Bless the Beasts and the Children

“When you want to teach children to think, you begin by treating them seriously when they are little, giving them responsibilities, talking to them candidly, providing privacy and solitude for them, and making them readers and thinkers of significant thoughts from the beginning. That’s if you want to teach them to think.” ― Bertrand Russell

At a recent conference, I spoke about Cryptozoology in general and the local sightings in southern Ontario.  In the audience was a brilliant 8 year old boy named Billy.  Billy had done a book report on a book I wrote several years ago, and has a budding interest in Fortean Zoology.  Billy’s eagerness to learn is inspiring.  Sadly, very little is available for his age group by way of factual information on animals unknown.

I fired up Google and searched everything from “cryptozoology kids” to “teaching kids about bigfoot” and came up with not only few websites, but really, really bad ones.  Most academic websites tell children that Bigfoot and Nessie and Ogopogo are myths.  This is disrespectful to witnesses and certainly not truthful information to teach children.

Among the better websites is http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/cr/Cryptozoology,  a site from Australia that simply gives facts.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is a Saturday show on The Comedy Network called “Secret Saturdays” on whose website you can create your own cryptid.  Here is mine.

My son is 11 and in grade 6.  Often I have had to battle with teachers who claim that certain things are “not real”.  I don’t know about other school districts, but here in Toronto, they aren’t too keen on teaching “pseudoscience”. I’m always more than willing to teach a classroom of kids—at any age—about the wonders of investigating unknown animals.  To date, none of the schools have expressed an interest, and one has gone so far as to suggest that talking about such things might be harmful to a child.  Apparently teaching children to question, and wonder, and explore is passé.

There is a promising website called Crypto Camp authored by Jon Duff.  Far from complete, he seems to be on the right track as far as providing reasonable content for children who are interested in Cryptozoology.  Mr. Duff has a good understanding of how media influences children and seeks to give accurate information, although he is not actually a student of the subject.  His background is in fine arts and web design.  Certainly there will be criticisms forthcoming, but so far he’s doing well in his attempt.

How can we satisfy the curiosity in children like Billy?  Who is best qualified to put together an age appropriate presentation?  How do we get schools to invite this “out of the box” thinking? Personally I think the answer is that ALL of us, no matter what our level of understanding or interest, need to get actively involved in spreading the word to children.  Too many kids fear Bigfoot or figures like Nessie because of the title “Monster”.  Too many kids don’t understand that many of these formerly unknown creatures are now documented and “known” because someone never gave up on proving their existence.  It’s time to breed the next generation of Fortean Zoologists; and to do so with logic, science, dedication, and perseverance.

29 September Quebec Bigfoot Sighting

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is reporting that Maggie Cruikshank Qingalik, who is from Akulivik, Que., said her friend saw some kind of creature out in the wilderness.  It was a REALLY BIG something.

The two ladies were out berry picking and saw what they thought was someone else doing the same.  Then they realized the other “person” was about ten feet tall and covered in dark hair.  A Facebook photograph puts the footprint at about 40 centimeters.

Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman was contacted and said the Sasquatch “may sustain themselves on a diet similar to caribou” bit that they are  omnivores  and “are opportunistic and could eat a range of food including salmon or road kill.”  He is hoping, as are we, that someone took some decent photos and measurements and perhaps could return (quickly!) to the site to make plaster casts of the footprint.

Nunavik is the northern third of the province of Quebec, north of the 55th parallel. Ninety percent of the 11,000 inhabitants are Inuit and live in one of only fourteen villages or reserves.   Nunavik means "place to live" in Inuktitut and the Inuit inhabitants of the region call themselves Nunavimmiut.  Until 1912, the region was part of the Northwest Territories.

Animals of the area are abundant.  Marine mammals include beluga whales, seals, and walruses.  Polar bears and caribou are common.  Musk-ox was introduced to the area in 1967 and continue to have a growing population.  Water fowl begin returning to the area in late March, with most present by June.  The nocturnal Snowy Owl is a year round resident.  It should also be noted that the food source of ringed seal liver and beluga contain high levels of mercury.  Local children show a higher incidence of ADHD believed to be linked to the higher mercury levels.  It would be interesting to see how other consumers of such animals, like hawks and falcons, also show biological issues with increased mercury.  This would imply that Sasquatch would also be affected.

CBC will air an interview with the witness on October 9 at 7am (Eastern Time) which can be accessed here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunavik

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2012/10/04/north-sasquatch-sighting-nunavik.html

http://www.nunavik-tourism.com/Wildlife.aspx

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674new_study_links_adhd_in_inuit_kids_to_mercury/

http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/nunavut/
http://www.epa.gov/hg/effects.htm

Spooky Sasquatch

While I do love researching things "unknown zoological", this time of year most of my work involves ghost things.  Every conference at which I present requires something ghost based, and as an additional requirement they have to "allow" me to do a small presentation about Cryptozoology as well.  This year, during a visit with an attendee, I was asked if bigfoot could be the ghost of a neanderthal.

 

What an interesting question!  This would certainly explain why we aren't finding hair, bone, teeth, or scat samples.  Ghosts don't leave them.  Additionally, bigfoot sightings tend to be most concentrated in those areas where "humans" originated and initially migrated--Africa, Asia, and along the North American Pacific coast, right?

Nope.  Neanderthal fossils were first found in Germany.  The fossils believed to be of the most recent Neanderthals  are from Gibralter, very near where Cro-Magnon skeletal remains were found.  Many people have yet to understand that Neanderthal DNA in humans is most likely from interbreeding rather than evolution  and science now holds Neanderthals as a different human species than we modern humans.  Additionally, Neanderthal evidence has not been found in North America or east of the  Altai Mountains in Asia.  In Africa, "modern" humans are evidenced at least 160,000 years before the present which predates the Neanderthals.

Neanderthal cranial capacity is thought to have been as large or larger than ours, indicating that their brain size may have been comparable, or larger, as well. Neanderthal and modern human brains were the same size at birth, but by adulthood, the Neanderthal brain was larger than theour brain. Like we suspect of bigfoot, Neanderthals were much stronger than modern humans, and fit the general size as reported by witnesses of bigfoot--Males stood 164–168 cm (65–66 in) and females about 152–156 cm (60–61 in) tall. These early species used tools and often made homes with bones.  Nothing even remotely similar to this has been reported with the classic North American bigfoot.

One theory that was discussed at this conference was the idea that humans have "spirits" and animals do not.  I'm not sure how I personally feel about this but I do know if you try to tell a cat owner his pet has no personality or spirit, you're asking for trouble.  Additionally, there have been many reports of animal hauntings.  Add to that, the idea that Bigfoot is more human than animal and that theory pretty much gets put to rest.

The sheer lack of logic in the idea of one unknown (ghosts) explaining another unknown (bigfoot) is enough to prohibit me from studying them as a possible same entity.  Like Jane Goodall though, "I'm sure they exist."  And for me, that means BOTH Bigfoot and Ghosts.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7113/full/nature05195.htmlhttp://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2816956?uid=3739448&uid=2&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21101098619383http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthalhttp://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/neanderthals-and-humans-may-have-co-existed-in-israel_803162.htmlx

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

This weekend (September 14, 2012) is the 10^th anniversary of the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.  I am pleased to be part of the speaker lineup again this year, and if you are able I highly recommend attending this free fest.  Mothman’s fame may be in West Virginia, but Canada certainly is part of this creature’s world itinerary.  Sightings occur worldwide, and have for a very long time.

If you are not familiar with this cryptid, here are some basics.  First and foremost, know that not everyone considers Mothman a cryptid.  Some believe he is thoroughly paranormal, some believe he is alien, and skeptics have both pooh-poohed the sightings and attributed them to barn owls or sand hill cranes.  Most witness descriptions place him at 4 to 6 feet and human shaped, having a shiny dark grey or black skin, batlike wings, and large glowing red eyes.  He is able to fly without flapping his wings, take off and land vertically, and has sharp fingernails.

In 2002, the motion picture “The Mothman Prophecies” starring Richard Gere was released by Lakeshore Entertainment and Director Mark Pellington.  Most people have, unfortunately, gotten their information from this film.  Based on the book by John Keel, the movie describes some of the event of the mid 1960’s in Point Pleasant and the Mothman involvement.  While an entertaining film, it is so factually incorrect and veers so far from the original book, that witnesses and locals in the Point Pleasant area tend to avoid any association with it.

Any serious researcher should purchase and study the books by Jeff Wamsley on the subject.  While not a witness himself, he has collected newspaper accounts and police reports and real evidence from the period. Additionally, Wamsley runs the local “Mothman Museum” and is instrumental in the planning and execution of the yearly festival.  His books are called Mothman: Behind the Red Eyes, and Mothman: The Facts Behind the Legend (written with Donnie Sergent, Jr.) and are available at Amazon.

Mothman reports have come in from many countries.  Viet Nam, Mexico, and The Ukraine have notable sighting reports.  Native American cave art depicts drawings of creatures quite similar to Mothman as well.  He  has also been sighted just before other major world disasters including  explosion, the Tsunamis in India and Japan, Afghanistan and Iraq, and in New York on September the 11th.

In Canada, there are but a few sightings thought to be attributable to Mothman.  One witness reports that in August of 2007 in Ontario, Canada, heard a loud rustling sound in some tall grass. When the creature emerged it is described as having large, bright red eyes. The creature was about seven feet tall, black shiny skin that looked like a bat's, long arms that reached almost to the ground, and a wingspan of about eight feet wide. It let out a loud blood-curdling screech and the witnesses ran.  A police report was filed but never taken seriously. Later the same night the witness heard a scratching sound on the window and went to see what it was and it was the tall, dark creature peering in the living room window. Two weeks after the occurrence, the house had burned down.

Similar stories trickle in from across Canada.  Sightings have occurred from Dawson City, Yukon, to CFB Gagetown near Frederickton, New Brunswick.  As a West Virginia native and Mothman witness myself, I ask that if you (yourself, not via heresay) have seen this creature, please contact me.  I have research ongoing.

http://www.newanimal.org/mothman.htm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265349/

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Jeff%20Wamsley&ie=UTF8&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread131979/pg1

http://www.ghost-story.co.uk/stories/themothmanprophecies.html

http://paranormal.about.com/od/mothman/a/tales_10_02_23t.htm

http://mothmanmuseum.com

http://mothmanfestival.com

http://lugafore.deviantart.com/art/Mothman-Eyes-282395497

Here We Go Loup Garou

There once was a man in Quebec named Jean Dubroise.  A roaring sound came from his property late at night when good people should be sleeping. His neighbors avoided him and his home.  One night a neighbor named Alphonse decided that he would dare the strange noises and take a short-cut across Dubroise's land to get home. He heard a loud roaring noise from overhead and threw himself flat on the ground when he saw a huge canoe flying over him. The canoe landed next to Dubroise house and the Devil jumped out with a whip in his hand.

Alphonse hid and watched as the Devil shouted, "Come out of the canoe!" and snapped the whip at the occupants. Twenty creatures with the shaggy coats of wolves but the upright walk of men leapt from the canoe.

The werewolves went to work doing Dubroise’s farm chores while Dubroise came out to talk and drink with the Devil. Alphonse knew then that Dubroise had sold his lazy soul to the Devil in exchange for the werewolves' work on his farm.  At last, the Devil and the loup garou jumped back into the flying canoe and flew away.

As soon as it was safe, Alphonse hurried to the local priest to report what he had seen.  The priest advised the men to sprinkle the holy water over Dubroise's house, his outbuildings, and all of his land. Then the men hid themselves in the bushes to keep watch. That night when the Devil leapt out of the canoe, as soon as his foot touched the holy water sprinkled onto the ground, the Devil started leaping about and shrieking in pain and rage. The werewolves were frightened and fled from the canoe and the men of the parish collected the werewolves and brought them to the priest. The priest pricked each one with a knife to turn a loup garou back into a man. Jean Dubroise was never seen again.

This old Quebec folk tale is often used  in relation to UFO stories, sometimes religion, and for today’s purpose, the Quebec werewolves, known as “Loup Garou”.  The French name for a werewolf,  loup-garou (pronounced /lugaˈru/), is from the Latin noun lupus meaning wolf and Old French garoul meaning "werewolf". A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope, is folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or lycanthropic affliction via a bite or scratch from a werewolf. This transformation is often associated with the appearance of the full moon. In addition to the natural characteristics inherent to both wolves and humans, werewolves are often attributed strength and speed far beyond those of wolves or men. The werewolf is generally held as a European character, although its lore spread through the world in later times. Shape-shifters, similar to werewolves, are common in tales from all over the world, most notably amongst the Native Americans, though most of them involve animal forms other than wolves.

There is also a mental illness called lycanthropy in which a patient believes he or she is, or has transformed into, an animal and behaves accordingly. This is sometimes referred to as clinical lycanthropy to distinguish it from its use in legends. Despite its origin as a term for man-wolf transformations only, lycanthropy is used in this sense for animals of any type. This broader meaning is often used in modern fictional references, such as in roleplaying game culture.

  

Werewolves were said in European folklore to bear discerning physical traits even in their human form. These included the meeting of both eyebrows at the bridge of the nose, curved fingernails, low-set ears and a swinging stride. It was once thought that to identify a werewolf in its human form, cut the flesh of the accused and fur would be seen within the wound. A Russian superstition recalls a werewolf can be recognised by bristles under the tongue. The appearance of a werewolf in its animal form varies from culture to culture, though it is most commonly portrayed as being indistinguishable from ordinary wolves save for the fact that it has no tail, is often larger, walks upright, and retains human eyes and voice. According to some Swedish accounts, the werewolf could be distinguished from a regular wolf by the fact that it would run on three legs, stretching the fourth one backwards to look like a tail.  After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak and psychologically depressed.

In medieval Europe it was generally believed the werewolf would devour recently buried corpses, a trait that is documented in the Annales Medico-psychologiques in the 19th century. In Scandinavia,  werewolves were usually old women who possessed poison-coated claws and had the ability to paralyse cattle and children with their gaze.  Serbian vulkodlaks traditionally congregated annually in the winter and strip off their wolf skins and hang them from trees. 

Some French werewolf lore is associated with documented events. The Beast of Gévaudan terrorized south-central France. From the years 1764 to 1767, an unknown entity killed upwards of 80 men, women, and children. The creature was described as a giant wolf by the sole survivor of the attacks, which ceased after several wolves were killed in the area.  In Mexico, there is a belief in a creature called the nahual, which traditionally limits itself to stealing cheese and raping women rather than murder. In Haiti, werewolf spirits known locally as Jé-rouge (red eyes) can possess the bodies of unwitting persons and nightly transform them into cannibalistic lupine creatures or try to trick mothers into giving away their children voluntarily by waking them at night and asking their permission to take their child, to which the disoriented mother would often agree.

When the European colonization of the Americas occurred, the pioneers brought their own werewolf folklore with them and these eventually mixed with the lore of their neighbouring colonies and those of the Natives. Belief in the loup-garou present in Canada, the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan and upstate New York, originates from French folklore influenced by Native American stories on the Wendigo. Some believe that the Norse colonization of the Americas manifested their werewolf lore into the folklore of some Native American tribes.

The Naskapis believed that the caribou afterlife is guarded by giant wolves which kill careless hunters venturing too near. The Navajo people feared witches in wolf's clothing called "Mai-cob".   Many Native cultures feature skin-walkers or a similar concept, wherein a shaman or warrior may, according to cultural tradition, take on an animal form. Animal forms vary accordingly with cultures and local species (including bears and wolves), for example, a coyote is more likely to be found as a skinwalker's alternate form in the Great Plains region.

In modern folklore and fiction the Wendigo found in the stories of many Algonquian peoples is sometimes considered to be similar to lycanthropes, in that humans could transform into them. The original legends varied significantly.  As with legends passed by oral tradition, stories often contradict one another.  In one example,   if a person saw a Loup Garou, that person would be transformed into one. Thereafter, the unfortunate victim would be doomed to wander in the form of this monster. In this way, the Loup Garou story bears resemblance to a Native American version of the wendigo legend.

Stories of humans descending from animals are common explanations for tribal and clan origins. North American indigenous traditions particularly mingle the idea of bear ancestors and ursine shapeshifters, with bears being able to shed their skins to assume human form and marrying human women. The offspring may be monsters with combined anatomy, they might be very beautiful children with uncanny strength, or they could be shapeshifters themselves.

The stories of werewolves may be inspired by encounters with actual animals. This is supported by subfossil remains discovered in Madagascar of giant lemurs of suborder Strepsirrhini which became extinct some time after the Malayo-Polynesian settlement of the island. These sailors and earlier explorers of the area such as those sponsored by Necho II were in direct or indirect contact with trading centers in Egypt and elsewhere which would certainly facilitate the spread of the stories of these real werewolf-like creatures.

A French-Canadian woman, born in the late 1880s, told that when she was a young girl, she heard that "years ago" there was a village in Québec which experienced a rash of sheep killings. The sheep were being killed at night, throats torn and partially eaten. The townsfolk suspected a rather suspicious fellow among their neighbours. During a search of his property they discovered a wolfskin belt.   The fellow explained that when he put the belt on he became a wolf and that it was he who had been killing the sheep. The townsfolk burned the belt and that supposedly brought an end to the killings.

Often the story-telling was used simply to inspire fear. Stories were told by elders to persuade children to behave. Another example relates that the wolf-like beast will hunt down and kill Catholics who do not follow the rules of Lent. This coincides with the French Catholic loup garou stories, where the method for turning into a werewolf was to break Lent seven years in a row.  Other stories mention people who sold their soul to the devil or leading a "bad life", that is to say, with off-the precepts of the Church.

From The Quebec Gazette, July 14, 1766 and December 10, 1767.

One learns of Saint-Roch, near Cape Mouraska (Kamouraska) there is a werewolf running coasts as a beggar, who, with the talent to persuade it ignores and promising what he can not keep, was the one to get what he wants. It is said that this animal, with the help of his two hind feet, arrived at Quebec on the 17th and last he returned the next 18, intending to follow his mission till Montreal. This beast is said to be in its kind as dangerous as the one that appeared last year in the Gévauclan *, which is why we urge the public to be wary as a ravening wolf.

Kamouraska, December 2, we learn that a werewolf , traveling the province for several years, and did a lot of damage in the district of Quebec, received considerable number of attacks last October by various animals that had been armed and unleashed against the monster, and in particular the three following November, he received a furious blow with a small lean animal, which is believed to be fully delivered from this fatal animal, as he remained some time retired to his den, to the great satisfaction of the public.

Some modern researchers have tried to explain the reports of werewolf behaviour with recognised medical conditions.  Downs Syndrome, hypertrichosis (a hereditary condition manifesting itself in excessive hair growth), and congenital porphyria have been suggested as possible explanations, at least for early reports before these conditions became well known.  . In a 1963 paper by Dr Lee Illis of Guy's Hospital in London entitled On Porphyria and the Aetiology of Werewolves,  argues that porphyria victims’ sensitivity to sunlight, and the possibility that receding gums can give the appearance of fangs are reasons to suspect this.  He also suggested that garlic makes the condition worse, and at one time victims may have attempted self-treatment by drinking blood.  Scientifically though, this explanation doesn’t hold much water.

Most modern day Canadian Loup Garou sightings seem to be reported as the “Michigan Dogman”.  First reported in the late 1800’s, the reports began in northwestern Michigan and have since re-emerged in southern Ontario.  It is also possible that this is the same creature as Wisconsin’s Beast of Bray Road.  In fact, even some Sasquatch sightings could be Loup Garou, especially those from significant distance.

Medicine Hat, Alberta has a self proclaimed Loup Garou in convicted killer Jeremy Steinke, now legally known as Jackson May,

http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/Loup+Garou

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/the_devil_and_the_werewolves.html

http://www.chemicallyspeaking.com/archive/2010/11/01/the-myth-of-vampires-and-porphyria.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Dogman

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=b98fda58-7a0a-4fe2-b8ae-900e6aa34f72

http://www.canadacouncil.ca/news/imagegallery/pr129273216282914075.htm

THE CHAMP WITH DUAL CITIZENSHIP

Americans love to talk about “their” version of the LochNess Monster. “Champ”, however, holds dual citizenship; Lake Champlain is a 125-mile (201 km)-long lake that is shared by New York, Vermont and Quebec,Canada.

There have been at least 300 reported unexplained sightings of Champ in modern history. Many sources report an account of a creature in Lake Champlain given in 1609 by Frenchexplorer Samuel de Champlain, the lake's namesake, who is supposed to have spotted the creature as he was fighting the Iroquois on the bank of the lake. This claim has been traced by historians to actually have occurred in the St.Lawrence estuary however.

Lake Champlain began roughly 10,000 years ago when an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, the Champlain Sea, was transformed by receding glaciers into an inland, fresh-water body. The Lake is 120 miles long, 400 feet deep in places and home to a diverse population of birds and aquatic life which wouldbe more than enough to sustain the belly of a large beast. However, the maximum for all of Missiquoi Bayand for the eastern edge of Maquam Bay, where many of the sightings take place,is only fourteen feet. There are 6rivers which flow into Lake Champlain and it was once a part of the Great Lakes, bringing the number of Great Lakes up to 6. The Great Lake status was removed 3 weeks later due to funding disagreements.

Experts say it would take at least 50 mature Champs to havea breeding population in the Lake, and 500 to keep the species alive in thelong term. While the numbers are daunting, Lake Champlain does provide an idealhabitat for such a creature.

Native Americans, who inhabited the region long before theEuropeans arrived, had tales of a ‘horned serpent’ that lived in LakeChamplain’s waters. There were at least three tribes in the region: Abnaki,Algonquin, and Iroquois. The Abnaki’s name for Lake Champlain’s serpent wasTatoskok, and it was described as having horn-like protuberances from its head.“The History of Eastern Vermont”, written in 1858, includes an illustration byBenjamin H. Hall titled “Indian Rock.” His writings include the followingdescription, “…in the town of Brattleboro is situated the Indian Rock. It’slocation is about one hundred rods west of the point of junction of theWantastiquet and Connecticut rivers ….Of the ten figures here presented, sixare supposed to designate birds, two bear a resemblance to snakes, one is notunlike a dog or a wolf and one conveys no idea either of bird, beast, orreptile.” The creature, which Mr. Hallcould not name, is now thought to represent Champ or Tatoskok.

A report in the Plattsburgh Republican dated July 24, 1819,titled "Cape Ann Serpent on Lake Champlain", gives the account of a"Capt. Crum" sighting an enormous serpentine monster. Also in 1819, in Port Henry, NY, a railroadcrew reported to have spotted a “head of an enormous serpent sticking out ofthe water and approaching them from the opposite shore.” Near the time of this sighting, farmers nearbyclaimed to have missing livestock, with drag marks leading to the shore. Around 1880, hunters claimed they had killedChamp with a rifle, stating that blood spurted from the monster’s head and thatthe beast sank and never resurfaced. In 1873 and 1887, showman P. T. Barnumoffered huge rewards for the monster—dead or alive-- so that he could includeit in his World’s Fair Show. The first officialreported sighting came in 1883 when Sheriff Nathan H. Mooney claimed that hehad seen a “…gigantic water serpent about 50 yards away” from shore. He reported“round white spots inside its mouth” and that “the creature appeared to beabout 25 to 30 feet in length”. After Mooneywent public with his sighting, many eyewitnesses came forward with their ownaccounts. This report predates thepublic Loch Ness controversy by 50 years.

In 1977, amateur photographer Sandra Mansi released aphotograph that appeared to show a plesiosaur-like body and neck sticking outof the lake. The offshore depth atMansi’s estimated sighting distance of 150 feet is twelve feet or less. Thisphotograph garnered much attention from the media, appearing in the New YorkTimes and Time magazine in June and July, 1981. Mansi showed the photo toJoseph W. Zarzynski who is the founder of Lake Champlain Phenomena Investigationand has stated that there is enough "impressive data" on Champ tosupport belief in its existence. Zarzynski and Jim Kennard of RochesterEngineering Laboratories have used high-tech sonar to search for Champ, and onJune 3, 1979, they took readings indicating the presence of a 10 to 15 footlong moving object in the waters beneath them.

A recording of echolocation from within the lake by theFauna Communications Research Institute in 2003, working as part of a DiscoveryChannel program, concluded that the sounds they recorded are similar to that ofa Beluga Whale or perhaps an Orca, but not of a known animal, and no dolphin orwhale species have been previously known to live in the lake.

Champ reportedly can be seen in a video taken by fishermenDick Affolter and his stepson Pete Bodette in the summer of 2005. The images may be interpreted either as a headand neck of a plesiosaur-like animal and even an open mouth in one frame and aclosed mouth in another; or as a fish or eel. Two retired FBI forensic imageanalysts reviewed the tape and said it appears authentic and unmanipulated. I was unable to locate the actual footage, but this photo is taken from the film.

Debunkers of the Champ monster cite several reasonableoptions for what witnesses report. Theysuggest several Champ sightings could possibly be explained as deliberate hoaxes, presumably for money, or fame. Usually,they say, it involves misidentifications of common animals. Otters, beavers,diving birds, and large fish (such as Eels and Lake Sturgeon) live in the lake. There are sturgeon (currently endangered) in Lake Champlain that can grow to great lengths. They are a very old, almost prehistoric fish with a scale-less body that is supported by a partially cartilaginous skeleton along with rows of scutes, bony external plates or scales like on the shell of a turtle or the skin of a crocodile. The single dorsal fin, running along itsspine, would match many descriptions of Champ, although its sharp, shark-like tail would not. One Tom Forrest witnessed a friend hook a Longnose Gar that—Forrest insists—was "monster” sized. It measured approximately 6 feet 4 inches long and weighed some 40-50 pounds. Forrest has dubbed it, appropriately,“Gar-gantua”.

Two or more large gar, sturgeon, or other fish could easilyappear as a single multi-humped monster. Ronald Binns tells of a young man who spied a 50-foot sea serpent offEngland’s Brighton beach in 1857. Theman later became a marine biologist and changed his opinion, believing he hadactually seen several dolphins “swimming in line.” Multiple fish can appear as a single monster.Walter and Sandi Tappan videotaped a “series of small humps” they believe was alarge creature. The video was included on a September 23, 1992, episode ofNBC’s Unsolved Mysteries. CryptozoologistJohn Kirk believes the video shows “fish feeding near the surface.”

Longnose gar
© Doug Perrine

Witness descriptions of Champ with horns, “moose-likeantlers,” or a head “like a horse” are dismissed as other wildlifepossibilities. Allowing for overestimation of length—which is especially easyto do if there is a wake—swimming deer could be the explanation. Additionally, otters are abundant in theregion and enjoy “chasing each other” and “following the leader” and areespecially prone to creating the many hump illusion. Otters have been mistaken for monsterselsewhere, including Loch Arkaig and Loch Ness. The Northern River Otter (Lutra canadensis) measures up to 52 incheslong, and is dark brown with a lighter, grayish throat and belly. Whiletreading water with its hind paws, it can extend its head and long neck out ofthe water, much resembling a plesiosaur.

Others believe that Champ sightings could easily beexplained by nonliving phenomena, such as logs, waves, or rotting vegetation. According to Joe Nickell, there are fewexplanations for how a giant creature could swim, let alone hide, in suchshallow water. It has been suggested that the object in the Mansi photographcould be a rising tree; rotting trees often gather gas in the process of decay,and sometimes rise to the water's surface very quickly. An effect called aseiche—may help to produce just such sightings. A seiche is a great underwaterwave that sloshes back and forth, even though the lake’s surface appearssmooth. The sloshing may dislodge debris from the bottom that rise to thesurface. Still other possibilities forChamp (and many purported lake monsters elsewhere) include wind slicks and boatwakes. A deckhand on the Valcour ferry (out of Burlington, Vermont) claims thatChamp reports had declined in the last fifteen years or so with the cessationof large traffic on the lake. A barge’s wake often traveled across the lake, hesaid, mystifying anyone who might encounter it without seeing its cause.

Button Bay State Park Naturalist Laura Hollowell believes“People have seen otters and mink swimming in the lake and think they've seenChamp.” She said she is “surprised at what unreliable reporters people can bein terms of wildlife sightings,” adding, “I don't believe that there are anylarge, unidentified animals in Lake Champlain.”

Believers in Champ often cite various examples of large andexotic creatures as possible be candidates for Champ. Many people theorize that Champ is asurviving Plesiosaur, an extinct Sauropterygian reptile that lived during theMesozoic Era and died out around 65.5 million years ago. Many believe thatplesiosaurs might have been cold-blooded, so it would be extremely difficultfor them to survive in the waters of Lake Champlain. Additionally, new studies have shown that theneck anatomy of plesiosaurs probably prevented them from raising their headsand necks up out of the water. British cryptozoologist Dr. Karl P.N. Shuker,defends this theory by hypothesizing that a surviving plesiosaur might possiblyhave evolved an ability to tolerate colder temperatures, as well as a differentneck structure.

Cryptozoologist Roy P. Mackal is of the opinion that most lake monstersightings around the world can be explained as sightings of survivingZeuglodons or Basilosaurs. These werelarge, serpentine whales that lived during the Eocene Epoch. The shape of theirbodies appears to fit most descriptions of Champ. Fossils of zeuglodons havebeen found a few miles from Lake Champlain in Charlotte, VT.

Several researchers, including Bernard Heuvelmans and DarrenNaish, have theorized that an unknown species of giant pelagic, long-neckedPinnipeds might be responsible for sightings of sea monsters in the world'soceans, and some researchers have also extended this hypothesis to includereports of lake monster sightings as well. Pinnipeds tend to be very noisy and socialanimals, however, making it hard to believe that they could remain hidden inthe lake for so long. This problem could potentially be solved via evolution,since this hypothetical pinniped could behave differently from actual, knownspecies of pinnipeds.

The theory of Tanystropheus was proposed by Champ researcherDennis Hall, who claims to have seen Champ 20 times. In 1976, his father caught a strange-lookingreptile, on the shore of Lake Champlain and took it to scientists. They concluded it was unlike any knownspecies of living reptile. Unfortunately, however, this specimen was laterlost. Hall then saw a picture of a Tanystropheus, and concluded that it was themost likely candidate, for Champ. Because Tanystropheus was a very specializedspecies of aquatic reptile from the Triassic Period, it very unlikely that itcould have survived and still inhabit Lake Champlain.

An internet forum user named “Robert” submitted this:

“I was looking at the lake using Google Earth and noticed afunny shape in the water. It is about 1.58 miles SW of Mud Island Lat: 44°7’3.59″N, Long: 73°23’40.83″W. “

A second user of the same forum named Paul Cape used the measuring tool provided with the map and found the thing to be 200ft long or about 66.5 yards. This is considerably bigger than most of the reports but some said it could have been this big. This could be due to something Rupert T.Gould, in his The Loch Ness Monster and Others (1976), called “expectant attention.” This is the tendency of people who are expecting to see something and are misled by anything having some resemblance to it.

“Few cryptozoologists deny the possibility of Champ’sexistence,” states W. Haden Blackman in his The Field Guide to North AmericanMonsters (1998), “and many openly accept the creature.” Champ seeker JosephZarzynski has even given it a name: Beluaaquatica champlainiensis ("hugewater creature of Lake Champlain”) (Owen 1982). If the perfect storm of technology, interest, and funding come togetherwe may someday have real answers about what is lurking below.

http://www.laronde.com/ednor/en/monstres_local.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ_(cryptozoology)

http://www.lclt.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=32&Itemid=98

http://rense.com/general6/champ.htm
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/legend_of_the_lake_champlain_monster/

http://fenixfan.hubpages.com/hub/The-Champ-of-the-Lake

http://www.strangemag.com/champ.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurus

http://www.alienlove.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=119

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&newwindow=1&sa=X&biw=1024&bih=600&tbs=itp:photo&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=YwyxTbc44PeEjM:&imgrefurl=http://blog.gmedical.com/Locums-for-a-Small-World/%3FTag%3DLake%2520Champlain%2520NY&docid=aMbe6M6TQTk4hM&imgurl=http://blog.gmedical.com/Portals/61098/images//lake-champlain.jpg&w=335&h=285&ei=lxYkUIS-J6al6wGu44GACA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=438&sig=108551463998877985079&page=1&tbnh=149&tbnw=179&start=0&ndsp=9&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:146&tx=60&ty=80
http://www.uvm.edu/~cemorse/Introducing%20VT%20Website/Olsen/Olsen%20Champ.html
http://blogorgonopsid.blog.cz/1102/praveka-zoo-za-usvitu-morskych-plazu-4-b
http://champmonster.com/recent-sightings/satellite-photo-of-champ-on-google-maps/

Oh The Drama!

When is a crypto find a dead animal?  Most of the time,actually.  Yet folks continue to over-react and make outrageous claims over every carcass found.

This time, it's the "Ajax Lorax"-- a term coined by Loren Coleman.  An Ajax, Ontario local came across a decomposing carcass and posted these photos:

Suddenly it's a discussion on Redditt, with speculations running the gamut from alien to chupacabra.

More likely it is just a dead beaver, raccoon or skunk, actually.  It's not rocket science.  And thorough investigation involves much more than following a chat board conversation and glancing at a photo.

First, this thing was found by a dog in southern Ontario, in a suburbia near a water overflow area.  I think we  can pretty much rule out amphibians and chupacabra base on that fact alone.  Second, it doesn't really look all that strange.  It has a head, legs, and tail.  There is nothing to scale its proper size, although we can assume it is rather small given the size of the blades of grass.  The bones in the tail are consistent with those in a beaver.  All of those are based on just the most casual "investigation" based on the photos.

So why the drama?  First, because it is weird.  People see something unusual and they tell their friends.  these days that happens online, so the discussion is very public.  Second, someone else gets interested and tries to fit it into their hobby--in this case, cryptozoology.  The hobbyist then contacts someone with some authority (or perceived authority) on the subject, hoping for either an opinion or some attention.  A decomposing star is born.

Things have been pretty quiet on the Crypto front in North America.  There aren't a lot of "creatures" that have not by now been identified, and the ones that remain are either easy to believe exist or so fantastic that most can't wrap their heads around them.  We have come a long way toward reasonable thinking (drama notwithstanding).  We have our BigFoot and our lake monsters that everyone knows will eventually get scientific names and be "official".  Mothman and the Jersey Devil and that ilk have so many alien or supernatural overtones that most Cryptozoologists don't do serious research on them, opting instead for a strictly biological/zoological opinion that they simply don't exist.

So when a dead beaver shows up online, some folks get a little excited.  It's hard work, finding substance to fill a crypto blog.

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.

Dr. Seuss

http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/ajax-lorax/
http://toronto.crittercontrol.com/
 http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Dr._Seuss/
http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/xfb8m/found_while_walking_the_dog_in_southern_ontario/