cryptozoology

[furbearingbrick]

Alrighty then.
The Tsuchinoko is said to be a fat, venomous snake that hops around or rolls like the similarly-mythical Hoop Snake. It is also supposed to like alcohol. The Yoshii Municipal Government has put a ridiculous price on its head (15 million dollars, I think.)

[Tsar Nazi]

Wrong.
There was a 20 million yen reward issued, which is barely $242,102 USD.

Sauce: http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/tsuchinoko/

[furbearingbrick]

Oh well.

[Hecate Trivia]

The Fearsome Critters of lumberjack lore are fucking awesome.

I present to you:

THE SPLINTER CAT


(Felynx arbordiffisus.)

A widely distributed and frightfully destructive animal is the splinter cat. It is found from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, but in the Rocky Mountains has been reported from only a few localities. Apparently the splinter cat inhabits that part of the country in which wild bees and raccoons abound. These are its natural food, and the animal puts in every dark and stormy night shattering trees in search of coons or honey. It doesn't use any judgement in selecting coon trees or bee trees, but just smashes one tree after another until a hollow one containing food is found. The method used by this animal in its destructive work is simple but effective. It climbs one tree, and from the uppermost branches bounds down and across toward the tree it wishes to destroy. Striking squarely with its hard face, the splinter cat passes right on, leaving the tree broken and shattered as though struck by lightning or snapped off by the wind. Appalling destruction has been wrought by this animal in the Gulf States, where its work in the shape of a wrecked forest is often ascribed to windstorms. -Source

[xolta]

Welcome new person. Also splinter cat is awesome.

[Hecate Trivia]

Why thank you. I want a splinter cat so badly. :C

[Inäzor Felix]

I like when folklore attributes supernatural or just outright absurd abilities to otherwise normal animals. Most people would expect a tree snapper to be a huge ugly beast, which makes the beast less fearsome - people tend not to fear things that they expect. The story, however, gains a new perspective if the events are blamed on something trivial or even banal, like a wild cat. Things we think we know good can be terrific if they fail our expectations. I can imagine Stephen King writing a short story about this creature.

Besides, welcome abroad, Hecate Trivia! Please feel like in a slimy pit of bones.

[Hecate Trivia]

That's what makes the splinter cat so awesome. I'm not going to lie. If I ran across a splinter cat in real life I'd probably freak out. You should really check out the link I posted. It has a lot of other awesome critters.

Thank you for the welcome.

[Inäzor Felix]

That's what I'm actually doing at the moment - browsing through this great website 8) North American folklore is very rich and unjustly overlooked.

[Hecate Trivia]

I couldn't agree more.

[The_Qu]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I have something to add oh no

So, out of all the staples in Cryptozoology, one of the most unsung is the humble Rod. Completely and utterly debunked, they are nevertheless interesting as background creatures. Look at their use in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow as the Skyfish enemy.

This is a pretty rocking diagram of a Rod done by Araki, the creator of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. More thought is put into the biology of a silly Cryptid than most creators put into elaborate beasties.

[Jesus lizard]

I remember that I always liked to think Rods were mere glimpses of something completely beyond and outside our perception and our universe casually slipping it's unidentifiable limbs into our universe to 'test the water'.

[Chiknhart]

I actually heard about rods in high school from a friend of mine who was a cryptozoology enthusiast long before I knew about the "proof" of their existence in videos and photos. I thought they were the coolest things ever until he showed me a "rod" caught on video.

What happened almost word-for-word:

Me: "Ok, so let me know when it comes up,I always miss these things."

Friend: "Alright it's coming up...aaaaaaanndd...There!"

Me: "Where?"

Friend: "Right there!"

Me: "Move your finger! I can't see it!"

Friend: "It's above my finger! Look!"

Me: "...That's a moth dude."

Don't get me wrong, the concept is still appealing, but it kinda took the magic out of it for it to be something so simple that an idiot high school freshman like myself at the time could debunk it.

[xolta]

Kongamato winch is so post to be a living pterosaur of some sort form zambia.
It is often described as a giant bat or misshapen bird or a flying snake. Its apparently best know for destroying boats and getting in fights with fisher men.