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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Saturday, May 31, 2014

CRYPTOLINK: Are these the bones of a water demon? 'Remains' of mythological Kappa to go on show in Japan

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 


Just as British children have been brought up with scary stories about the Loch Ness Monster, Japanese people know all about the Kappa - a slippery water demon from ancient folklore.
The pond and river-dwelling monsters are typically depicted as human-like but with the scaly green or blue skin of a reptile and webbed feet.
But unlike the Loch Ness Monster, believers claim to have found ‘proof’ of the creature’s existence - and bones purporting to be from the Kappa are going on show in Japan.
Proof? Mummified remains (pictured) purporting to be from the Kappa - a scaly green water demon said to be around the same size as a child - are going on show in Japan
Proof? Mummified remains (pictured) purporting to be from the Kappa - a scaly green water demon said to be around the same size as a child - are going on show in Japan

THE FOLKLORE OF KAPPA

There are over 80 different names for the Kappa or 'river' child in Japan.
Kappa are typically drawn to look a little like humans, and are said to be around the same size as a child.
Their scaly skin varies in colour from yellow to blue.
They are said to live in ponds and rivers in Japan and have webbed hands and feet, a beak, and a bald patch on their head.
In some tales of ancient folklore, the patch must be kept wet when Kappa venture out of the water, because if it dries, they will lose their power or even die.
In other stories, Kappa are seen as mischievous troublemakers, or they are wicked creatures capable of attacking women and even drowning people.
Kappa are similar to Scottish Kelpies and Finnish Nakki, which are used to scare children about the dangers of water.
Some people think the Kappa legends are based upon the Japanese giant salamander, which is around the same size and has been known to grab prey using its formidable jaws.
In Japanese folklore, the child-sized Kappa, or ‘river child’ occasionally jumps out of its watery lair to pull pranks, as well as attacking women. 
Some tales even claim the Kappa pulls people into the water to drown them.
The colour, shape and features of the monster vary according to differing illustrations of the monster.
It is thought the creature is similar to the Scottish ‘Kelpie,’ Scandinavian Nakki and other such monsters, which have been used over the years to warn children about the dangers of playing near water.
Some people in Japan think the legend of the Kappa might be based upon the Japanese giant salamander, or ‘hanzaki’, which is an aggressive lizard that grabs its prey with its powerful jaws.
But others believe the Kappa is a specific creature, and there are signs near some lakes in Japan warning people of their presence, RocketNews24 reported.
The pond and river-dwelling monsters are typically depicted as human-like but with the scaly greeny blue skin of a reptile and webbed feet. These illustrations are from the mid-19th century
The pond and river-dwelling monsters are typically depicted as human-like but with the scaly greeny blue skin of a reptile and webbed feet. These illustrations are from the mid-19th century
In Japanese folklore, the child-sized Kappa, or 'river child' occasionally jumps out of its watery lair to pull pranks as well as attacking women and even pulling people into the water where it drowns them. The colour, shape and features of the monster vary according to differing illustrations (pictured) of the creature
In Japanese folklore, the child-sized Kappa, or 'river child' occasionally jumps out of its watery lair to pull pranks as well as attacking women and even pulling people into the water where it drowns them. The colour, shape and features of the monster vary according to differing illustrations (pictured) of the creature
Scientists have not managed to confirm the existence of the creature, despite the fact that numerous bones have been discovered that are said to belong to the Kappa.
One set of mummified remains, which seem to show a webbed hand is going on show for the first time at the Miyakonojo Shimazu Residence in Miyazaki prefecture on the island of Kyuushuu.
The remains were given to the Miyakonijo Shimazu family after a ‘Kappa’ was shot on a riverbank in 1818.


Read on...

GONZO WEEKLY #80

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



Bigfoot is Alive and Well in the Big Thicket of Texas
Rob Riggs, the author of "In the Big Thicket, On the Trail of the Wild Man" has been researching bigfoot for over 30 years. Longer than some 

Dread Central

Fan-Made Stop-Motion Megafoot Stomping About
Fan-Made Stop-Motion Megafoot Stomping About The idea of a Mech-Bigfoot is very exciting. So exciting in fact that artist Vincent Cretara and ...

Big Foot thoughts.....
I've never heard of stories about Big Foot from anywhere other than the US. Seems like if there were such an animal that they'd likely live in remote 

Watch Multiple Bigfoot Sightings in Wisconsin Last Summer
In the summer of 2013 there were multiple sightings by different people of the same bigfoot. Check it out: “All of a sudden, I look over there, and she

2013: Big Foot Spotted in West Virginia
Summary/Description: My sighting was unusual as I had been asked by a friend to go with him to attempt to see a Bigfoot Creature. The creature I ...

Bigfoot Appeared after Experiments to Cross Apes with Humans
http://english.pravda.ru/society/anomal/26-05-2010/113512-bigfoot-0/

Scientific View – A Guide to Bigfoot Hunting
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Bigfoot science. ... Bigfoot Evidence Released By Mainstream Scientists – Science News

Bigfoot's daughter
In the forest,there lived a human-like bigfoot who can was picking berries when he heard followed the he saw a young woman picking apples.


FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES


What has Corinna's column of fortean bird news got to do with Cryptozoology?

Well, everything actually!

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. 


THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN SINGS


The Gonzo Daily - Saturday
www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/about.html
The next issue of Gonzo Weekly is imminent, and later this afternoon it will be available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com. It has Don Falcone from the mighty Spirits Burning on the front cover and features an interview with the man himself by Doug Harr, an interview with Patrick Campbell-Lyons of the original Nirvana by me, a special dedication from Patrick to Twink, what happened when Erik Norlander met Corky Laing, and Keith Levene in Prague.
There are also new shows from the peculiar multiverse of Sub Reality Sandwich, from Friday Night Progressive, and from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and high heeled shoes (OK, no specialist footwear, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
To make sure that you don't miss your copy of future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
http://eepurl.com/r-VTD
*  The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at  jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...

*  The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html

* We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!

*  Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 54 who - together with an orange kitten named after a song by Frank Zappa puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange kitten?

WALLY THE COMEDY RHINOCEROS: Yesterday's News Today

Oll is away so for today Yesterday's News Today is done by Wally the Comedy Rhinoceros. He is a stand-up comedian of some renown. Here is one of his rhino-related jokes.

Q Why are rhinos large, gray and wrinkled? 
A If they were small, round and white they would be aspirins

Ha Ha! That was funny. Sidesplitting. Yes. Ha!

Now for the news....

  • White-faced darter dragonfly reintroduced to Chesh...
  • Fossilised crocodile tooth 'largest of its kind in...
  • Five Alaska Wolf Pups Rescued by Firefighters
  • The Fiercer Sex: Why Female Scorpions Sting More Q...
  • Cats found to eat more in the winter
  • Unusual parenting behaviour by Southeast Asian spe...
  • New Ramsar site for Andorra

  • Panama saves whales, protects world trade

  • And now for a happy tune that you can whistle while you work:

    TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS

    The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. 

    There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

    The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking. 

  • VIDEO: Wild Lion Ganglands - National Geographic D...
  • VIDEO: Big Cats Of The Timbavati - British documen...
  • VIDEO: Big Cats Of The Timbavati - british docum...
  • NEWSLINK: Dramatic video: Indian villagers corner ...

  • UK SIGHTINGS: Big cat sighting - Talk of The Villa...
  •