The Wapaloosie

The Wapaloosie is another "fearsome critter" invented by 19th-century lumberjacks.  In this case, though, the term doesn't seem fitting -- the Wapaloosie isn't frightening at all.  In fact, the diminutive beast is completely harmless.  Physically, it resembles a mouse, combined with the long body of a dachshund.  It climbs trees by arching its spine like an inchworm, moving slowly but surely up the trunk.  Though it lacks a squirrel's speed, the Wapaloosie is more sure-footed, due to spiked toes that prevent it from falling.

The Wapaloosie puts these adaptations to good use.  In fact, it has to -- the creature only feeds on tree-dwelling fungi.  Sometimes these grow far above the ground, so the Wapaloosie would starve were it not a good climber.  The animal's tree-scaling behavior is so important that it has become instinctual.  It is said to climb during its sleep, as soon as it's born, and even (most strangely of all) after death.

The story goes that an enterprising woodsman shot a Wapaloosie looking to make some mittens.  Unfortunately, despite the creature's soft fur, these turned out to be completely useless.  As soon as the lumberjack picked up his axe, the gloves crawled off his hands and up the wooden handle.  Whenever he would rest his hand on a tree, the gloves would leap off and try to scale it.  Eventually, he was forced to abandon them in a ditch -- and last saw them climbing over fallen logs.

Read more about the Wapaloosie:
http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/pg25.htm
Image (public domain) from http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/images/wapaloosie_small.png

The Argopelter

The Argopelter is a "fearsome critter" -- a folkloric beast of America's back-country.  In the 19th century, it reputedly terrorized loggers and lumberjacks, attacking them when they intruded on its habitat.  Physically, this creature was not intimidating -- it was thin, lanky and monkey-like.  But don't let its appearance fool you.  The Argopelter was a lethal menace, and a master of projectile warfare.

This critter was completely arboreal, living and sleeping within the treetops.  By night, it would sleep in woodpecker holes, feeding upon the owls that sometimes dwelled there.  By day, it would climb out onto a branch and wait for passerby.  When one came near, the Argopelter would break off a rotting chunk of wood, whirling it around its head at high speed.  Finally, it would let go, launching its weapon and striking the "trespasser" dead.

Generally, an Argopelter attack was never seen coming.  A lumberjack would vanish into the woods, seeking a tree to cut, and simply wouldn't come back.  Eventually, his comrades would come searching -- to find only his body, crushed beneath a fallen branch.  Most would call this a freak accident, unsuspecting of the real culprit.  The Argopelter, meanwhile, would lie in wait -- until another victim came into range.

As a side-note, I've always wondered the source of the Argopelter's name.  I've never seen one recorded, but I've come up with my own pet theory.  The Argo is a ship of Greek legend -- a wooden vessel that carried many great heroes.  Eventually, though, the boat began to decay and was taken out of service.  Its former captain, Jason, still visited the vessel -- until he was killed when its prow fell off and crushed him.  Perhaps the name "Argopelter" is a reference to this story.  Death by rotting wood sounds awfully familiar.

Read more about the Argopelter:
http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/pg35.htm
http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/p3.htm
Image (public domain) from http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/images/agropelter_small.png

The Zuiyo-Maru Creature

In 1977, the Zuiyo-Maru caught itself a sea monster.  This Japanese trawler was looking for mackerel -- but what it found in its net was something else entirely.  The creature was long dead and badly decomposed.  Most of its flesh had rotted away, and its skeleton was clearly visible.  Still, the animal looked like nothing else on earth.  It was thirty feet long -- too big to be anything but a shark or whale.  Yet it resembled neither.  Its most distinguishing traits were its long neck and large fins -- which made it, more than anything, resemble a plesiosaur.

Unfortunately, the Zuiyo-Maru carcass was never brought to shore.  Concerned it would spoil his fish, the captain had it tossed overboard -- after the crew took photographs.  One of these (seen above) was widely publicized as evidence of surviving plesiosaurs.  It caused a media sensation, and sparked the interest of countless cryptozoologists.  According to recent studies, though, it's not a reptile at all.  It seems most likely that the Zuiyo-Maru caught a dead basking shark.

If you've ever seen a basking shark, you're probably very skeptical.  They're bulky, thick-headed, giant-mouthed filter-feeders -- in short, they look nothing like the picture above.  The key point to note, though, is how basking sharks decay.  Most animals, after death, "fall apart" in a specific sequence.  The study of decomposition is called taphonomy, and it can tells us a lot about the Zuiyo-Maru's find.

A basking shark's corpse distinegrates head-first.  The giant lower jaw sloughs off, separating from the rest of the body.  The fat, fleshy portions slide away from the skeleton -- leaving an emaciated carcass behind.  This carcass seems to have a long "neck" with a small head -- but in fact, this "head" is just the brain case.  The animal's jaws are long gone; in effect, the corpse has been decapitated.  A dead basking shark is a dead ringer for this cryptid.

This idea didn't convince everyone -- some were sure that the Zuiyo-Maru had found a sea serpent.  They pointed to purported discrepancies seen in the photograph -- features that a basking shark shouldn't have.  Eventually, though, testing of the monster's flesh revealed its identity.  According to amino acid tests, the carcass was indeed a shark.  Could plesiosaurs still be out there?  Many cryptozoologists think so.  But the Zuiyo-Maru's monster isn't one of them.

Read more about the Zuiyo-Maru Creature:
http://paleo.cc/paluxy/plesios.htm
http://bizarrezoology.blogspot.com/2013/10/zuiyo-maru-carcass-shark-or-unknown.html
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2013/12/zuiyo-maru-addendum-and-rebuttal.html
Image (public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/Zuiyo_Maru.jpg

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

A few months ago, while hiking with some friends, I saw my first woodpecker.  I've heard these birds plenty of times -- their rapid-fire tapping is unmistakable.  But I'd never gotten a good look at one, and was impressed when I did.  These little birds are flying jackhammers.  They ram their beaks into trees with startling force -- I was amazed mine didn't break its neck.  They're also strikingly beautiful, and distressingly rare.  In fact, one of America's most famous woodpeckers has gone extinct altogether.

In its day, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker was not a rare bird.  It could be found throughout the forests of the American southeast -- forests which, in the 19th century, began to disappear.  Loggers cleared hundreds of acres of woodpecker habitat, causing populations to plummet.  Hunters were no help, killing some of the last individuals for trophies and museum specimens.  By the 1930s, the population had dwindled, and only a handful remained.  By 1944, the species had disapeared.

But there are hints that the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker may yet exist.  Since the bird's supposed extinction, several notable sightings have come to light.  Most of these took place within the last two decades -- the best in 2005 and 2006.  The 2005 reports, from Arkansas, were the first to be taken seriously.  They included photos and videos of a large, white-striped woodpecker.  Witnesses claimed that the bird's red crest, wing position and tapping pattern confirmed its identity.  Critics dismissed the evidence, believing a pileated woodpecker to be responsible.

In 2006, new evidence came out of Florida, where a research team recorded woodpecker sightings and sounds.  They were unable to take video, or even photographs -- but they claimed their data was conclusive nonetheless.  Many ornithologists remained skeptical.  The survival of the woodpecker remains, for the time being, debated.  Only one thing will change this -- unequivocal photographic proof.

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is an interesting case among cryptids.  Most unknown animals are treated with extreme skepticism, and are not given serious consideration.  The woodpecker, on the other hand, has been investigated by several major institutions.  Research teams have spent years searching for the bird, and multiple scientific papers have discussed its possible survival.  Why this special treatment?  Simple -- the woodpecker is a bird, and one that was previously known to science.

In recent years, "birding" has become an increasingly common pastime.  Tens of thousands enjoy the hobby, and as a result, we understand our local birds like we do few other animals.  When a rare species is spotted, dozens of witnesses converge on the location.  They report their finds online, discuss them with others, and submit them to interested ornithologists.  The birder community is popular and well-organized -- which means that a species like the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker draws great attention.  It lived into recent times, making its survival conceivable -- and many ornithologists are very willing to consider it.

How likely is the woodpecker's persistence?  I'm very willing to consider it.  Other rare birds have been found decades after "extinction" -- perhaps the Ivory-Billed will join them.  Admittedly, there's little habitat left for this species -- but some can be found in Arkansas, where the species has been sighted.  Keep watching the skies, as they say.  This bird may still travel them.

Read more about the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Campephilus_principalis/
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ivory-billed_Woodpecker/id
http://www.ivorybill.org/
http://www.npr.org/2005/04/28/4622633/ivory-billed-woodpecker-rediscovered-in-arkansas
Image (public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Ivory-billed_Woodpecker_by_Jerry_A._Payne.jpg

No Picture?

Hello, all!

For the first time ever, I've posted about a creature without including a picture.  This is due to a new policy I'm instating:  the exclusive use of public-domain images.  I write this blog for fun, and it doesn't make me a dime -- but that doesn't mean I can't be sued.  While I don't think that's probable, I'd rather not chance it, and so I'm switching to images I can use risk-free.

Many of my old posts include copyrighted images -- I'm aware of that, and I'm working on fixing it.  Bit by bit, I'll be changing this blog's pictutes, and soon enough everything will be clean.  The only problem is that no non-copyright images EXIST of certain cryptids.  That's why the Enfield Horror has no picture -- and why a few other cryptids will also lack one.

In better news, the blog is still going strong!  I've missed a few days since BeastPedia restarted, sure -- but I've also written some fifty posts, and revamped a ton of old ones.  The project continues on!

The Enfield Horror

My posts on this blog follow a loose format.  I describe a mysterious creature, talk about evidence, and then discuss its likelihood.  I look at possible explanations, and determine which is most probable.  Today, though, I can't do that -- because I have no idea what the Enfield Horror could be.  This is a strange cryptid indeed -- backed by plenty of evidence, yet completely lacking an explanation.

There have only been a handful of sightings, all from 1973.  They started on April 25th, with a man named Henry McDaniel returned home with his wife.  There he found his children in a state of terror -- something, they told him, had tried to break into the house.  Evidently, it hadn't given up -- because shortly thereafter, McDaniel heard a scratching at the door.  When he investigated the sounds, he expected to see a stray dog.  What he beheld instead was horrifying.

The creature was between four and five feet tall, with greyish skin and bulging red eyes.  It stood on three legs, and had small claws for arms.  Horrified, McDaniels emptied a pistol into the beast -- which bounded away, covering fifty feet in three jumps before vanishing unharmed.  McDaniels wasn't the only witness -- a local boy was attacked half an hour earlier by a creature of the same description.

The Enfield story quickly became a media sensation.  Young "monster hunters" combed the woods looking for the beast, and some of them evidently saw it.  They described it as a "grey monkey" that moved much faster than an animal -- far too quickly to be caught.  McDaniels also saw the creature again, traveling along the railroad tracks in the dead of night.  By the end of May, the sightings had ceased, and none have been reported since.  But the question is this -- what caused them in the first place?

Usually, I would dismiss such an improbable-sounding cryptid.  There are no large animals that walk on three legs, let alone ones with claws and bulging eyes.  There's no natural explanation for this creature -- small wonder that it's often called an alien.  So why am I not brushing off this monster?  Because despite its bizarre nature, it's supported by plenty of evidence.  Police found three-footed tracks in McDaniels' yard, and the witnesses involved were quite reliable.  Loren Coleman himself heard the Horror's shriek, and observed the scratch marks on McDaniels' door.

In light of this evidence, some people have offered theories to the Horror's identity.  None of these seem probable, but I'll repeat them for the sake of discussion.  Some suggest that the Enfield Horror was a loose kangaroo -- which would explain its jumping motion.  Its third leg, they say, could have been a dragging tail.  To me, this seems like a stretch -- kangaroos aren't grey, lack red eyes, have no claws and are easily identified.  Who could mistake a kangaroo for such a monster?  Besides, if a kangaroo had escaped from a zoo, it would surely have been reported.

Another possibility is that the Enfield Horror was a "Devil Monkey."  This is a broad category of cryptids including various North American primates.  They tend to be fast, aggressive and around the Enfield Horror's size.  While Dale Drinnon -- whose opinions I respect -- supports this theory, I'm not so sure.  Monkey tails aren't thick enough to mistake for a leg, and none have hairless grey skin.  As I said at the beginning of this post, I'm going to hold out on stating an opinion.  In this case, no clear answer is apparent.

Read more about the Enfield Horror:
http://www.americanmonsters.com/site/2010/03/enfield-horror-illinois-usa/
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/enfield73/
http://www.prairieghosts.com/enfield.html
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/03/enfield-horror-is-also-fw-monkey.html

The Kumi Lizard

The monitor of Komodo is a dragon indeed.  At ten feet long, it's Earth's largest lizard -- and certainly its most dangerous.  the Komodo dragon is a mighty predator, capable of taking down water buffalo.  This isn't due to strength alone -- the creature is venomous, and can poison its prey with a bite.  Impressed?  You should be -- the Komodo dragon is truly the king of the lizards.  But this crown, as paleontologists know, has been recently earned.  Only 30,000 years ago, it belonged to a much larger and deadlier species.

Its name was Megalania.  A neighbor of the Komodo dragon, it lived in prehistoric Australia alongside many other extinct species.  During the Pleistocene, Australia's animals were huge -- much larger than anything seen there today.  Megalania could exceed twenty-three feet; its prey included ten-foot wombats and thousand-pound kangaroos.  Around 30,000 years ago, all of these "megafauna" disappeared -- right when humans arrived on the continent.  Few scientists think this is a coincidence.  A popular theory is that humans overhunted these animals -- driving Megalania to extinction.

But some are convinced that the beast still lives.  They point to tales of the "Kumi Lizard" -- a reptilian cryptid of New Zealand.  It lives in trees, so it's said, and is about five feet long.  The creature has been sighted as recently as the '70s, and is far larger than the island's other lizards.  Is Megalania's survival possible?  Perhaps, but it's not likely.  On the plus side, New Zealand has plenty of undeveloped land, and a giant reptile would not lack for habitat.  But on the other hand, what would Megalania eat?  There are no giant wombats in New Zealand -- only thousands of sheep, which would surely be noticed if they went missing.

Furthermore, the Kumi Lizard sounds nothing like Megalania.  The latter is four times the cryptid's length -- nothing that size could climb a tree.  Furthermore, Megalania was not native to New Zealand.  Could it have swum there from Australia?  Maybe -- several monitor lizards are semi-aquatic.  But that's an awfully long distance, and would challenge heavy reptiles.

Unfortunately, Megalania seems to be truly extinct.  But that doesn't debunk the Kumi Lizard.  There are two other theories that might explain this cryptid, and both of them are far more likely.  First of all, the creature might be a crocodile monitor.  This species is a powerful swimmer, and lives on nearby New Guinea.  It's a much better seafarer than Megalania -- perhaps it once reached New Zealand.  Furthermore, it's close to the Kumi in size -- adults can reach reach eight feet, and they're fairly decent climbers.

Alternatively, the Kumi Lizard might be a new species.  There are several monitors living in Oceania; an undiscovered type isn't impossible.  If such a species existed, it would belong to the genus Varanus.  That would make it a smaller cousin of the Komodo dragon -- and, of couse, of Megalania.

Read more about the Kumi Lizard and Megalania
http://nzcryptozoologist0.tripod.com/id20.html
http://www.paranormalinvestigators.org.nz/home.php?page=cryptozoology&id=14
http://picsandstuff.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/the-mysterious-kumi-1898/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/3046.shtml
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Varanus_komodoensis/
Image (of Megalania skeleton, public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Varanus_priscus_Melbourne_Museum.jpg

The Hoboken Monkey-Man

This may be the most obscure cryptid I've ever described.  You won't find it on Wikipedia, or in most crypto-books.  I've seen it detailed in only two sources -- both of which are listed below.  The first is "Weird NJ", a magazine which brought the creature to my attention.  The second is a newspaper article, which partially debunks the myth.

But let's start with the story.  The Hoboken Monkey-Man, so it's said, is a decades-old urban legend.  Around Halloween 1982, rumors about the creature spread through the school system -- passed student-to-student in hallway whispers.  According to these tales, children were being attacked by a half-human monster.  It would kidnap them, toss them out windows, and even attempt to murder them.  Some said that students had gone missing; others that a teacher had been killed.

These claims were completely false, as the Hoboken police reported.  No students had been harmed, and no monster had been sighted.  Still, the hysteria spread, encouraged in part by local parents.  The year 1982 was marked by several kidnappings -- leaving parents worried for their children.  They used the Monkey-Man as a scare tactic, encouraging safety through fear.  Eventually, the Monkey-Man tales died down -- but Hoboken residents have not forgotten them.

Was there really a Monkey-Man?  Almost certainly not.  This cryptid's likelihood is often overstated, due to a false claim made in "Weird NJ".  The magazine tells us the Monkey-Man was taken seriously -- so seriously, in fact, that the police devoted a task force to the creature.  This is untrue, as the Hoboken police force has confirmed.  The Monkey-Man is an urban legend, backed by no real evidence whasoever.

Note:  There are no public-domain images of the Hoboken Monkey-Man.  The image here is a public-domain picture of a macaque from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Berberaffe,_Barbary_Macaque_(Macaca_sylvanus)_-_Tierpark_Gera_09.jpg.  Awww.

Read more about the Hoboken Monkey-Man:
http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2414578/article-Ever-heard-of-the--Hoboken-Monkey-Man--Residents-recall-mythical-primate-who-terrorized-kids
http://cressida.websitewelcome.com/~weirdev/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=28

The Hokkaido Wolf

If you want to see wolves in Japan, you'll have to visit the zoo.  But this wasn't always the case; 125 years ago, the nation was home to two unique subspecies.  The first was the Honshu Wolf, a diminutive creature extinct since 1905.  Once common, their populations were ravaged by disease starting in the 1700s.  Human persecution finished off the species for good.  The othe Japanese wolf disappeared even earlier.  This was the Hokkaido Wolf, a larger and rarer breed found in the north.

European tradition has long featured murderous wolves.  But Japanese folklore portrayed them differently.  Wolves, to the Japanese, were noble and spiritual animals.  They were guardians of the mountains, and protectors of those in need.  They had supernatural powers, according to some stories, and were always treated with great respect.  When it became a threat, an individual wolf might be killed -- but when this happened, its spirit was appeased with great ceremony.

Overall, Japanese wolves were seen in a very positive light.  There are various theories which attempt to explain this -- some more likely than others.  One hypothesis is that Japanese wolves were actually helpful to farmers.  Yes, they took occasional livestock -- but they also hunted crop-stealing deer and rabbits.  Sometimes, wolves would even leave part of their prey behind.  On the whole, they increased the productivity of farms, and their benefits outweighed their dangers.

Unfortunately for the wolves, this changed during the 1800s.  After the Meiji Restoration, Japanese agriculturalists put tremendous emphasis on livestock.  And in an effort to "catch up" with western nations, the nation kicked its economy into overdrive.  Rapid industrialization followed, along with increased agricultural land use.  This had several effects on wolf populations.  First of all, it reduced their habitat, bringing them into frequent conflict with humans.  Second of all, it killed off their natural prey -- forcing them to hunt livestock

No longer were wolves seen as beneficial.  Now, they were common farm pests to be killed at every opportunity.  Farmers slaughtered the animals with guns and poison; eventually, this was incentivized by the government.  It issued formal bounties, awarding prize money for every wolf killed.  Dog-spread diseases further reduced populations.  The Hokkaido Wolf disappeared with tremendous speed -- and by 1889, it was extinct.

Or so it is said.  Sightings of the animal have never ceased, and dozens have been reported in the past decades.  Locals report hearing wolf howls, finding wolf dung, seeing wolf footprints and even encountering the animals.  Many of these stories are dubious, but the sheer volume of sightings gives one pause.  There are still plenty of wild places in Japan, and plenty of large prey.  The animals once hunted by wolves -- the deer and the serow -- are still present, and could support a small population.  Perhaps someday, like other "Lazarus species", the Hokkaido Wolf will be rediscovered.

Read more about the Hokkaido Wolf:
http://wolfology1.tripod.com/id147.htm
http://www.scilogs.com/endless_forms/2010/09/27/although-the-gray-wolf-canis/
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/brent-wolf3/
Image (public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/%E3%82%A8%E3%82%BE%E3%82%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%82%AB%E3%83%9F%E5%89%A5%E8%A3%BD%E3%83%BB%E9%96%8B%E6%8B%93%E8%A8%98%E5%BF%B5%E9%A4%A8%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%99%EF%BC%98%EF%BC%94%EF%BC%90%EF%BC%99%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%94.jpg

Post Revamp: the Maltese Tiger

Tigers are among Earth's most fascinating animals.  Their size, majesty and charisma has made them enormously popular -- and enormously recognizable.  In a way, this is ironic, since tigers as reclusive as it comes.  In the wild, they are near-impossible to find, and even researchers can go years without seeing one.  There are two main reasons for this.  First of all, tigers are shy and solitary, spending little time even with members of their own kind.  And second of all, tigers are extremely rare, with under 4,000 left in the world.

Even rarer, some say, is the "Maltese Tiger."  This is an unusual sort of cryptid -- not a new species, but a variant of an existing one.  Maltese Tigers, supposedly, are discolored by a rare mutation.  Their fur is blue instead of orange, and their normally-black stripes are grey.  This explains the name "Maltese" -- many cats from Malta have blue-grey fur.

Before talking about the probability of this cryptid, we should discuss whether Maltese tigers are even possible.  In normal cats, this coloration pattern is created by a specific set of genetic alleles.  Were these alleles present in tigers, they would indeed produce a blue-colored animal.  But such a tiger would not have stripes, unlike the Maltese Tigers of cryptozoology.  A more complicated set of alleles could indeed produce a blue, striped animal -- but such an individual has never been observed.

A perhaps likelier theory is that "Maltese" tigers are not blue at all.  White tigers do exist, and can be produced by a lack of pheomelanin.  This mutation is not uncommon; several white individuals have been captured or bred over the years.  Tigers are mostly nocturnal, and in the moonlight a white animal could easily appear bluish.  The "Maltese" coloration may thus be a trick of the light.

Whether Maltese Tigers are blue or white, they cannot be common.  Only a handful of sightings have ever been reported -- mostly from China, but also from neighboring countries.  In this region, tigers are extremely rare, due to poaching and use in traditional medicine.  Do unusually-coloerd morphs appear on occasion?  Perhaps, but there certainly isn't a population -- and tigers are so infrequently seen that we may never know for sure.

Read more about the Maltese Tiger:
http://www.redorbit.com/education/reference_library/general-2/cryptozoology/1112993059/maltese-tiger/
http://io9.com/could-the-mythical-blue-tiger-actually-exist-1331164937
Image (public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Maltese_Tiger.jpg