May 24th, 2017: International Cryptozoology Museum

[xoxoxoBruce]

Some people don’t put much stock in Cryptozoology, species that remain unverified by science.
In fact some think people who collect this stuff are maniacs, and they’re right… Portland Maineiacs.

Loren Coleman first started pursuing unusual, often inexplicable animals in 1960, and has since become one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of cryptozoology. The discipline, as defined by the master himself, “is the study of hidden or unknown animals. These are usually larger zoological species that, to-date, remain unverified by science, such as Yetis, Bigfoot, Lake Monsters, and Sea Serpents, as well as hundreds of other yet-to-be-found animals (cryptids) worldwide…” It also encompasses the study of animals of recent discovery, such as the coelacanth, okapi, megamouth shark, giant panda, and mountain gorilla.”

Throughout the years, Coleman has amassed an unrivaled collection of specimens, replicas, and artifacts relating to famous and lesser-known cryptids, including the eight-and-a-half-foot tall, 300-pound “Crookston Bigfoot,” a life-size coelacanth, a replica of P. T. Barnum’s Feejee Mermaid, and much more. The exhibits also include cryptid hair samples, fecal material, photographs, and footprint casts.
Coleman’s International Cryptozoology Museum preserves and presents the collection to the public in a fun and educational manner while acknowledging that cryptozoology is a “gateway science”. Cryptozoology is capable of sparking the next generation’s interest in more popularly-accepted exploratory and research-oriented disciplines like biology and anthropology.

But what happens when Bigfoot meets Yeti? Will they fight, or produce a race of offspring that will kick our ass?



link

[Gravdigr]

Bow-chicka-bow-wow!!!!

[Happy Monkey]

It also encompasses the study of animals of recent discovery, such as the coelacanth, okapi, megamouth shark, giant panda, and mountain gorilla.”

Huh? Recent discovery?

Especially the panda!

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Huh? Recent discovery?

Especially the panda!

This is Eurocentric "discovery" --from Wikipedia:

The West first learned of the giant panda on 11 March 1869, when the French missionary Armand David received a skin from a hunter. The first Westerner known to have seen a living giant panda is the German zoologist Hugo Weigold, who purchased a cub in 1916.

Pseudoscience is largely based on ignorance. I "don't know" about a thing, so I propose a wild theory.

[Snakeadelic]

There used to be a place on the Seattle waterfront called Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe, and they had some pretty freaky display items. I remember two cased mummies in the back (no tails on those) and a dried blue whale penis hanging from the ceiling. It was like 25 years ago I got to see the place, which may not even still be there.

The fish on the sign in the photo above is one of the great stories of cryptozoology. Coelacanths were believed to have been extinct for millions of years until a fisherman near the Comoro Islands (I think they're off the African coast near Madagascar) pulled one up in the 1930s. Now we not only know they're still there, we have underwater footage of live ones AND we've discovered there are at least 2 species!

The most recent trend I saw in wandering around the edges of the cryptozoology world is every time something weird shows up someone screams 'Chupacabra!' I've seen a dead otter, a dead raccoon, and a hairless or extremely short-haired live gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargentus) all called chupacabras.

[BigV]

It's still there, at least as of last summer, Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe. The waterfront in Seattle is a war zone. Well, not true, there's some heavy construction in the area, just... endless madness. The Coleman ferry dock is undergoing changes, the viaduct is coming down, the tunnel made by Big Bertha is complete but her dismantlement is only begun, and we're getting a new seawall. To say that the traffic patterns have been disrupted would be a massive understatement. You would have to be more curious than a pack of cats to make it to Ye Olde Shoppe recently.

I'll check specifically the next time I'm there.

[Gravdigr]

What was it that stopped ol' Bertha in her tracks a while back?

As I recall, there was a bit of a mystery as to just what she had encountered.