Category: Odd Bits

Mysterious Beasts

Cryptids or mysterious unidentified creatures are a popular topic for investigation. It doesn’t seem to matter that no actual physical trace of the beasts in question which would allow positive ID has ever been found. Just marveling about their possible existence seems to be enough.

Remember the Abominable Snowman (otherwise called a yeti)? I recall that being quite the thing for a while when I was younger. Books were written about the possibility of an unknown giant anthropoid living in the Himalayan mountains. They were described as being reddish-brown in color and would walk for impossibly long distances. Hollywood leapt on the bandwagon with their own creep-fests starring the strange beast, although for some reason they made them white instead reddish-brown (white fur costumes must have been cheaper).

Yeti monster

The craze faded after a time and now the latest on this crytid is a news article reporting a yeti (excuse me, an idiot dressed up as a yeti) robbing a Russian theater. He got quickly arrested (once the Russian cops got through laughing). If there’s a real yeti out there, he must be cringing.

Bigfoot or Sasquach has fared slightly better. He never seems to go out of style. Over the years there has been a steady stream of sightings of the beast. Footprints have been photographed, odd calls reported, blurry pictures showing what’s obviously a chunky guy wearing a gorilla costume,

blurry picture of purported Sasquatch

however no solid evidence such as bones, droppings or hair samples showing that such a being exists has turned up. Samples of hair submitted many years ago turned out to belong to a deer. While it’s still up in the air as to what’s really going on, my own theory is that some First Nation wise guys go out every so often and have a little fun with the dumb whites. After all if we’ll believe space aliens built the pyramids, then we’ll believe guys in monkey suits are really an unknown species of hominid. It’s always possible of course that there are giant ape-like beings roaming about, but if there are, they have enough sense to keep out of sight from us crazy humans.

Loch Ness has been in the news recently with yet another sighting of the mysterious Loch ‘monster’. While the article speaks of a single monster, it looks more to me like several critters, possibly otters cavorting in the water, though it’s difficult to get a sense of scale looking at the video. Unfortunately, CGI is so sophisticated now that you really have to take anything you see on the screen with a large grain of salt, these days.

Loch Ness Monster

Tabloids headlines bill the creature (or creatures) as ‘terrifying’ but it’s hard being scared of something which seems to be playing with such relish in the waters. Tourists, obviously unphased, flock every year hoping for a glimpse of the monster. Even if they don’t see anything, the Loch is still a beautiful place to visit, judging from all the photos. Here’s hoping ‘Nessie’ doesn’t get found too soon.

Nessie seems to have many counterparts throughout the world. Argentina’s Lake Nahuel Huapi boasts of a lake monster much like Nessie. Okanagan Lake in British Columbia is reputed to be the residence of a creature named Ogopogo. Chessie is another water creature which may be found in the Chesapeake Bay and it seems to have a cousin living in Lake Champlain called Champ. The darkness of lakes the world over has invited many such tales. Who know what might be lurking under those mysterious looking waves?

Far more intriguing are the stories found throughout the United States of mysterious giant birds. The First Nation tales of the Thunderbirds, spirit beings who protect humans from evil spirits, particularly water spirits. The Algonquins says the Thunderbirds were actually the ancestors of present-day humans and helped create the universe.

legendary Thunderbird

Fast forward to modern times and frequent accounts pop up, usually in Texas but also in other places of mysterious outsize birds which startle people. While most are misidentified known birds such as hawks, vultures or eagles, others might be unknown flying avians, not familiar to the witnesses. It’s often easy to misjudge the size of a bird especially when it’s at a distance so the definition of ‘giant’ may be up to debate. But like Sasquatch and Nessie, the reports persist.

So what to make of these stories and why do they continue in spite of no real physical evidence collaborating their reality? Another look at these creatures reveals one common element: they are all based on stories of supernatural beings. The Sasquatch is known to Northwestern Native Americans as sasq’ets, meaning ‘hairy man’ and has been viewed as a shape-shifting supernatural being which protects the forest. Water beast stories, which include those about Nessie, are a world-wide phenomenon based on a belief in water spirits and gods. In fact the Thunderbird itself is said to be the foe of evil water spirits. Like the Sasquatch, it also is a shape-shifter, engaged in a never-ending battle with hostile beings who are a threat to mankind.

Perhaps rather than futilely searching for ‘proof’ of these beings, it might be better to accept that they might really be elusive spirit forms, either beneficial or hostile, who co-exist with us. We’ve never lost our desire to witness beings awesome and inexplicable. While we might marvel at the wonders of other planets, exploding suns, shimmering galaxies and ominous black holes, they are far away, almost abstract. But the mystery beings populating our imagination and possibly our world as well, are much closer to home and lurking just out of the corner of our eyes.

chinese dragon or Loong

Odd Mythic Creatures

Many mythic creatures have worked their way into modern literature and especially movies throughout the years. Medusa with her stony glare, dragons galore, vampires, werewolves, sea serpents, and the occasional flying horse all have walked, flown, swam or slithered across the screen, the more cinematic, the better.

Many more haven’t made the cut, however (at least not yet). This may be due to their not being interesting enough, or not having shown up in entertainment mythology in a sufficiently popular movie. But many of these creatures do have potential.

One monster is the manticore, a man-eating creature from Persian (modern day Iran) mythology.

Manticore, man eating monster

Like many mythic beasts, it is an odd amalgamation of various animals. It has the head of a man with three sets of formidable teeth, the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion. In some illustrations, like the one above, the tail is a bristle of poisonous spines which the creature can shoot like arrows. Later accounts placed it in India as by then Persia was well known enough so that scholars noted the decided lack of manticores in that land. In modern times, the manticore is sufficiently unfamiliar that some artists have erroneously given it a lion’s face. But this is a bizarre enough monster that it will surely make its way onto the big screen at some point, if it hasn’t already.

While fire-breathing dragons are a staple in many fantasy movies and tv series, the Chinese dragon is profoundly different.

chinese dragon or Loong

More correctly named the loong or lung, it is drastically different from the western dragon. Instead of fire, it is strongly associated with water and is considered a manifestation of chi, bringing good fortune, power and strength. It doesn’t waste time accumulating treasure or devouring virgins. It has no need for them. The loong can shapeshift as it wishes, from the size of a tiny caterpillar to as great as the universe itself, even on occasion, taking human form. It is often accompanied by a flaming pearl representing wisdom, spirituality, immortality and other valued attributes. While loongs are usually presented as beneficent, they do have their wrathful moments, deluging mortals who displease them with floods and violent storms. Hmmm, you know, this sounds familiar. If you’ve been watching the news, you no doubt noticed the nasty weather which has been hitting us lately. Maybe it’s time we got our act together and stop doing stuff to infuriate the loong.

Native American stories are replete with tales of various creatures,some friendly, some very dangerous. Among Cherokee people is the tale of the creature known as a nun’yunu’wi, literally translated as dressed in stone.

Nunyunuwi or cannibal monster

Humanoid in appearance, the nun’yunu’wi has sorcerous powers, among them a stone cane which the creature uses to locate prey, namely humans. Nearly unstoppable due to his arrow-proof stony skin, he does have one fatal weakness; a menstruating woman. One tale has a warrior running to warn his village after spotting an approaching nun’yunu’wi. The village elder locates seven menstruating women and lines them up along the road leading to their village. As the women are stark naked, there is no mistaking their condition. The nun’yunu’wi encounters each one, much to his horror, as he tries to near the village. Working like kryptonite, the women’s menstrual blood reduces this menace to utter helplessness so the villagers can destroy him.

One twist to this story which I find very interesting is that the nun’yunu’wi doesn’t seem to resent his destruction by the villagers. In fact, there’s no animosity, at all. He doesn’t curse them out or bewail his fate. While they set fire to a great pile of logs over him, he accepts it all philosophically and proceeds to teach them prayers and magic spells which can help them in day to day living. Once he is burnt to ashes, the people sweep away the ashes only to discover a lump of red paint and a magic stone, again which are used for their benefit. This tale reveals a striking difference in attitude from stories we might tell. There’s no abominable evil creature spewing hateful bile whereever it goes, no unredeemable nihilistic demon and no gleeful celebration over its death. Instead it’s just a very dangerous monster which, while it needs to be destroyed for the people’s safety, still can be helpful even in its dying moments and beyond.

Australia is also brimming with supernatural wonders of every kind. The local people speak of a being called a mimi, a kind of aboriginal fairy. It has a long, spindly fragile body and because it’s vulnerable to winds that could tear it to pieces, it lives in rock crevices.

Australian Mimi or fairy spirit

Native people tell how mimis lived on the land before aboriginal people came. They were and still are regarded as generally friendly and even playful, though they may get annoyed if you are disrespectful. It is said that the mimi taught the humans how to build fires, hunt kangaroos as well as showing them how to dance, sing and paint. Art depicting the wonderful wispy mimis can be found on many outcroppings and in artwork done by native peoples.

Another mysterious creature, found mainly in England but also in Europe as well, is the Black Dog. This spectral being, obviously in the form of a black dog, is often described in countless folktales.

Black Shuck or demonic dog

One form is the Black Shuck, a strange ferocious brute, a terrifying black dog with one eye. It’s said that if you meet it, it can be the worst of luck for you and may even presage your death. Arthur Conan Doyle used this creature as an inspiration for his Sherlock Holmes novel, Hound of the Baskervilles.

Many times these mysterious canines are seen along roadsides or near bridges. Sometimes the spectral hounds are white rather than black. But not all Black Dogs are evil however. Some have been known to guide lost travelers to safety. A good book to read about these spirit forms is Black Dog Folklore by Mark Norman

Interestingly the Black Dog has made its way to the Americas, apparently immigrating along with Europeans, spawning tales in both South and North America. An area called the Bridgewater Triangle, a section of land in southeastern Massachusetts noted for paranormal phenomenon has had sightings of the Black Dog along with countless other strange beings.

So what’s your favorite mythic creature?

Toys Of Yesteryear

Housecleaning and downsizing often resurrects items long in storage leaving you with the decision about whether to keep or donate to the rummage sale. Toys are a good example of this. For some, it’s easy. Dolls went quickly for me as I was never much a doll player, probably because they weren’t interactive. Barbie dolls were considered too pricey so I got the cheapie knock-offs. Those are long gone and not missed. The only doll that ever got an enthusiatic reponse from me was the Chatty Cathy doll.

Chatty Cathy doll

The one I got had a pull-ring in the back of her neck. Yank on it and she had a dozen or so sentences she would recite one at a time each time you pulled the string. This was pre-electronic tech so what she had inside her was basically a phonograph record. This worked great until I wore the darn thing out pulling on the string so many times. Sadly her voice degenerated to an unpleasant grinding sound and that was the end of Chatty Cathy. A pity since an intact Chatty Cathy with a good voice box commands a pretty decent price as a collectable vintage toy.

Another vintage toy I wish I still had was a little scooter I sat in and pushed around when I was a toddler. It looked like a zebra, with four wheels, a wooden tail and head painted like a zebra. The legs had coverings similar to the cores of paper towel rolls also zebra painted. An internet search has turned up nothing like what I remember. The closest I could come was this.

vintage child's scooter

Even this doesn’t quite look like it but it gives a rough idea of how it was shaped. I rode that thing incessantly around the house (I was about four or five but remember it quite clearly). It was a great way to burn up excess kid energy. It’s a wonder I didn’t wear ruts in the floor. I probably drove my parents totally crazy which may explain why it disappeared once I outgrew it. Off to a rummage sale (alas, *sniff*…).

At one time we had more than one Slinky toy about, but over the years something would happen to them. They would get bent or damaged in some way so they could no longer slink anymore. So those are gone as well.

vintage Slinky toy

Still, a suprising number of toys managed to withstand the attentions of both myself and my kid brother to survive to the present day and are definite keepers, not to be given away or sold. One was a little wooden pull toy put out by the Holgate Toy Company.

vintage pull toy

With sturdy wooden parts and a strong pull string, it’s still in good shape and would still be good entertainment for a small child. I also still have some wooden blocks of the same above design, probably put out by the same company. A few tinkertoys still survive and on my bookshelves I have a small plastic ferris wheel. I have no idea what toy set it came from but it still endures and will even spin if you push it with a finger.

plastic toy ferris wheel

There’s a vast menagerie of plastic dinosaurs, farm animals and various critters still present from many Christmas gifts over the years, enough so they could fill a toy zoo twice over.

plastic toy animals

But by far the most entertaining toy (and likely the most hazardous) was the Creepy Crawler Set. We had two versions, one which made bugs of various sorts and the other you could make weird looking critters which could fit together in any design you wanted. The set consisted of a electric heater, with metal form molds. Plastic goop stuff came in bottles and you would pour the goop into the molds and ‘cook’ them on the heaters producing all sorts of odd looking critters. Apparently these things were a lot more dangerous than I remember.

However, I don’t recall either my brother or I burning ourselves on the hot cooker or getting sick from the plastic fumes. We must have done the cooking in a well ventilated area because we both survived to tell the tale. And I still have a bagful of the plastic beasties. The cooker, molds and goop are long gone but the Crawlers survive in all their creepy glory.

creepy crawlers
more creepy crawlers

All of these will be sticking around for a while, because they bring back memories of a simpler time (or at least it seemed simpler). But that’s how housecleaning usually works. You can junk some stuff and shed nary a tear but some of it you just can’t bear to part with. That probably signifies what’s really important to you.

Can’t say for sure what the Creepy Crawlers signify, though.

Have a safe and happy winter.

The Saga Of the Cane Toad

cane toad

The cane toad, native to Central and South America, is a large warty toad, poisonous with big paratoid glands (the round spots located behind the eyes near the neck) which exude bufotoxin as a means of defense. They are prolific breeders, with a female often laying between 8000 to 25000 eggs embedded in long strings of jelly. Most of the tadpoles, which themselves are poisonous, usually die during the time they metamorphose to adults as this is the time when they lose their juvenile toxins and are defenseless until the adult paratoid glands develop. Their main enemies at this critical period are … well ….other young cane toads, who cheerfully devour their brethern.

Their voracious appetites and rapid reproduction caught the eyes of agriculturalists, hoping to find a ‘natural means’ of controlling crop pests. One place they were brought in, was Australia. In 1935, about a hundred toads were introduced, with the hopes they would have an impact on cane beetles, who were attacking sugar cane fields. Needless to say, things did not work out as was hoped.

One would think Australians would have learned their lesson with the debacle of the introduction of rabbits back in the nineteenth century.

rabbits in Australia

But evidently not. As with the European rabbit, with no natural enemies and an ideal environment, the toads did what their predecessors, the rabbits, did, which was reproduce like mad and spread like a bio-tsunami across the landscape. It’s hard to say what the Australians hate more now, rabbits or cane toads.

Efforts to control the exploding numbers of toads, now estimated to be 250,000,000, have been fruitless. The march of the toads seems relentless as they overrun not only ecosystems but human towns and cities, devouring anything smaller than themselves and poisoning inquisitive pets who lick or bite at them. Efforts to control them, ranging from introducing sterile males to compete with fertile males, using cane toad toxin to trigger cannibalism in tadpoles, or just bludgeoning the things to death with a hammer (illegal by the way) have born little fruit.

But a curious thing has been happening while humans have been pulling out their hair over their latest screw-up. It seems the local wildlife has begun a counter-offensive.

white ibis

Recently white ibises have been observed ‘playing’ with cane toads. The birds are often called ‘bin chickens’ by locals for their habit of foraging in trash cans. But this insulting nickname may get dropped in light of what’s happening. It turns out the birds weren’t playing, they were stressing the toads, forcing them to release their poison, then either wiping them on grass or rinsing them in a nearby water source. Then the ibises would eat the toads without ill effect.

And they are not the only ones who have stumbled on a way to devour the formerly inedible cane toad. A local species of crow has developed the simple expedient of flipping the toad on its back and tearing open the abdomen and eating the non-toxic internal organs. Rakali water rats have also mastered the trick of eating the toad without running afoul of its poison by using the same technique.

If this doesn’t heighten your respect for the intelligence of animals in figuring out how to do all this, then I don’t know what will. There must have been a hefty amount of experimentation, fueled by hunger, by the ibises, ravens and water rats, before hitting on the best method of getting a meal out of these unpleasant invaders. Bird brains indeed!

Food for thought, if you’ll pardon the expression.

Have a happy and peaceful New Year.

Saint Nicholas