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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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Wednesday, November 02, 2011

CARL PORTMAN: Blue dog snippets

Jon,

I write a blog every week for a heart forum. It goes worldwide of course and has some Texans as well as many other folks on it. I thought I would just ask the question ‘has anyone ever heard of the Texas Blue Dog’ just on the spur of the moment. I cut and pasted the replies and they are attached.

Of course, you will know much of it, if not all of it but there may be a snippet or two of use.

See how I think of you Jon – you bloody great bear.

Carlos J

Website: http://www.carlsplanet.co.uk/


































I have seen some specials on the TV, I think the Discovery channel about such a dog, but have not seen one live. They were trying to expel the myth of the Chupacabra, and were linking the sightings of this dog to sightings of Chupacabra. I believe they have done some DNA work to try and figure out where it has come from, but I cannot remember exactly what they have found since the dog does seem to be hairless but have some incredible teeth. Good luck in actually finding a picture of one.Eric, Utah

Carl, a quick look online revealed the state dog of Texas as a Blue Lacy. Looks very much like the dog on your site. A few months ago, workers, at a local hospital here in Maryland, took pictures of a strange animal in the woods that was described as a cross between a kangeroo and a dog. Looked alien. Turned out to be a red fox with a very bad case of mange.
Annette (Maryland)

Carl, I personally know someone who saw a Tasmanian Tiger. She was a fellow Northern Territory Policewoman and she was camping in the outback, in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia. She got up one morning early to go to the river that they were camping on and looked across the river and saw the animal on the opposite bank. She went back and got her camera, and yes you could see the distinctive stripes on the back of the animal. It truly was a Tasmanian Tiger, or some other weird animal that had evolved in the isolated area that she was in. To make this incident even more believable, she didn't go to the media with her photo or other agencies. Her belief was that if the animal had survived out there all this time, then it deserved to be left in peace. She was a born and bred outback woman, and did spend a lot of time travelling and camping in remote areas, enjoying the environment. I often wonder if she did eventually report it and show the photo, but as the Kimberleys are not being inundated with camera crews and media or hunters, then I presume she didn't. This was in the 1980's that I saw the photo, and it was taken about 5 years previously. So hopefully, or at least I like to think so, there is a thriving community of Tasmanian tigers in the outback Kimberley area. It is a very isolated and rugged area, so hopefully this will ensure that they do stay protected. This is mainland Australia and very isolated. Almost the opposite end of the continent from Tasmania.
Chrissy (Australia)

I think what you mean is a Texas Blue Lacy. Breeding info is here... http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/bluelacy.htmThis is a dog that is common in the ranch and hunting areas of Texas and good breeders can fetch big money for well bred and trained pups. It is now a recognized breed of its own. These dogs are tough enough to use to hunt wild boar and I imagine if left to their own devices would hunt in local barns and cause havoc. This is not the Chubacabra that is much storied despite the look in the photos.
Kat (California)

I periodically see very similar pictures of animals found in our desert regions down near the border with Mexico. Sightings always bring up the mythical chupacabra which I believe comes from Mexican legends. Interestingly they never provide follow up information on what the animal really is, but coyote seems reasonable based on appearance, size, and areas they have been found. You might try using chupacabra as your reference when looking up additional information on the beast.
Robopop (Arizona)

Comment from Carl – someone also sent me this link. It’s a mad mad world.
http://www.txbluedogdems.org/

CFZ "PEOPLE": Its Prudence's birthday

...Well, no it's not. But it is the anniversary of her coming to live with us, which is still a jolly good anniversary to celebrate!


No doubt there will be cake later....

HAUNTED SKIES: 1971 Cos-Mos letter


http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/10/cos-mos-letter-1971.html





OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1998 Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman, died.
And now the news:

Seattleite stars as skeptic on Sasquatch series
Sasquatch, rare woodpecker among strange Stennis t...
'Watch out before lighting your bonfires,' hedgeho...
Pembrokeshire man shot in bungled robbery
Clever Eurasian jays plan for the future
Switching Senses: Leeches Shift the Way They Locat...
Arctic seal visits Scottish nature reserve
A new species of a tiny freshwater snail collected...
How bat wings can heal themselves
Bigger Birds in Central California, Courtesy of Gl...
National Zoo employee found guilty of attempted an...

What killed the dinosaurs?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiJLN7THrho

THE MOST PECULIAR HEADLINE OF THE WEEK SO FAR

Face discovered in testicular tumour



CFZ CANADA: Robin is working 9-5

Many apologies for the absence of late, sometimes life gets in the way. That's what this blog is about.




Cryptozoology takes a lot of hard knocks. Often called "pseudoscience", those of us who practice actual research would appear to the disbelievers as time wasters. To them, we do nothing all day except sit and read fiction and perhaps generate fiction because, after all, "monsters" couldn't be real--our parents said so at age 5. This bleeds over to the never-ending search for support in the academic community as well.

Read on...

DALE DRINNON: The development of Chinese dragons


New on the Frontiers of Zoology, a somewhat more detailed explanation about the development of Chinese dragons than you might have seen before-in more than one sense:
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2011/11/some-more-on-oriental-dragon.html

Best Wishes, Dale D.

HIT PARADE FOR OCTOBER (CFZ PRESS/FORTEAN WORDS)

UK

1. Haunted Skies Volume One by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (4)
2. Haunted Skies Volume Three by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (2)
3=. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (1)
3=. Haunted Skies Volume Two by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (3)
5. Dark Dorset by Mark North and Robert Newland (5)
6. Dead of Night by Lee Walker (-)
7. Monster! by Neil Arnold (-)
8=. Dragons: More than a myth? (-)
8=. The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: The Northern Isles by Glen Vaudrey (5)
10. The Owlman and Others by Jon Downes (8)

US

1=. The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Richard Freeman (1)
1=. The Cryptid Creatures of Florida by Scott Marlowe (2)
3. The Inhumanoids by Barton Nunnelly (3)
4. The Mystery Animals of the British Isles: The Northern Isles by Glen Vaudrey (5)
5=. The Monster of the Mere by Jonathan Downes (-)
5=. Man Monkey - In search of the British Bigfoot (-)
5=. Haunted Skies Volume Three by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (8)
5=. Haunted Skies Volume Two by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway (8)

5=. Karl Shuker's Alien Zoo by Dr Karl Shuker (5)

5= A Daintree Diary by Carl Portman (-)

Last month's positions in this pinky colour, which I think is called cerise. October's sales were rather good in both the UK and the USA. Certainly nothing to grumble about. Richard's good showing is almost certainly because of the Fortean Times review, and it is nice to see Lee Walker making such good figures....




ON THE TRACK

The latest episode is nearly finished although for reasons explained a couple of days ago it is running a few days late. It will be posted later today, and yes, Richard's boolk did make it to the printer...