Cryptid Central

“Oh, but all these animals are just fairytales!”

“Oh, everyone and their dog has heard of the chupacabra.”

“Who cares about some hairy man in the woods?”

And maybe you’re right. MAYBE. But I’m here to tell you that not everything that people like me study are as fantastical as you claim. Sometimes, there are plain old animals that wind up in some strange places, that nobody wants to admit.

For example, let’s talk about kangaroos. Where do you think kangaroos come from? I bet you’ll tell me Australia, and Australia only. WRONG. There have been dozens of sightings of kangaroos in the United States alone over the last 80 years. Not kangaroos in zoos, or pets, either. These reports are of kangaroos spotted in the wild. And they’re not your typical bouncy marsupials, either.

One of the first major sightings was in Tennesee in 1934. An animal strongly resembling a kangaroo was spotted by several different individuals over a five-day period of time, and was reported as having killed and fed from several animals. Among these animals were ducks, geese, and dogs.

(The Info Journal, Charles Fort)

Any alarm bells ringing? Perhaps the carnivorous nature of these kangaroos, which are typically vegetarian and very peaceful?

Chicago, 1974. Two police officers are called to investigate a kangaroo sighting – on someone’s back porch. The animal had disappeared by the time they arrived, but the two officers tracked it to a nearby alleyway. They saw the animal. However, they were unable to capture the kangaroo, which again disappeared. This was the first in a closely timed series of kangaroo sightings in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, suggesting more than one kangaroo in action.

(Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena. Clark Jerome.)

The most recent of reports was in 2013, in Oklahoma. A group of hunters caught a wandering kangaroo on video. They happened upon the poor creature in a field in the country, far away from urban life. The video was put up on YouTube, and even reported on by the several newspapers around the area. Some theorized that it was an escaped pet, referring to a specific case from over a year beforehand.

(http://www.theridgefieldpress.com/19530/ridgefielder-spots-kangaroo-on-route-116/)

These are only a few of the more prominent reports. Many are not featured in newspapers or online videos. Many are ignored, dismissed, or ridiculed. But its very easy to dismiss the claims. Much easier than considering the evidence.

How many pet kangaroos could there possibly be in North America? How many get loose? How many escape from zoos and circuses? When was the last time you heard about an escaped kangaroo? Wouldn’t they be able to trace the sightings to any reports? Wouldn’t someone claim their lost marsupial?

The answer, my friends, is simple.

And if this was an illegally owned kangaroo, you probably wouldn't be telling your local law enforcement.

Not to mention, it is literally scientifically impossible that a species of kangaroo native to America could be discovered. That is impossible. Also there is definitely not an undiscovered kangaroo-like species living in America, because the breeding population would be incredibly thinly spread considering where the reports of these "phantom kangaroos" come from. Individuals will be spotted every couple of years in completely different states. What is the point of jumping to the conclusion of kangaroos native to America (impossible) when there is the simple answer of escaped pets or misidentified animal (improbable)?

Finally, that carnivorous kangaroo sighting? Sighted in the 30s, when most people didnt have an easy way to know exactly what animal they were looking at? And was only sighted in that one area during that one week? Yeah, no. That was not a kangaroo, and I'm more inclined to believe it was a publicity stunt.

In the 19th century, a cryptozoological enigma washed up on Scotland’s northern shores. It has come to be known as the ‘Strongsay Beast’. Described as “an animal, with a serpent-like body, long neck and three pairs of legs", the case of the Strongsay Beast is yet to be resolved.

According to legend, the Cherufe is a beast made of fire and rock that lives in the volcanoes of Chile. Twelve feet tall and shaped like a vaguely reptilian human, the Cherufe of myth is believed to be an actual creature—one that has evolved to withstand the normally lethal temperatures of a volcano, much like the tubeworms that cluster around volcanic vents on the sea floor, basking in temperatures surpassing 750 degrees Fahrenheit (400 C).

The Zaratan is a gigantic sea turtle described in folklore and literature, whose shell looks like a sloped, rocky mound several hundred feet in diameter. Sailers mistakenly see its shell as a small tropical island, so they drop anchor and land. When night falls the monster sinks beneath the waves, dragging down the ship and drowning them all. The Zaratan is alternatively described as a giant whale or octopus, or a great fish that strives night and day to bring his tail to his mouth but cannot because he is so large.

When a Zaratan gets hungry, it opens its mouth wide and releases a sweet smell. Fish are attracted to the odor and swim in, when its mouth is full it snaps its jaws shut, similar to an alligator snapping turtle.

It is also believed to be the same creature as the Aspidochelone or maybe even the Kraken.

Le Loyon or The Loyon is a supposed humanoid cryptid that has said to haunt the woodlands near the Swiss town of Maules. Le Loyon is described as a tall humanoid creature dressed in a boiler suit, and cloak while it wears a gas mask that completely covers its head.

According to eyewitnesses Le Loyon appears to be a human or humanoid dressed in a boiler suit, and covered in a strange cloak and wears a gas mask over its face. There has been one supposed photograph of the Le Loyon which depicts a strange humanoid figure. It has not yet been proven however whether or not the said photograph is a hoax.

Cryptids are the yet-to-be discovered animals, or recovered supposedly extinct zoological species that are being sought by cryptozoologists, zoologists, anthropologists, and other researchers through fieldwork in the wild, reexaminations of specimens in zoological collections, and searches of archival materials. For me, it all started with the werewolf in 2008, and moved quickly to an awareness of a world filled with cryptids. Here’s a list of my top twenty favorite cryptids actively being investigated and pursued today.

Andean Wolf: These unrecognized mountain dogs are seen in South America.

Bobo: Sea monsters of the North Pacific Ocean are frequently reported off Monterey Bay since the 1940s, and have been given this local name.

Chupacabras: Also called “Goatsuckers,” these bizarre Caribbean and South American cryptids are five feet tall biped creatures with short grey hair that have spiked hair and reportedly drain the blood through throat punctures of the livestock they kill.

Champ: Giant prehistoric-looking creatures lurk in Lake Champlain, a 109 mile lake that borders New York, Vermont, and Ontario.

Werewolf: Also known as a lycanthrope, werewolves are a human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf-like creature. Sightings date back centuries all around the world.

Jersey Devil: This regionalized name hides these creatures that have been haunting the New Jersey Pineland forest for over 260 years.

Boggy Creek Monster: The “Fouke Monster” is a Bigfoot-type creature that has been seen in and around Fouke, Arkansas.

Honey Island Swamp Monster: Reportedly these “Swamp Thing” monsters are seen in the Louisiana swamps.

Loch Ness Monster: Nessie is the most famous Lake Monster in the world; they are said to inhabit this loch, an extremely deep Scottish lake.

Ogopogo: This is Canada’s most famous type of water monsters, inhabitants of Lake Okanagan in the south central interior of British Columbia.

Mokele-Mbembe: For over two hundred years there have been reports of living Sauropods (dinosaur) in the remote Congo area of Africa. They may be confused with accounts of other local cryptids, aquatic rhinos.

Mongolian Death Worm: Locals in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia talk of these giant snakes, worms, or long thin lizards (also called Olgoi-khorkhoi or Allghoi-khorkhoi) as killing livestock and people with their breath.

Mothman: A local name for giant owls (also called Bighoot) which has been sighted for over 100 years in the West Virginia-Ohio area, and elsewhere in North America.

Skunk Ape: Also known by the label Myakka “Ape” and other local names (Booger, Swamp Ape), these chimpanzee- or orangutan-like primates have been sighted throughout central and south Florida.

Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine: Thought extinct, these wolf-like marsupials are still sighted on a regular basis in Western Australia, and perhaps New Guinea too.

Thunderbird: Large condor-like birds, perhaps Teratorns, roam the skies of North America, along regular migration routes.

Black Shuck: A ghostly black dog which is said to roam the coastline and countryside of East Anglia. It is a hell hound that causes death and mayhem.

Yeti: Yeti are creatures reported as crossing the Himalayan plateaus and living in the valley forests.

Beast of Bray Road: A hairy humanoid with canine features that was sighted near the towns of Delavan and Elkhorn in Wisconsin, mainly during the 1990s.

Okay, what. 

Cryptozoology: Study of hidden animals.

Wendigos could be out there.

That’s what it means.