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.

New Search For Nessie

 

Hundreds of participants expected to join the Loch Ness monster hunt with thermal imaging drones and underwater gadgets

Hundreds of volunteers are set to descend on Loch Ness, Scotland, for the search of a lifetime.

The volunteers will spend a weekend trying to confirm the existence of the Loch Ness monster.

After high interest in the search, the Loch Ness Centre invited others to livestream the action.

For the first time in over 50 years, hundreds of people will descend onto Loch Ness, Scotland, with modern-day gadgets, in hopes of locating a mythic creature known to locals as "Nessie."

This weekend, volunteers and researchers will meet up in Inverness, Scotland, at the site of the Loch Ness freshwater lake, trying to find "Nessie," the Loch Ness monster.

The Loch Ness Centre, a group of researchers and enthusiasts organizing the trip, claims participants will help to "scientifically investigate Loch Ness and its famous monster mythology." The organizers invited participants to join the "hunt for truth," where they will attempt to locate the mythical beast.

According to CNN, at least a hundred participants are joining from as far as New Zealand, and Japan. Part of the purpose of the trip is to get to the bottom of the folklore surrounding the mythic creature, but there is yet to be any physical proof of the animal.

Read full story here:

https://www.insider.com/the-loch-ness-monster-search-reached-volunteer-limit-hundreds-join-2023-8

 

Classic Text Free to Read Online.

 MYSTERIOUS CREATURES

A Guide to

Cryptozoology

George M. Eberhart

You can read it at the link below. I am not sure if it is permanent so best get in early,also it may not read well on all formats.

https://archive.org/stream/Cryptozoology_201608/Cryptozoology_djvu.txt

Hessie Norway's Giant Sea Worm

 

Hessafjorden Lake in Norway has a lake monster, nick named  Hessie.

It is said to be a huge sea worm or snake. It is claimed to be 80–100 feet (24–30 meters) in length and 1.5 ( 5 feet) metres thick.Also sporting a square dorsal fin .a massive snake like head with  brown coloured skin.

In June 1999 a local person saw Hessie eating a whale carcass through his binoculars. He ran home to get a camcorder but unfortunately the distance from shore meant little detail can be seen on the film. Other sightings had been reported in that era,the  1990s,  but most want to remain anonymous.

There is little other detail available but its size would make one think it would be spotted more often. Perhaps someone will get a clearer film in the future.