Five mythical animals that turned out to be real

13 September 2017

Sometimes the tales travellers tell of strange creatures they have seen in a remote part of the world are true

By Michael Marshall

Biologists in Taiwan are discussing whether or not to re-introduce the Formosan clouded leopard, a creature so mysterious that some have claimed it may never have existed.

It’s not an entirely unusual state of affairs. Explorers have claimed to have seen bizarre animals over the centuries, only to be exposed as hoaxers. But not always. Sometimes the most outlandish creatures turn out to be extremely real.

It is perhaps no surprise that the platypus was once thought to be a hoax. It looks a bit like a mole but has a duck’s bill. Not only did this strange-looking mix of mammal and bird not fit with what was then known of biology, it was also immediately obvious how the hoax might have been achieved, with little more than scissors, thread and a sewing needle.

The platypus was scientifically described for the first time in 1799 by the British naturalist George Shaw, based on a skin sent by John Hunter, then the governor of Australia. Shaw admitted to being suspicious: “it naturally excites the idea of some deceptive preparation by artificial means,” he wrote.

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Nigeria: Boko Haram Members 'Being Killed by Mystical Bees and Mysterious Snakes Possessed by Ghosts'

Members of terror group Boko Haram have allegedly been arrested in Nigeria after fleeing a forest to escape deadly bites from "mystical bees" and "mysterious snakes".

According to Nigerian newspaper Vanguard, the captured insurgents claimed the creatures -- possessed by ghosts -- had killed many Boko Haram members.

"We were told that the aggrieved people who had suffered from our deadly mission -- including the ghosts of some of those we killed -- are the ones turning into the snake and bees," one militant told Vanguard. "Our leaders fled, too."

Boko Haram made headlines worldwide for the kidnappings of 220 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, last April.

The girls are being allegedly smuggled to Cameroon and Chad and sold as brides to militants for 2,000 naira (£7). Others are being forced to marry their abductors.

Some Boko Haram members believe the insects and reptiles are hunting the insurgents to punish them for the mass abduction.

"We decided to flee when almost all our comrades are leaving the Sambisa [Forest] because of constant attacks by snakes and bees, which we were told was as a result of Chibok abducted schoolgirls," one insurgent said.

Continued

Gators: Attacking the myths

The sight of record-smashing whopper gators, even from the safety of newspaper photos, gives some in Mississippi pause about fun in and life on the water.

Three alligators harvested by Mississippi hunters this past weekend chomped state records into history and set new ones: a 10-foot female weighing 295.3 pounds and two monster males that tipped scales at 723.5 pounds (record holder for about an hour) and 727 pounds, respectively.

One look at the pictures — one longer than a lineup of six men and the other looming far larger than the hunter hoisting his tail — triggers awe and perhaps a prick of primordial fear. Big jaws, big teeth, big tail ... hightail it on out of there!

Jackson mosaic artist Teresa Haygood, who grew up with a canoe, borrows a kayak when she can and hikes trails along the Pearl River, loves seeing huge alligators in pictures. “I don’t love the fact that they’re killing them necessarily, but there’s just something majestic about the fact that they can actually get so big, and can grow to approximately 40 or so years old. That’s how old I am.” She thinks about the hatching, their journey till then and “I guess that’s the fairy tale story.

“The minute that I start feeling sorry for ’em, I picture myself being eaten by one. So it solves the whole problem,” Haygood says. “The minute that I’m stuck on the water and those teeth are coming at me, I think I’d probably be hitting it with a paddle and running for my life.”

On a recent kayak trip, she spotted three gators in one bend, “just one of those busy days, I guess. It was like Alligator Festival.” She nearly knocked herself out of the kayak doing a U-turn, she said, but then told herself to be brave. “I’m supposed to be the top of the food chain here.”

Michelle Blair, Clarion-Ledger kayaking blogger and director of the Sept. 14 Gator Bait Race in Brandon, counted 14 alligators along one mile of the course last year, she said, but hasn’t seen a single one in the three times they’ve kayaked the course in recent weeks. “You see them from time to time ... but it’s never really a concern of mine,” Blair said. “They don’t tend to be aggressive to kayakers. They’ll warn you if you happen to be in their space and they don’t want you there.”

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130905/NEWS01/309050023?nclick_check=1

In Search of the Flower that Blooms Every 3,000 Years

The myth that has grown up around the plant called the Youtan Poluo or Udumbara has clung on almost as stubbornly as the nonexistent roots with which the plant itself clings on. Said to bloom only once every 3,000 years, this occasion is supposed to mark the arrival of a future king. Let’s see how much truth there is in this fairytale.

The tiny white flowers on filigree stems are actually not much to look at and could easily be overlooked. Honestly, would you look twice if you found something like this growing in your house? Good that Mr. Ding, a farmer of China’s northeastern Liaoning province, was more observant and curious when he was cleaning the steel pipes in his garden.

Read more at http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/in-search-of-the-flower-that-blooms-every-3000-years/12623#uRkjJpJFygW77Zd9.99

Bears Not Attracted to Menstruating Women

Despite campfire fears dating back to at least 1967, black bears and grizzly bears are not attracted to the odors of menstruation, according to a recent Yellowstone National Park report.

Polar bears may be interested in the smell of menstrual blood, the report found, but bears that roam in North America are not. Food is a much more important temptation for bears, according to the findings.

The idea that bears might preferentially attack menstruating women is not new. In 1967, a night of infamous grizzly bear attacks in Glacier National Park in Montana left two women dead. One woman was having her period, and the other was carrying tampons.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/22688-myth-bears-attack-menstruating-women.html

Myth of breast-sucking turtle resurfaces

Informante [Namibia] | 18 April 2012
Written by Edson Haufiku

The urban myth surrounding a breast-sucking turtle allegedly forced onto
young women by an unknown man has once again resurfaced after a Tsumeb
resident and alleged victim, Lina Sames, related her ordeal on the NBC
Damara/Nama radio service this week. Sames featured on Monday on the
weekly radio programme 'Crime and Society', presented by Johannes
Mushindi, alleging that she was forced by a middle-aged Indian man to
breastfeed a small turtle that grew bigger with every suck.

During the interview conducted by Mushindi and Sergeant Siegfried Geiseb
of the Windhoek City Police, Sames narrated how she hitched a lift from
Tsumeb on 11 April with the alleged perpetrator to visit a friend in
Otavi, 60 kilometers away. After the visit to Otavi, the two reportedly
returned to Tsumeb together, agreeing to meet the following day at a
popular hotel. On 12 April, Sames and her new acquaintance purportedly
drove towards Grootfontein before coming to a halt half-way between the
two towns.

Sames, a domestic worker, related how the mysterious man suddenly produced a live turtle, no bigger than the average grown up's hand and pressed the reptile against the victim's right breast. "It proceeded to suck, while at the same time growing bigger. I was then forced to drink blood from the turtle," a traumatized Sames said.

According to Inspector Kauna Shikwambi of the Police Public Relations
division, Sames was in a state of shock upon admission to the Oshakati
State Hospital and was unable to give a coherent statement to the police.
"I was informed that she was so hysterical that she even left her
medication upon her release on 16 April," says Shikwambi.

Inspector Mathee of the Tsumeb police station also acknowledged the
incident and confirmed to Informanti that a case was opened, but declined
to provide the case number without permission from the Oshikoto Regional
Crime Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Naomi Katjiua. The Commissioner
however denied any knowledge of the strange incident.

A neighbour and friend of Sames, known only as Marianne, also confirmed to
this reporter the factuality of the reported incident. Sames, who has no
mobile and was reported to have been at work at the time of enquiry, could
not be reached for comment. The folklore surrounding the breast-sucking
turtle first surfaced late last year, after a young woman was lured with
the promise of a shopping spree into breast-feeding a turtle on the
northern outskirts of Windhoek. Although she was rumoured to have been
admitted to Windhoek state hospital and later died, this could not be
verified.


http://www.informante.web.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9809:myth-of-breast-sucking-turtle-resurfaces&catid=19:inside-pages&Itemid=100