tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post5781889998378223157..comments2024-03-22T21:58:18.933+00:00Comments on ShukerNature: AT LAST - MY VERY OWN MYSTERY ANIMAL SIGHTING!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15628598508836601012noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-28845577604841499152015-05-18T18:01:09.751+01:002015-05-18T18:01:09.751+01:00Hi Phillip, No, definitely not a capybara - I'...Hi Phillip, No, definitely not a capybara - I've seen capybaras up close at a number of zoos many many times, and my mystery beast was nothing like one - legs far too short, mode of movement entirely different too. The closest match is definitely with a coypu, indeed I have no doubt now that this is what I saw, especially after watching videos of coypus online.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-15312152794913229892015-05-18T14:55:49.525+01:002015-05-18T14:55:49.525+01:00Hi Karl. This post got me thinking. At the beginni...Hi Karl. This post got me thinking. At the beginning of the post you describe the creature as "Its head was long, but I didn’t spot any ears (hence I am assuming that they were not large or otherwise distinctive). Similarly, I do not recall seeing a tail". Now the tallies well with a description my mother gave of an unknown animal my mother spied whilst leaving work at Manor Farm Country Park in Hampshire. After some discussion she identified the beastie to be Capybara.. No tail or ears visible and the somewhat back heavy gait? Now I realise that they are not grey but could the low light have washed out the colour somewhat maybe? Also there have been previous sightings in the midlands(and at least one in Hampshire!). Anyhow just a thought! On a side not I found and photographed some pug marks from a large cat in a local woods, wider than the palm of my hand and no claw marks. I would be happy to email you a copy if you are interested? Phil.Phillip Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14858701551217101378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-87558926780527606402015-04-11T12:53:21.084+01:002015-04-11T12:53:21.084+01:00I'm from Louisiana and we have coypu(we call t...I'm from Louisiana and we have coypu(we call them Nutria Rats) all over the place. From your description I would think that's your animal. Only discrepancy is the fur color although I'm sure it's possible that there are variants depending on the region they're inhabiting. They're are native to South America so they have thrived and become a majorly invasive species in Louisiana because we lack a major predator for them. I am inclined to believe that it would be just as easy for them to get a nice foothold anywhere really, we call them Nutria Rats for a reason, very adaptable and procreate at break neck speed. Brandi Castellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04456204114696469750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-18498621974884964472014-09-30T01:59:30.668+01:002014-09-30T01:59:30.668+01:00If you move the yellow man figure up two side-road...If you move the yellow man figure up two side-roads on the Google map linked to above by BobSkinn, you will be at Wilsford Close and will see its road name and the high wall running along its left-hand side.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-83628039684055760822014-09-30T01:56:09.821+01:002014-09-30T01:56:09.821+01:00Meadow Close is just two side-roads along from Wil...Meadow Close is just two side-roads along from Wilsford Close, i.e. just a few yards further along Lichfield Road from Wilsford Close.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-77316306869891622642014-09-23T14:36:56.764+01:002014-09-23T14:36:56.764+01:00Ok, here goes. This afternoon I foolishly kidded m...Ok, here goes. This afternoon I foolishly kidded myself that the Cartbridge crescent end of the path would be easier to access because there are less trees and, I thought, only thistles and nettles to contend with. I thought wrong. The first twenty yards or so were passable, broken bramble stems informing me that someone had trodden the path recently, and the beer can strewn ground under the trees betrayed the fact that local youths are using the cover as a secret drinking den. As I got a little further I found that no one had ventured further for some time. The brambles had knitted together over the path, and the act of trying to pass a few yards left my legs scratched through my jeans. I guess the only way to travel along that path is to take a scythe. It looks like I'll have to try the Mill lane end of the path again, the brambles there aren't so enthusiastic, they have to compete with the tree canopy overhead for light, and a pair of secateurs should be adequate to get to the heart of this intriguing strip of land. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15242133317267043228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-81849415356975262862014-09-22T16:50:57.255+01:002014-09-22T16:50:57.255+01:00Thanks David, I greatly apprciate this!Thanks David, I greatly apprciate this!Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-10007594375359362692014-09-22T14:42:25.669+01:002014-09-22T14:42:25.669+01:00I used to use the path in question regularly while...I used to use the path in question regularly while exercising my old bull terrier, who is now deceased, as he was aggressive with other dogs, but I haven't walked down there since last winter. I did a little exploring yesterday. The path (from the Mill lane entrance next to the rail bridge, which is very well concealed) is overgrown with brambles; halfway down you would think you were in the middle of a primeval forest - perhaps nature has a way of protecting its little secrets. As I was wearing jeans and a t shirt I suffered a lot of nettle stings. Next time, wearing more suitable clothing, I will tackle the path from the Cartbridge crescent end (the way in there is directly beside the railway bridge), and I will keep you informed of anything interesting I stumble across.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15242133317267043228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-40877078810912729482014-09-22T05:13:54.979+01:002014-09-22T05:13:54.979+01:00Hi David, Thanks very much for your fascinating ac...Hi David, Thanks very much for your fascinating account. It may be the same animal - if so, it's a year older now than when you saw it. I know the Arboretum area well, so I think I'll pay a visit there soon (I have a nasty shivery cold right now, so I'll get rid of that first).Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-28618619739976324482014-09-22T05:11:13.494+01:002014-09-22T05:11:13.494+01:00Hi Nick, No, it didn't look or move like a boa...Hi Nick, No, it didn't look or move like a boar at all, but as noted in my Stop Press, it certainly resembled and moved like a coypu - and judging from a further comment here, I'm not the only person who has seen one in this area.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-2680929119331342362014-09-20T13:35:30.949+01:002014-09-20T13:35:30.949+01:00Indeed, these coypu appear to 'hop' as the...Indeed, these coypu appear to 'hop' as they bound away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hYsm0J-rZQ I should have thought to suggest a coypu. Travelling as a passenger to Peterborough from Wells-Next-The-Sea in Norfolk, I could have sworn I saw a coypu watching the road from a grassy stream bank. Believing them to have been exterminated, and not realising there had been sightings in recent years, I convinced myself it was merely a simulacrum, having observed it only briefly. Perhaps I should reassess that conviction. Could it be coypu are still thriving, and spreading across the midlands?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990564432778690216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-13918826576186031822014-09-19T23:47:01.061+01:002014-09-19T23:47:01.061+01:00Karl, I live on the Butts not far from the Arboret...Karl, I live on the Butts not far from the Arboretum island. Late in the summer of 2013 after a stormy couple of weeks I had a similar sighting to yours. I exercise my dogs on the Mill lane nature reserve, forty odd acres of partially wooded land with a stream running through it between Ryecroft cemetery and the Lichfield road. There is a heavily overgrown, rarely visited strip of land between the stream and the rail track that is accessible to the stretch of Lichfield road near the hotel and garage across an open field. I saw a squat, shaggy brownish creature from maybe thirty yards away, and it was at least as big as a twelve pound terrier. At first I thought maybe the animal was a Muntjac (I've seen them over there occasionally), but it was too low to the ground and it bounded off far from elegantly as soon as my dog started to pursue it. It ran through the thick undergrowth down the steep banks of the stream, and shortly afterwards I heard a distinct splash. With some difficulty I managed to clamber down the bank, where my dog was still racing back and forth, but the bank is lined by scrub Willow, long grass and dense brambles, so predictably I couldn't see anything. There is enough dense vegetation there to hide the burrows of something like a Coypu, and nearby are many bullrushes on boggy land and the waterlogged ditches lining the railway that may provide a food source - the existence of a small population there wouldn't surprise me. If you are not familiar with the area and you want me to show you where I saw the animal I would be happy to oblige.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15242133317267043228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-56487332750199435712014-09-19T04:32:20.902+01:002014-09-19T04:32:20.902+01:00In the October 2003 issue of Bigfoot Co-op (now de...In the October 2003 issue of Bigfoot Co-op (now defunct), an article of mine titled "Cop-Cams, Helmet-Cams, and Sunglass-Cams" was published. I observed that the dashboard cameras being increasingly used by police cars would likely eventually capture footage of a Bigfoot crossing a road. (Such an incident occurred a couple of years back in Georgia, although it wasn't good enough to be definitive. Presumably a better case will come along.)<br /><br />I also urged researchers to wear helmet-cameras (and sunglass-cameras, when available) when out in the field. <br /><br />In February 2012 in Bigfoot Times I reported on an ear-mounted, always-on video-camera, controlled from a smartphone. I pointed out that it would have captured many fleeting encounters that Bigfooters have not been able to photograph. It's name is the Looxcie2--it costs about $200, from www.looxcie.com. <br /><br />A little over a year later, four well-known Bigfooters in the woods, not heeding my advice, had a multi-witness sighting that they didn't manage to photograph. If only . . . . Roger Knightshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02393847736300658074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-36522064135474754092014-09-19T04:18:16.008+01:002014-09-19T04:18:16.008+01:00If you really want to find out what you saw I woul...If you really want to find out what you saw I would suggest a few things you can do . Go back to those houses in the day and talk to the people that live there . Explain who you are , explain that you are investigating a sighting of a unusual species of wildlife . Most people are all to willing to help identify wildlife when they learn it is in their area . Look in the garden areas for tracks , damaged vegetation from opportunistic foraging . If you find any it is a good start . ask the people to call you right away if they have a sighting of their own . check for scat , if it eats it leaves scat . People love to help in science projects , it will open some doors for your project . remember , science is generally based on reproduced Constance .search for it .Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07495033053048214264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-89857572562289156052014-09-19T03:47:10.780+01:002014-09-19T03:47:10.780+01:00What color were it's eyes ?What color were it's eyes ?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07495033053048214264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-46437209056338408032014-09-19T02:40:56.825+01:002014-09-19T02:40:56.825+01:00Could it have been a bandicoot? Not the long eared...Could it have been a bandicoot? Not the long eared bilby species but one of the short-eared genera. Some, like the Western bared bandicoot have relatively small tails.<br /><br />The only other possibility I can think of would be some sort of hystricognath rodent. As far as I know only domestic cavys and porcupines have long fur but maybe one of the mountain species of agouti?Tamara Hensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547216895449679019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-66858647171642605282014-09-19T01:23:06.599+01:002014-09-19T01:23:06.599+01:00I've seen wolverines moving around their spaci...I've seen wolverines moving around their spacious enclosure at the Cotswolds Wildlife Park last year, and they didn't move anything like this animal, nor did they resemble it. The animal was genuinely grey, as my second sighting of it was without the use of headlight illumination and it still appeared grey. Moreover, I could still clearly discern its long shaggy fur, watching it while wearing my distance/driving glasses, so this was not an artefact or optical illusion but a genuine feature of its pelage.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-6363909996208934672014-09-18T22:55:56.293+01:002014-09-18T22:55:56.293+01:00How about something like a wolverine? They have qu...How about something like a wolverine? They have quite shaggy fur. And their run can be quite lolloping.<br /><br />The issue of the shaggy fur seems to be a real sticking point in identifying this beast. Daft to ask someone who's undoubtedly one of the best people available at identifying animals and their characteristics, but is it absolutely impossible that the shaggy fur couldn't be an optical illusion caused by the way your headlights picked out the animal's fur?<br /><br />Otherwise, two possibilities seem likely to me. It's a common enough animal that you would easily identify under ordinary circumstances, but became cryptic due to the light quality and specific angle of sight in relation to the creature. This doesn't seem likely due to the length of time your encounter lasted. Or it's a truly exotic animal, something you would think so unlikely in that time and place that you're brain simply is not retrieving past experience of it for comparison, even though you must have seen at least images of every mammal known. That also doesn't seem likely. But, if we concede that one or the other is likely true, it puts into a perspective the encounters of others with far less experience of animals.<br /><br />If the only other alternative is that an entirely unknown, quite large, yet apparently not very shy, species of mammal lives in the British countryside, I think that is a possibility we have to regard as least likely.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990564432778690216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-71246646481570306192014-09-18T21:40:07.422+01:002014-09-18T21:40:07.422+01:00How about a smallish wild boar? One of the secreta...How about a smallish wild boar? One of the secretary's at the now-defunct Chase Post newspaper saw a boar cross the road somewhere over the Cannock Chase back in the early 2000s or late 90s.Nick Redfernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02198543983413599418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-29146054623102048832014-09-18T15:54:47.533+01:002014-09-18T15:54:47.533+01:00Or (a la Wallace & Gromit) The Curse of the Wa...Or (a la Wallace & Gromit) The Curse of the Walsall Were-Rat? lolDr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-52575033991675210102014-09-18T15:44:41.270+01:002014-09-18T15:44:41.270+01:00The giant rat of Sumatra?The giant rat of Sumatra?dr benwayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15347233694652788445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-20147398015385658552014-09-18T15:26:34.093+01:002014-09-18T15:26:34.093+01:00Indeed, but the problem is that 'my' creat...Indeed, but the problem is that 'my' creature just didn't look like a wallaby, due ti its long shaggy fur, which was very clearly visible in both of my brief sightings of it, and no sign in either sighting of any tail. If anything, it looked like some form of gigantic shaggy rat, but a rat the size of a wallaby?? And its hunched bounding seemed different from a normal rat's scurrying movements. Very strange indeed.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-71702237955752423932014-09-18T14:54:21.612+01:002014-09-18T14:54:21.612+01:00Hey Karl, here's a 2011 story I kept on file o...Hey Karl, here's a 2011 story I kept on file of deer in Pelsall itself:<br />http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2011/12/23/oh-deer-%E2%80%93-rudolph-and-pals-on-loose-in-pelsall/Nick Redfernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02198543983413599418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-57336616596963947852014-09-18T14:34:11.031+01:002014-09-18T14:34:11.031+01:00Very cool, Karl! I have heard of wallabies on the ...Very cool, Karl! I have heard of wallabies on the Cannock Chase. Plus, on a couple of times when I lived in Pelsall, deer traveled from the Chase to the fringes of Pelsall (on what is called the North Common area). So, if deer can make it, maybe a wallaby too...Nick Redfernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02198543983413599418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-61673021209942303212014-09-18T01:20:49.432+01:002014-09-18T01:20:49.432+01:00Indeed it was, albeit a very brief one. The long s...Indeed it was, albeit a very brief one. The long shaggy hair rules out a Chinese water deer straight away - this, and its mode of locomotion, were the two aspects of the creature that I saw most clearly. 'm not aware of any raccoon dogs having escaped or been reported in the UK, and it didn't resemble a raccoon at all. Indeed, the problem is that it just didn't look like ANY mammalian species I know of, and I know of just about all of them, having had a lifelong interest in the diversity of world mammals, everything from tenrecs to tuco-tucos, fanalokas to falanoucs, blesmols to binturongs, etc. That is why I am so thoroughly mystified, coupled with the fact that this anomalous creature turned up in so mundane a location as Walsall, not the deep Congolese forests or some other remote location.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com