Seeing Cryptids: The Problems

[EHocking]

1) Buzz Aldrin has earned the right to punch idiots in the face.
2) The guy calls him a liar earlier in the clip but Buzz walks away. The right cross comes after the guy calls him a coward and a liar.

Probably would've punched that guy also. Some people definitely deserve to be, and that guy was one of them.

Thus, by the same reasoning, NightStar76 could also be excused for coldcocking someone for calling him a liar.
In any case enough derailing - I was only having a bit of a larf (and I love watching that vid).

 

[The Shrike]

Psssst - you weren't the only one posting in jest.

 

[EHocking]

In the past few pages not many have been taking this seriously.
(Or perhaps have been treating it as seriously as it deserves?)

 

[HarryHenderson]

...I was only having a bit of a larf (and I love watching that vid).

I'd never seen that before. It's funny. Once again a real-life idiot gets reminded of it on video. Curiously, whether they went to the moon or not, it's pretty clear to me from just that video that Buzz Aldrin is the exact type of guy you'd want going to the moon on mankind's behalf. A guy whose entire cosmic allowance of 'whoop ass' is still in his blood at 75 years old. I mean, those guys who went to the moon were probably a lot of things, but being a ***** was not one of them.

 

[dmaker]

I'd never seen that video before either. Holy crap, is too late to ask for Buzz to adopt me? That was the best right cross ever!

 

[William Parcher]

A grey wolf was recently shot in Kentucky - well outside of its confirmed home range. It is being discussed in a Bigfoot thread but it is off-topic there and is more appropriate here. Wolves aren't cryptids per se but when one is found in Kentucky it's worth discussing especially since some Kentuckians claim that they do live there (cryptically).

Article #1 on this wolf.

Article #2 with photos of the dead wolf.

There are other articles online but they all basically say the same thing.

Attached is a map showing where the wolves live in the Great Lakes region. Mid-Wisconsin seems to be the closest wild population to Kentucky. Though there may be evidence that this wolf was a captive.

The funny thing is, I think I've actually sited a wolf in the exact same area but I quickly dismissed it as "it had to be a large coyote" because wolves weren't supposed to be here. I'm guilty of denialism to some extent.

What some other people say from back in 2008...

Hey, down here in Kentucky with ya. There are many wolves being kept as pets here in Kentucky.(more than you would think) It would be easy to say that a wolf escaped and produced a hybrid or simply escaped and was shot by this man. Personally I have not seen or read anything about it. If you find out anything I would like to know.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife have released wolves and rattlesnakes in Eastern Kentucky. There reasoning is that they were here before. Go figure only in Kentucky lol. Welcome to UM fellow Kentuckian

They released what is called a honey bear here in Henry County. It is a small brown bear. I have seen the tracks.

More...

My husband & I too have seen what we thought was a wolf. We have been seeing coyote for a few years now. But this was different...

...but I am NOT crazy I know what I saw! My family thinks I have lost it. I have been researching all night to solve this puzzle and stumbled across your blog. Thanks for a little reassurance that my sanity may not be completely gone!

I think I found the the first mention of the recently killed wolf from March 2013 in a hunting forum...

My hunting pardner killed a a female that weighed 73 poumds in Hart county Saturday. We weighed her on deer scales and on the scales at the Amish salvage yard She was 30 inches tall and her body was 45 inches long,from nose to hip. I'm 5'10 and she os about 6 inches over my head. We contacted Fish and Game and their biologist agreed that she seemed to be more wolf than coyote. He refered us to the main biologist in Frankfort for more tests.

It seems safe to say that we don't have any proper evidence for wild wolves living in Kentucky in spite of what the locals may say. No roadkill or other bodies, no photos/video and especially no trail camera images, etc.

 

[bruto]

It's interesting that the authorities are presuming that this wolf is both the first and last. I was under the impression that eastern coyote populations are becoming more wolfish, and while Kentucky is not right in wolf country it's not all that far from it.

I wonder if this is another example of the F&W authorities holding out as long as they can against acknowledging the possibility of a native population, because they don't want to be responsible for it.

 

[jerrywayne]

WP,

Cryptids, according to cryptozoo believers, may include animals "out of place," such as kangaroos in North America, or timber wolves in Kentucky.

The wolf in question does look as if it had been healthy when shot. Since wolves usually mate for life and run in packs, one would expect more evidence of them in Kentucky than is the case. At least verifiable, distinct wolf howls should have been noted.

This is a curious phenom: animals like wolves and "panthers" believed by locals to exist in the area, but no real traces found. According to cryptozooists, the locals are more credible than (absence of) evidence.

 

[William Parcher]

Most often the Cryptozoologists are the locals.

 

[William Parcher]

I wonder if this is another example of the F&W authorities holding out as long as they can against acknowledging the possibility of a native population, because they don't want to be responsible for it.

There doesn't seem to be evidence that officials in KY are hiding wild grey wolves. How could they stop locals from displaying them to the world like the guy holding the bloody one he recently killed? We are confident that there are no wild wolf populations in KY because if there were we would have confirmed them by now. The locals would have done that long before the govt. If for no other reason than to serve crow.

 

[William Parcher]

It should be safe to say that anywhere that wild wolves are living they show up as roadkill and on trail cameras. I don't think there are any states or provinces that have confirmed wolves but do not also have definitive photos and dead ones found (and killed) by locals.

If Bigfoot or wild wolves existed in Kentucky a local would have produced a specimen a long time ago.

 

[bruto]

There doesn't seem to be evidence that officials in KY are hiding wild grey wolves. How could they stop locals from displaying them to the world like the guy holding the bloody one he recently killed? We are confident that there are no wild wolf populations in KY because if there were we would have confirmed them by now. The locals would have done that long before the govt. If for no other reason than to serve crow.

Clearly they can't hide them, but they can pooh pooh the reports of them until one actually shows up, which is all I mean. It's one thing to doubt the reports and another to deny that the presence of an animal is even a possibility.

Of course there's little apparent difference between the sighting of animals we know exist turning up in the wrong place, versus animals whose very existence is dubious. But it seems historically that the former often do eventually appear, and officials are sometimes hard put to explain why it took them so long to figure it out.

 

[William Parcher]

It's one thing to doubt the reports and another to deny that the presence of an animal is even a possibility.

But as I said we may not have any examples of confirmed wild wolf populations for which no specimens were ever produced. By extension it may be practical to say that wild wolf populations without confirmatory evidence appearing for them is an impossibility.

If any remnant (150 years now) wild wolf packs lived in KY a local would have proven it by now.

So yeah, I'm asserting that its impossible to have the wolves and not have dead bodies.

ETA: I'm not talking about the philosophical use/misuse of the term impossible but rather how it would relate to wildlife ecology and the epistemology of local fauna.

 

[ChrisBFRPKY]

It hasn't been that many years ago the coyote was reintroduced to the local area here in KY. As was the wild turkey. These species had been thinned out of their existence in the wild by us. They were either hunted to extinction for food or killed as pests.

The newly placed animals caught on very well and have multiplied greatly. In fact, I can walk outside my home most any night and hear coyotes. My son finds turkey feathers within 100 yards from the house. A quick check of coyote DNA from one will likely trace back to the Western states.

Often the local folks aren't told that these animals are being put back into the environment. This happens alot , especially areas near Mammoth Cave National Park. (Which is very near where the Hart County KY wolf was shot.) I'd bet a cup of coffee this wolf is likely part of, or came from a wolf reintro program.

Which they will quickly deny exists. The Mammoth Cave folks denied there were mountain lions in the park, they continued to deny and ridicule the sighting reports "those folks must be crazy" until one ran across the parking lot at the main entrance. The parking lot where ALL tourists must park to purchase tickets to take cave tours. Only then came their announcement in the paper about big cats in the park for fear of legal problems if an attack occurred.

There is discussion among locals here of witnessing KY wildlife officials releasing rattlesnakes into the wild here. As if we needed more. The story is the snakes were being added to soften the turkey populations as the snakes eat turkey eggs. Personally, I'd rather have an excess of turkeys.

Animals are being added to the environment here. But as far as anyone can tell, there is never an official announcement they are doing so. The wolf is probably here due to one of those programs.

 

[William Parcher]

Here we go with the conspiracy theories. Top secret government plot releases live coyotes in KY.

Chris, coyotes have been naturally migrating eastward from the plains states for decades now. They have reached the Atlantic. Lewis and Clark didn't encounter them until they got to the prairies because they just didn't exist in the east. They have expanded their range eastward for a number of reasons including the lack of grey wolves which were extirpated.

 

[William Parcher]

You can't keep Local Woo and its urban legends down. Should be called rural legends. Dat gubment lettin rattlers go.

 

[William Parcher]

INTERCEPTED TOP SECRET

Crooked Wisconsin Wildlife Slimeball: Yeah buddy we trapped you them 25 wolves you asked for and we got em in unmarked crates. You bring your unmarked truck up here and you can git em. You remember the price and that it is cash right?

Crooked Kentucky Wildlife Slimeball: Oh yeah good buddy. We is all ready and got the cash. We gonna bring you a few cases of our best spirits for your sippin enjoyment too just ta show appreciation ya know. See ya soon rascal.

 

[ChrisBFRPKY]

The coyote showed up here in the 1980's. Regardless whether he hitched a ride or walked.

I guess it's possible the wolf could have been an escaped pet? Or could have been in captivity awaiting reintroduction. Either way, the wolf made it to the wild. As did the coyote.

Don't get me wrong, I'm somewhat of a fan of reintroducing extant species. I went to Yellowstone a few years after their wolf program had begun and heard one of the wolf pack's howls. I got goosebumps.

 

[ChrisBFRPKY]

lol

That top secret memo is probably how it went down.

Seriously though, if they told the locals, they'd be out trying to bag one.

 

[William Parcher]

Chris, I don't want you to stop believing the govt release stories and conspiracies. I don't want you to become skeptical like the JREF folks are about these things. None of that suits your personality. You would be lost as a skeptic or denialist of these things. Think of it like a friend nearby when you are trying on new clothes. It just doesn't look good on you.