Texas Blue Dogs from 1925

The Texas Blue Dogs are truly a cryptozoological mystery for the ages. They are described as hairless canines with large, protruding teeth, a bluish grey colored skin, and sometimes a backwards facing pouch on their stomachs. They supposedly move in a strange hopping/walking motion in many cases. For the majority of researchers, the mystery of the Blue Dogs began in the mid to late 1990s, but there is a case which could change that... from 1925.

On a farm near Greenwich, New Jersey, a strange creature was shot as it attacked the farmer's chickens. The creature was described as a dark colored canine. Here is the farmer's description, 

"It... hopped [in a] kangaroo fashion. Its fore-quarters were higher than its rear and the latter were always in a crouched attitudeIts hind feet had four webbed toes. its eyes were still open and very yellow and its jaw is neither dog, wolf, nor coyote. Its teeth are most curious, as the crushers in the lower jaw each have four prongs into which the upper teeth fit perfectly."

The story is very interesting and could show that the Blue Dogs are older than previously thought. I could find no mention of hair, but other than that, the description fits quite well.

Has the Beast of Bodmin Moor and Exmoor Mystery Been Solved?

A new article has popped up suggesting that the infamous anomalous big cats (ABCs) of Exmoor and Bodmin Moor are pumas that were released in 1978. Here is the beginning of the article:

For years, the rumours of big cats roaming Dartmoor and savaging livestock have been dismissed as sheer fantasy, no more credible than claims of the existence of the Loch Ness monster.

But the doubters may have - dare one say it - paws for thought. 

For the claims that Big Cats are roaming free may actually be true while the mystery of how they got to Dartmoor and nearby Exmoor and Bodmin Moor solved at last.

It is now claimed that three pumas were released onto the wilds of Dartmoor by Mary Chipperfield, the famous circus owner, after her zoo in Plymouth was forced to shut down in 1978.

You can find out more information here.

I personally think it is a possible explanation for some but not all cases of ABCs in the area. If the cats were released in 1978, it doesn't explain the numerous sightings prior to that date. It is an interesting fact to keep in mind, but not the absolute answer.

Vampiric Cryptids

In 1995 the world was shocked by startling news released out of Puerto Rico... livestock was being slaughtered frequently throughout the island, and all the deaths had one thing in common: the corpses were completely drained of blood. Thus the legendary Chupacabra was born and the grotesque sucker of goats has quickly clawed its way into being a staple of cryptozoology. Stories of livestock drained of blood, supposedly by some sort of creature have spread across the globe and are frequently making the news.

Unfortunately, tracking down specifically what the term 'Chupacabra' refers to is difficult. The translation means "goat sucker" but the term has been used loosely for any strange looking animal. The media frequently uses the term as a catchall for any normal animal with mange and has been captured and researchers like to use it for any creature that appears dog-like or gargoyle-like but is extremely unusual for any other classification. For that reason, I generally prefer to avoid the use of the term.

Another problem with the Chupacabra is that many people assume that since the term and media attention came along in 1995, the phenomenon started around that time. That isn't true. Vampiric livestock attacks have a very long history in cryptozoology. The focus of this post is to share a few examples prior to 1995.

• In the months of November and December, 1905, sheep were being massacred on farms around the area of Badminton, England. The police suggested it was an escaped jackal but no such jackals were reported at the time. Huge, black dogs were also seen around the area, some on the same day as attacks.
• Bladenboro, North Carolina had a rash of dog mutilations in 1954. Dogs were frequently found ripped to shreds or cut open with their blood drained. At the same time, shrieks and strange shadowy creatures were seen in the surrounding forests. The media quickly blamed a lynx that was killed as the attacks ceased but law enforcement accused feral dogs.
• The story of the 1970-1971 Chicken Man attacks is a personal favorite of mine. In El Reno, Oklahoma, farmers began to find their chicken coops raided and their birds either missing or ripped open and drained of blood. No culprit was ever seen but huge, ape-like tracks were found at multiple scenes. 
• During the 1972 Bigfoot wave in Roachdale, Indiana, a farmer and his family found over 100 of their chickens ripped open and drained of blood. The grisly scene was discovered after they went to investigate a strange sound coming from the coop. As the farmer got closer to the coop, he saw a giant, manlike creature in the doorway and as it walked away, the farmer fired upon the strange intruder. 
• Our last case is probably the most famous of this list, but is still stuck in obscurity. An enormous farm known as Bodalog, situated in mid-Wales, was plagued with a supposed vampiric beast from the depths of a nearby river. In 1988 the unseen creature murdered at least 35 sheep with only a small incision-like bite to the sternum. Many have suggested that the creature might have been some unknown species of snake, but since the creature was never seen, the mystery to its origins will remain unsolved.

There is an abundance of cases where livestock, poultry, or pets are killed, mutilated, and sometimes drained of their blood by supposed unknown animals. I have logged close to 150 individual cases simply by looking through the books I own. Unfortunately the subject have been largely ignored or, due to its popularity, the cases have been tainted by the Chupacabra. 

Because of this, I have decided to put my previous idea for a book aside for the moment a focus on my research on this diverse subject. I have begun writing a rough draft for a book focusing on these cases and discussing various explanations as to why these things happen. 

I am now a Published Author!!

I recently wrote an article about dogmen and werewolves in Ohio and had it published in the official journal of the Centre for Fortean Zoology. I am extremely excited about being a published author.

You can find my article here. The article is titled "Ohio Dogman"

Please comment and let me know what you think.

My Journey Around America

Vacation time is always one of my favorite events of the year, three years ago I went to Maine and got to visit the International Cryptozoology Museum. I always try to incorporate my paranormal interests and my recent trip was no exception.
I had the privilege of visiting three of the most historically important cities in America; New Orleans, Gettysburg, and Washington DC (all three of which are considered to be "the most haunted city on Earth" according to all the postcards and tourist traps).

On my visit to New Orleans, I visited a vampire boutique (where I purchased a guide to the paranormal aspects of the city), a handful of voodoo shops, and a witchcraft store (where I got a copy of Psychic Self Defense by Dion Fortune). We also visited the Audubon Zoo which had an excellent exhibit on the Rougarou (a Cajun version of the werewolf. The term is derived from the French Loup-Garu) and Bigfoot's three-toed cousin, the Honey Island Swamp Monster. Needless to say, I got suckered into purchasing a Rougarou T-shirt.

My Gettysburg trip was fairly brief because it was a short stop on the way to visit some friends who live in Harrisburg, PA. We visited a Civil War museum, saw some of the statues and monuments, and went to numerous ghost shops. Gettysburg, interestingly, has no less than five different ghost stores as well as a handful of Wiccan, fortune teller, and other paranormal related venues (and an excellent comic book store). Needless to say, if you are looking for ghost-hunting equipment or a ghost-hunting team to join, you should probably move to Gettysburg.

When we visited Washington DC, we didn't do anything paranormal focused but we did visit a handful of monuments, the National Zoo, and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum (which, unfortunately, did not have any of their prehistoric animal exhibits available to the public due to revisions in the exhibits). The Museum did have a couple sections that were of interest to cryptozoologists, though. They had a neat display about the coelacanth and giant squid, a fascinating exhibit about the thylacine (aka. Tasmanian tiger/wolf), and a stuffed okapi.

Overall I had a wonderful time. Next year we might venture to Florida, so I might go looking for the infamous Skunk Ape!

My sister and I with the terrifying Rougarou at New Orleans' Audubon Zoo