WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

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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Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Saturday, May 04, 2013

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY CHINESE MOON RAY ABSORBING,EGG EATING BLACK DOG FISH!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls I have another weird and wonderful story from China that I found in the North China Herald and South-East and Central China Gazette of Jan 9th 1891. Please can someone identify this animal?


A returned traveller from Kuangsi (Guangzi-Zhuang) Province tells of a strange fish found in the Kweiling [ i.e. Gweilin – R] river of that province. The fish is black in colour, has four feet and walks like a quadruped. The natives call it dog fish from its similarity to that animal. When quiet reigns late at night the fish crawls out of water and climbs to the top of trees in search of birds and eggs which seem to be its favourite food. It is said that the fish also inhales the rays of the moon and regulates and trains its breathing powers so that its agility and cunning excel anything in the air,on earth or in water. To capture it, it is necessary to keep very quiet, spread a net under the tree up which the fish has climbed and when it descends fold over the net; otherwise no bullet or arrow or line or hook will take it. As the natives believe it an infallible cure in consumption or other diseases of general debility , it is much sought for. A certain Canton merchant bought a few to present to his friends; while the servant was carrying them he accidentally fell and had his finger badly bitten. A short time afterwards the servant stole from his master and ran away. Then the natives claim the fish possessed a prophetic knowledge of coming events and gave the master warning by biting the servant! (1)


So what have we here? Some kind of seal or otter?


1. The North China Herald and S.E. & C.China Gazette   9/1/1891    

HIT PARADE FOR APRIL (CFZ PRESS/FORTEAN WORDS)

UK

1. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (4)
2=. Haunted Skies Volume Six by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (3)
2=. Quest for the Hexham Heads by Paul Screeton (3)
4. Those Amazing Newfoundland Dogs by Jan Bondeson (-)
5=. Haunted Skies Volume One by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (7)
5=. The Journal of Cryptozoology Volume One edited by Karl Shuker (5)
5=. Dead of Night by Lee Walker (-)
8=. Haunted Skies Volume Five by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (-)
9=. Haunted Skies Volume Two by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (-)
10. Wildman! by Nick Redfern (2)

US

1. The 2013 CFZ Yearbook (8)
2When Bigfoot Attacks by Michael Newton (1)
3. Monster! by Neil Arnold (-)
4. The Journal of Cryptozoology Volume One edited by Karl Shuker (7)
5. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (3)
6=. The Inhumanoids by Bart Nunnelly (5)
6=. The Owlman and Others by Jonathan Downes (-)
8. Globsters by Michael Newton (-)
9=. Dragons: More than a Myth? by Richard Freeman (-)
9=. Monstrum! by Tony 'Doc' Shiels (-)

Last month's positions in this pinky colour, which I think is called cerise. Sales are still strong after Christmas, quite possibly due to all the hard work Emsy has put in on the Facebook Group. Thank you honey.

DALE DRINNON: Bangladeshi burus, naked apes, and Benny's Blogs

New at the Frontiers of Zoology:
New at Benny's Blog, the Ominous Octopus Omnibus:
We have had several problems at the blog lately which have been interfering with our productivity. A couple of complaints were made against news items posted at the blog: the first one of these I cooperated with and took down the article without arguing about it, but the second time around I saw a bad pattern emerging and so I stood up for my rights and fought against it. That blog article had been taken down, but Blogger reveiewed the case and found in my favour. And so it is up again now.
Unfortunately we are experiencing a problem with blogger that is interfering with the addition of new photos. The new photos come out bland with small boxes marked with red Xes. when the situation is fixed we shall proceed with new blogs, but right now its pretty pointless
Best Wishes, Dale D.

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

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. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.


THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN HIDES

My parents were peculiar people, and had very fixed ideas on things. It is a trait that I have inherited from them, but I hope that I apply a bit more common sense and am a little bit less dogmatic. They were convinced that having a Bank Holiday to celebrate May Day was the first step towards having Communist Hordes and the Red Army parading through Bideford. I remember trying to convince them that it was actually the Roman Catholic feast day of St Joseph the Worker, but to no avail. Ever since they stopped celebrating Mass in Latin, The Vatican was tantamount to being part of the aforementioned Global Communist Conspiracy. But I am not them. Today is the May Bank Holiday weekend,tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo (which is a revolutionary holiday, but a completely different revolution) and rejoice that the weather is warmer than it was, the orange tips are finally flying, and that any day now the new Mr Averell CD 'Gridlock', comes out. And it is bloody good.
Our daily visit to the world of Thom the World Poet
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_4.html
Today's Gonzo Track of the Day is from Adam Lambert & Steve Cooke
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/gonzo-track-of-day-adam-lambert-steve.html
EXCLUSIVE: Judy Dyble talks about recording with the incredible string band
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/05/gonzo-weekly-judy-dyble-talks-about.html
*  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:
http://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 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and a not very small orange kitten (who isn't) 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 cats?

KARL SHUKER - COBWEB PANTHERS, A SILVERED SURPRISE



A study in silvering - Karl Shuker tracks down some exotic cobweb panthers.

Read on...

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today


Yesterday’s News Today

On this day in 1825 Thomas Henry Huxley was born. Huxley became known as Darwin's Bulldog for his effective defences of the theory of evolution against fundamentalists and coined the term “agnostic” to describe his own religious beliefs.
And now the news:
  • Scientists urge end to seismic tests to protect ra...
  • Cicada Wings Are Self-Cleaning
  • Sea Turtles Benefiting from Protected Areas
  • ‘Deranged’ bear attacks bird-watching biologist
  • Monitor Lizards out of reach, goats may salvage Go...
  • Cornish Mystery Cat
  • Taiwan’s clouded leopard declared extinct
  • Aquatic invasive species threat to UK rivers

  • This clip has nothing to do with Thomas Huxley but then nobody clicks the link at the end anyway: