takes us on a jouney to
Madagascar in search of the elephant bird. Is it extinct? Or does it still survive? Lots of pictures
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28th January: Jon muses on the subject of the latest alternative agriculture news,
and wonders about its implications for conservation
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28th January: How Oll saved the CFZ menagerie
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28th January: I bet you didn't know this.
Corinna explains a rather revolting biochemical method that cats use to catch rats..
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28th January: Reactions to Karl Shuker's latest books HERE and HERE
28th January: Shuker's Technicolour Dream Cat: Karl Shuker looks at some strangely coloured wildcat species,
and examines some species that aren't
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28th January: The second and final part of our look at Naturalised Fish of the World
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28th January: Horrible news from West Thurrock Marshes. Gordon is indeed a moron
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28th January: Oll Lewis takes a look at the extinction of the flightless grebe of Guatamala
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27th January: Maxy is back on the track of the Beast of Wells
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27th January: A cautionary tale of a rare treefrog, an airport, and Mother Nature with her most resilient boots on..
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27th January: A raccoon in Dorset? A brave lady with a water pistol? Fleur Fulcher?
Put the three of them together and you certainly have a story..
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27th January: Tony Lucas asks: Whatever happened to the New Zealand apeman?
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27th January: Crocodile Cults - part two
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27th January: Naturalised fish of the world - part one
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27th January: Interesting Indian wildlife sightings
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27th January: Glen Vaudrey on perception (both cultural and physical) and mystery animals
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26th January: Richard Muirhead on the freshwater seahorses of a lake who's name has amused generations of
schoolboys. (Warning, contains a lengthy, and slightly touching, prologue about Jon's youth)
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26th January: Tim Matthews gets all pastoral and takes his kids on a nature walk
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26th January: Graham Inglis and Chris Packham get controverisal. Is it all over for pandas? What do you think?
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26th January: Corinna Downes goes in search of the ultimate chicken... and finds an extinct moa
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26th January: Karl Shuker waxes lyrical on the subject of musical molluscs -
yes, that's right: the seas are alive with the sound of shellfish
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26th January: Dr Dan Holdsworth has a pop at answering some of the questions raised yesterday
by Oll Lewis about the mysterious undersea "Bloop"
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26th January: It is stilletos as dawn. A bitchfight par excellence Sarah Palin is attacking beluga whales, and
Fleur Fulcher ain't having any of it. There's even a competition.
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26th January: New to all this? Worried that your lack of cryptozoological knowledge will make you the laughing stock of your local pub? Never fear, help is at hand with our very own cryptozoological reading list
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25th January: Richard Freeman with the first of three articles about Crocodile Cults
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25th January: Why is Corinna naming turtles after Norse gods? Has the first lady of the CFZ finally lost it?
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25th January: A thought provoking look at the problem of feral cats down under
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25th January: A public service or shameless self-promotion? Only you can answer that.
Check out our new featured CFZ books panel at the top of the page
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25th January: Over in Illinois the incomparable Derek Grebner writes about the state's history
of strange flying beasts...
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25th January: Check out our dummy page for the new CFZ Outreach project for schools.
All comments welcome
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25th January: Oll Lewis goes in search of the source of a mystery noise which has been heard in the ocean depths. If it is the call of a new whale it could be from a cetacean far larger than anything currently known...
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25th January: A Call to Arms: Nick Redfern is recruiting.
"He wants you, he wants you, he wants you for a new recruit"
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24th January: Corinna explains how - and why one of her favourite folk metal bands - Turisas -
are named after a notorious sea monster...
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24th January: Our friends at Big Cats in Britain [BCIB] have unmasked a particularly interesting big cat hoax
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24th January: How an industrious Sri Lankan bank clerk discovered a new species of civet cat, and rediscovered
another. You can tell he doesn't work for Nat West...
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24th January: Peculiar new catfish poses more questions than answers
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24th January: Richard Freeman explains how cryptozoological evidence can sometimes turn up,
forgotten, in the back rooms of museums
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24th January: Mystery parrots of the world - lots of pictures
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24th January: A world exclusive from Dr Karl Shuker: A sinister sand-dwelling Persian unicorn
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24th January: Matthew Osborne provides a cryptozoological version of `A Rake's Progress`.
He was once a Town Councillor - now he drives Jon and Max, and bags of fish, around the countryside
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24th January: Richard Freeman is profiled in a Geordie newspaper.
They get some of their facts wrong (by giving him Jon's job, for example) but otherwise it is all good fun
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23rd January: Guest blogger Colin Higgins takes a look at the burbot.
A true British cryptozoological mystery
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23rd January: Still on the aquatic theme - freshwater octopi. Could such a thing be? WARNING: Includes video of girls in bikinis
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23rd January: The debate on the Yemen mystery cat continues (scroll to the comments)
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23rd January: A particularly revolting update on the progress of an enigmatic carnivore: The CFZ Dog
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23rd January: Karl Shuker waxes lyrical upon the subject of Bigfoot, and its cultural and mythological origins. With
lovely illustrations by the incomparable Bill Rebsamen
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23rd January: Max Blake continues with the ongoing saga of the `Beast of Wells` - the mystery cat of east Somerset. In this episode they come too close for comfort to the beast, and our hero realises that some people are not very nice
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23rd January: Corinna Downes, first lady of the CFZ continues to muse on Owlman and Habadashery..
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23rd January: Elizabeth Clem, our Indiana representative, tells us a story of something particularly unpleasant
dropping from the skies
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22nd January: Corinna Downes, spouse of the director uncovers a mystery. Has the grotesquely surreal Owlman of
Mawnan entered the habadashery business?
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22nd January: Mike Hallowell, card carrying Geordie (for those of you outside the UK it means he comes from a
specific part of the North East of England) introduces himself to the cryptoblogs and gives us an introduction to the
cryptozoology of Tyneside and Northumberland
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22nd January: This was always meant as a two-way process, and we are overjoyed to see people from the crypto
community getting involved. Tonight we are pleased to be able to showcase two interesting comments on the recent mystery cat stories HERE and HERE. Interestingly they are both from animal welfare professionals.
22nd January: Finally for today, Richard Freeman answers a comment on his Thunderbird article a few days ago Click here for further details...
22nd January: Following on from the discussions about weird whales that have proliferated across the CFZ
bloggythings over the last few days, Dr Karl Shuker, weighs in with a description of some two tusked narwhals
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22nd January: Another mystery cat? How does he do it? Darren Naish has unearthed a mysterious moggy from
Yemen, whilst our Omani representative tells us of possible surviving Arabian lions
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22nd January: Oll Lewis on giant squids; a continuation of his ongoing guest blogger spots. But what exactly is a `Sea Monk`?
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22nd January: Tim Matthews takes the stand and described what is, and what should never be. Not only that, but he does it - as always - with aplomb and flair. Hurrah!
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22nd January: General updates about the CFZ site, Radio CFZ etc
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21st January: Doc Shiels wrote to us this morning. He wants to share some changes in his life with us. He has retired as Wizard of the Western World, preferring to keep the title of Mage of Munster...
read on MacDuff
21st January: Derk Grebner is fast becoming a CFZ fixture, and we have only known him about a week. Today he
explores the myths of the Illinois sasquatch..
check it out
21st January: The delightful Fleur Fulcher goes in search of the ultimate lobster - with surreal results.....
continue to page...
21st January: Max Blake starts a blog of his own, he introduces himself HERE and then continues with the latest gory news about the Somerset big cat and his one man hunt for it.....lead me to it..
21st January: We welcome Dr Karl Shuker to the CFZ Blogging family. In his first blog, he carrys on the recent thread of articles about wolves, with a tantalising piece about the possibility of an entirely new species of Eastern European wolf read all about it..
21st January: Corinna, first lady of the CFZ, accompanied her husband to London last weekend, as he gave a lecture at the prestigious Royal Academy. It was an avant garde art event.. Was she impressed?
21st January: "There she blows!" Following on from yesterday's story about an errant Right Whale near the Azores,
we have two more dispatches from the Cetacean Nation. A roundup of news, including acounts of bravery and derring do by anti whaling protestors can be found here wheras a couple of picture led stories of more cryptozoological interest can be found here
21st January: CFZ People: We wish to express our sincere condolences to David Sutton, editor of Fortean Times who has just lost his mother.
20th January: Darren Naish visits a seminal British mystery cat, and makes a statement with which Jon wholeheartedly agrees take a closer look..
20th January: Exciting news about out of place whales Check it out.
20th January: Jon rants about the sorry state of education in the Western Daily Press, and - yes - it's that seal again... take a closer look..
20th January: Richard takes a look at wolves and why they are so hated , takes a pop at Sarah Palin (which is always a good thing to do) and then examines the cryptozoological Japanese wolves. Could these two species have survived? take a closer look..
20th January: In Illinois, Derek goes for a drink with some experienced woodsmen and comes back with some
fascinating data which supports our long-held theory that melanistic pumas do exist, despite the accepted wisdom on the subject Check it out.
19th January: New mystery cats are reported from India and South America. What could they be?
We take a closer look..
19th January: The Kraken is a mythologised version of the giant squid. We all know that. But, says CFZ ecologist Oll Lewis, this might be completely wrong find out more..
19th January: Exciting news from off the coast of Australia. A remote controlled submarine has found an entire new
world, and it was the CFZ girls who told us about it check it out..
19th January: CFZ People: Sad news - a one-time cohort of the CFZ has died of liver cancer here. But as one door closes, another one opens. Scott Wood, folklorist, WW performer, and good bloke and his lovely wife Claire have had a baby read on..
18th January: Graham Inglis here, doing the site updates while Jon's in London. After publishing Richard's
"Thunderbirds" piece to the web, I have to go out and fix a section of CFZ guttering that blew down in the night. The rich tapestry of life, eh. Anyway, Richard's look at extremely large birds - thunderbirds - is here.
17th January: More from Derek 'Tex' Grebner on his Illinois mountain lions fieldwork: "I am doing my best to report the facts I know and make sure they are credible, so that if and when the CFZ expedition does come to Illinois, I will be able to help guide them as best I can. I am working on verifying and tracking down local eyewitnesses...." Find out more..... Meanwhile, Richard Freeman looks at one of his favourite subjects: crocodiles. His
article about man-eating crocodiles in Borneo is here.
16th January: Things are moving on apace on the Crypto Illinois blog. Richard Freeman follows up yesterday's story
about the first Illinois bear for decades with some esoteric facts about the American green bear, and by mid afternoon there will be a fascinating account of another so-called extirpated Illinois animal that appears to be doing fine - the timber wolf. Over the next few days several other articles are scheduled to appear, so why not check the blog regularly.. Find out more.....
16th January: New today is a collection of articles and reminiscences about the `starchild` skull; an alleged alien human hybrid skull from Mexico, which we believe is nothing of the sort but which may be of major cryptozoological interest... Find out more.....
15th January: Art for Art's sake? Jon Downes appears at the prestigious Royal Academy in London on saturday.
Avant Garde Art? In this blog? Not on my shift.. You should really check this out..
15th January: Oll Lewis, the CFZ ecologist writes an engaging and intriguing account of strange funnel-web spiders
that have turned up where they shouldn't be, and out of place whales.. Read on MacDuff
14th January: CFZ Zoological Director Richard Freeman was so impressed by Max's article yesterday, that he decided to join the debate with more stories about unknown animals discovered in captivity...
You want to know more?
14th January: It's not only the fact that the CFZ live there, but Woolsery is a very strange village. Even the pub is
haunted! You'd better believe it..
14th January: We have been chasing big cats in Somerset. But there has been a setback.
However, you can help Read on...
13th January: Guest Blogger Max Blake gives us a taste of his talk at this August's Weird Weekend with a lavishly
illustrated mini article on the surprising fact that quite a few unknown animals actually turn up in the pet trade.
You want to know more?
13th January: A sad announcement. The CFZ have left their zoo.. Read on...
12th January: Jon Downes is part of an art exhibition at the National Gallery? Shurely shome mistake.
Click HERE for more details
12th January: The line-up for this year's Weird Weekend 14-6 August) has been announced, and tickets are now on
sale. Click HERE and HERE for more details
12th January: You thought it was all over? Not quite. There are still more things to read about the saga of the Croyde Beach carcass. Click HERE
10th January: A few days ago, a mysterious carcass was washed up on Croyde Beach in North Devon. The papers
claimed that it was the Beast of Exmoor. It wasn't. But what was it? Click HERE to find out.