Seasons Greetings

 Merry Christmas to all. I hope you all find some joy in the holidays. I hope for lots of new cryptid sightings in 2024 and a better year for us all.xx

Christmas Monsters

 Christmas is also for Monsters!

 Not all Christmas creatures are benign like Santa Claus. Krampus looks like a demonic goat who walks on its hind legs like a human. He punishes naughty children, beating them with birch branches and carries a basket on his back so he can carry off a child to eat later.The 5th of December is Krampusnacht ,men in homemade Krampus costumes run around Alpine villages causing havoc. These 'Krampus Runs' continue today. The Karakoncolos looks like a cross between the Devil and a Sasquatch. In Turkey, the legend says he would stand at street corners on winter nights setting riddles for passers-by. If the traveller gave an answer that included the word ‘black’ they were free to go on their way. If not, he would strike them dead .Sometimes the Karakoncolos would just put them in a trance and leave them to roam free. In Serbia, the story says the Karakoncolos jumps on the victim’s back and uses them as a ride. The exhausted person was only released at dawn. Jólakötturinn is the Icelandic Yule Cat or Christmas Cat. Jólakötturinn, who first appeared in the 19th century, a huge, ferocious beast with razor-like whiskers, blazing eyes and terrible claws who consumed any child who did not receive new clothes on Christmas Day.It is tied into an Icelandic tradition in which those who finish their work on time received new clothes for Christmas, while those who were lazy did not . Jólakötturinn could tell who the lazy children were because they did not have at least one new item of clothing for Christmas and these children would be eaten by the Yule Cat. Then there is the macabre skeleton mare of Welsh tradition,Mary Lwyd, which rises from the dead and wanders the streets with her undead attendants, to remind the living of their existence. Mary Lwyd wants to to get into your house. To keep the zombie horse out, you must engage in a battle of rhymes . Usually singing the rhymes to which the zombie horse replies.On New Year’s Eve, the undead mare is represented by a puppeteer parading a horse skull on a pole draped in white cloth around the towns and villages. Next there is a creature from Scandinavian folklore who looks like a gnome and lives among the dead inside burial mounds called the Tomten.He can act as a caretaker of the household, that is if you keep on his good side. The Tomten has quite the temper and is known for biting people who upset him. The bites are poisonous and deadly. People leave a gift of food out on Christmas Eve for the Tomten. One of Iceland’s creatures associated with Christmas is Gryla a giant troll who is bad tempered with an insatiable hunger for children. Each Christmas, Gryla comes down from her mountain dwelling to hunt for naughty children. She catches them in a sack and takes them back to her cave where she boils them alive for her favourite stew.

Could plans for Loch Linnhe be the end of monster sightings?

 

End for Loch Linnhe Monster?

Loch Linnhe is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. It is about 50 kilometres (31 miles ) long and about 2km (1 and 1/5 miles) wide  It opens into the Firth of Lorne at its south-western end and  the town of Fort William lies at the northeast end of the loch, at the mouth of the River Lochy.There have been several reports of a creature in the Loch over the years. Plans for the loch could put an end to food stocks for any marine life .

West coast locals horrified at inevitable damage to Loch Linnhe

Alarmed locals are calling for government action to halt plans to create Scotland’s largest fish farm in a loch known for its dolphins, otters, seals and sea eagles.

Local divers, fishermen, wild swimmers and even a rock band have voiced opinions and are outraged by Loch Long Salmon’s [LLS] proposals to bring “semi-closed” fish pens to the renowned shores of Loch Linnhe – using technology never tested before in the UK.

The eight proposed pens would hold millions of fish – with a total live weight equivalent to 11,000 cows – and unlike conventional fish farms would need a large shoreside installation running 24 hours a day in support.

James Standley, a retired professional diver with 25 years of experience, lives on the boundary of the proposed site, and has raised concerns about the project’s impact on the loch’s wildlife and surrounding community.

Local angler David Gunn, who has fished these waters for 61 years, fears the proposed fish farm will all but end the wild Atlantic Salmon population in the area.

Source:

https://thehighlandtimes.com/community-bands-together-to-stop-mega-fish-farm-plans/

 

The first documented sighting appears to be in the 1940’s.A witness said that she had seen a creature with a long neck swimming in the loch. It was dark brown, had small black eyes, and stubby rounded horns.In June 1954, a Mr. Eric Robinson said he observed three humps which he estimated were moving at 30 mph and the water was churning behind the creature. He only saw it for a few minutes.In June 1964, 10 years later a Mrs. Preston saw the head and neck of a creature in the Loch.Then in July  1967, John Rankin Muir, William S. Muir, and others said they saw a snake like head and neck with two or three humps. They watched for approximately 10 minutes.

There are ample fish stocks in the Loch .The southern end around Lismore is  known for  big pollack, giant skate, wrasse and conger eels and during the summer months people expect to see shoals of mackerel, porpoises, dolphins and even occasionally a Minke whale. The Loch Linnhe Artificial Reef was completed in 2006,to study tides I presume but as far as I am aware its construction did not prompt an appearance of the monster.The Loch is open to the sea and as it attracts dolphins etc , it could have been a shoal of these that people have seen or some other large marine creature passing through. As Fort William is a popular tourist area it would be expected that photos would appear of the creature or more sightings would be reported.

This is the last reported sighting :
Unknown said...3 August 2019 at 08:14

Dos familias españolas (4 adultos y 4 niños) hemos visitado Escocia durante 9 días. En el camino entre Glencoe y Fort William paramos en un área de descanso para admirar las vistas del fiordo Linnhe. 4 niños y 2 adultos vimos avanzar por el fiordo, en dirección a Fort William, la cabeza por fuera del agua de un animal que avanzaba rápido. Poco tiempo después se sumergió mediante un movimiento circular dejando ver lo que pareció un largo cuello.

translation:Two Spanish families (4 adults and 4 children) have visited Scotland for 9 days. On the road between Glencoe and Fort William we stop at a rest area to admire the views of the Linnhe Fjord. 4 children and 2 adults saw the fjord move towards Fort William, head out of the water of an animal that was moving fast. A short time later he submerged himself in a circular motion, revealing what looked like a long neck.

 

Lets hope the local protest is successful for the sake of all the local wildlife not just the alleged monster.

A Serpent in Eel River

 

Eel River Serpent

The Eel River is a major river that runs through north Western California. It is  about 196 miles (315 km) long.

In the 1870’s there were reports of a strange creature being seen in the Phillipsville area of the river

ALL SNAKE AND NO STORY

About three months ago as I was on my way to Garberville, not far below what is know as Phillip’s Flat I saw what I thought was a foot log coming down the South Fork [of the Eel] river, and was not a little surprised to see such a thing adrift at that season of the year.

I was on a cliff of rocks, about 50 feet above the river, and stopped to watch the curious looking object, when I saw to my surprise it was a large serpent. The monster was at least 20 feet long in the water, and its head was raised about 3 feet above the surface of the stream, and was about as large as a dog’s head. It saw me, but did not seem to be alarmed, for it headed for the last cliff on which I was standing.

It was one of those hot days that we are accustomed on the South Fork, and the monster seemed to be hunting shade. It was about a foot in diameter; its color a dark brown, with large light and yellow spots. I watched him until he came under the cliff where the rocks hid him from view. It was seen twice more at the same place and once again further up the river. It seems to go to the woods for food, as there can be no other inducement.

West Coast Signal August 19, 1877

Three other people wrote to the newspaper to say they had seen it too.

The local native Americans believe such a creature exists  and is called Kamoss. It has been seen in the  river and is a monster serpent that is capable of swallowing a child .The legend is that it has done so.

Some say it is a sturgeon fish but sturgeon have bony plates which would be obvious.Also unlikely it would swim with its head above water.

Since then there have been no reports unless someone reading this knows of any more recent sightings.

Have we lost our way?

 

 

What is happening to Cryptozoology?

Its over 50 years since I started my interest in cryptozoology. It started as a teenager with a visit to Loch Ness.Then as an adult and becoming an academic I tried where ever possible to apply scientific research methods to my study of unknown animals.

It was hoped that cryptozoology would be accepted as a discipline such as psychology or zoology. To that end scientific enquiry methods were essential. However I find myself and fellow academically qualified crypto enthusiasts have become disillusioned.

We have wobbly webcams at Loch Ness being cited in the media every weeks as photos of Nessie,only for them to be a swimmer ,canoeist or birds.Photos said to be taken years before and just now discovered that have not been submitted for professional analysis so cannot be proved or disproved to be an animate creature.

Big cat photos that are domestic cats or obviously fakes  appearing in the media as true .IF you believe you shouldn’t need to make up proof ,instead you go out and try and find it.

Cryptozoology is becoming a laughing stock,a media circus. What is the point of these hoaxes? They only serve to put off the genuine witnesses from coming forward for fear of ridicule and destroy any chance of proper scientific study.

What do readers of this blog think? Comments can take 24 hours to appear so don’t be put off. Has cryptozoology lost its way ?

Cryptid or Hybrid?

 

New Hybrid

I have often written that a cryptid may be a prehistoric creature that has evolved and changed to cope with the modern world and its pollution or a hybrid. Dog/fox hybrids are not unknown but more rare are aquatic hybrids

Meet The Wholphin, The Unlikely Hybrid Of Intermingling Cetaceans.

It's exceptionally rare, but the world has seen a number of cetacean hybrids.

The "wholphin" is the nickname for a hybrid born as a result of some unlikely canoodling between different species of cetacean, most often a bottlenose dolphin and a false killer whale. However, this isn’t the only known example of interspecies mingling that’s been documented among this infraorder of animals. From the narluga to dolphin hybrids, a handful of examples of cetacean hybridization have been documented in recent decades

The birth of cetacean hybrids was especially surprising given the size difference between the two parent species: common bottlenose dolphins are typically 2 meters (6.5 feet) long while a male false killer whale can be over 5 meters (16.4 feet) long. Evidently, the creation of this hybrid offspring must have required some impressive physical feats.

Read rest here :

https://www.iflscience.com/meet-the-wholphin-the-unlikely-hybrid-of-intermingling-cetaceans-70843

The size difference did not prevent mating and therefore it is possible that some large lake monster  mated with a smaller creature that then survived the age of the dinosaurs and adapted to live in the modern world. Unlikely perhaps but more plausible than a living plesiosaur .It could also be why lake monsters are often not a recognizable creature but described as eels,snakes, dinosaurs etc. Food for thought as we enter October and the winter means less sightings are reported as people remain indoors.Please comment if you have any thoughts on the subjcct.

( just a reminder it can take 24 hours for comments to appear as they are externally moderated)

The first LNIB Expeditions (1962-64) from one who was there.

 

Loch Ness Expeditions 1962-64

Quite a few years ago now I met a man called Tom McMahon. He was retired and  in his 60s .If he is still alive,and I sincerely hope he is,he will be at least 80 now. Why is he important? Tom was on the first three LNIB expeditions at Loch Ness. It occurred to me that if I didn’t record this his version of this piece of history would be lost.

Tom and I got talking and he told me about Loch Ness so I asked him to write down anything he could remember from that time.He couldn’t remember everyone’s  names but he did remember quite a lot.

The story started with the guy who was the film person for the expedition, a priest called Clem who was a friend of Tom’s father. They lived in Slough at that time. Tom’s father was invited to go to Loch Ness but couldn’t go ,so Tom then  aged about 19/20 years went in his place.It was October 1962.

Tom travelled up in David James’s land drover with two other young men.David James MP had organized this first expedition.It was sponsored by Norman Collins of ATV, a friend of David James.Another friend John Profumo was Minister For War and helped to get a loan of army search lights.

They stayed in a hotel and were there for two weeks. Tom said he thought there were 24 of them all together.There were two sites to watch from,one at Cobbs Landing and one on Drumnadrochit beach.Tom was mainly on night watches ,shining search lights on the Loch to attract Nessie.He missed some of the hunt after injuring his hand and having to go to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.One of the other people there was Sir Archibald James,David’s father,who would keep them entertained with stories of big game hunting on the long watches.Also he remembered Lional Leslie the sculptor,a vet David Hall,Professor Porteous and a girl called Emma who went on to be a costume designer for films.

One night they heard a splash and turning the lights in that direction were shocked to see two eyes shining back at them. They got the row boat out and rowed to investigate (rather brave of them I thought).They found a glass bottle bobbing on the waves from the boat reflecting the lights back to shore. They had a laugh about it later but at the time they were all hyped up to meet Nessie.

On October 11^th ,seven of the party saw 2 humps in the water. It was too far for the camera range and they couldn’t get a clear picture. A few days later something large was seen diving but again too far away for the camera’s range.Cameras were primitive compared to today and this one had a 6 inch lens (15cms) which was inadequate for the task. They learned from this and took a bigger one the next year.

In 1963 there were a lot more people and there were campsites along the Loch,the main one being at Drumnadrochit.Tom thought there could have 75 people involved.There were 10 watching stations around the Loch. Tom shared a camper van with Professor Peter Blake a biologist from Cambridge. ( Peter sadly died very young in his 40s) , a Welsh man who owned a quarry and set off explosions to mimic the 1930’s road building .They hoped it would bring the creature to the surface.He remembered Sir Peter Ogilvie Wedderburn Bart,a New Zealand racing driver,a BEA air hostess and the artist Sylvia McCartney. Also Sir Pater Scott visited ,landing his gilder in a field near by.The cockleshell hero Blondie Hassler sailed up the Loch to see them .

The Cuba Crisis was on at that time and there was much talk of nuclear war .They were tense times. He said there was much pacing about and discussion about it by the older members .Two films of what looked like an upturned boat were taken but even with a bigger lens they were unclear.

He went again  in 1964 and stayed in a caravan at Drumnadrochit. They had cameras nearby at Urquhart castle. His main memory was of a Major Haig playing the bagpipes.

The feeling at the time was it was a great adventure, even though it was boring just sitting watching .I wonder how many of those at the time realized they would be part of the history of Loch Ness.For those who were too young to remember or be around at the time,this is written down for you. There was an amazing mixture of people interested in Nessie hunting and the recent search (2023) with lots of volunteers shows that interest is still there.