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<div>The '''Black Dog''' is a creature in British [[folklore]]. They are described as being the size of a calf, moving in silence except for the clicking of their claws.<br />
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==Definition==<br />
The term '''Black Dog''' is used to refer to apparitions of creatures which resemble black dogs though it is also often used as a generic term for canine apparitions of other colours and types (Brown, 1978; Miller, 1984).<br />
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===Classification===<br />
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Author Theo Brown defines three types of black dogs, but she also states that ''Obviously these three divisions exist for our convenience merely; there are many overlaps''. <br />
*1. Generally known as the '''Barguest''', '''Shuck''', '''Black Shag''', '''Trash''', '''Skriker''', '''Padfoot''', '''Hooter''', and other names. These are not individual names but are attributed to a creature living in certain areas. This type, more commonly known as '''the Barguest type''', changes its shape, something a true black dog is not capable of doing;<br />
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*2. The one more often related to as '''the Black Dog''', which is always black, and always appear as a dog and doesn’t have [[:Category:Shapeshifters|shapeshifters]]' capability. This one too is linked with a specific place or part of a road, though it might be associated with a person, a family or with a [[Witch]];<br />
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*3. The last variety is uncommon and is about dogs appearing in a specific place according to a calendar cicle;<br />
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===Appearance===<br />
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Most black dogs either vanish or fade from sight. Descriptions differ from each other: the black dog appear to either being swallowed into earth or disappearing with a flash or blast. <br />
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Some sightings report the apparitions of black dogs walking on their hind-legs.<br />
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There are also descriptions of dogs which increase or decrease in size as well as some of them may be seen shapeshifting into another form, human or animal. Black Dogs have often been reported as walking through solid objects.<br />
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===Behaviour===<br />
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The Black Dogs may be associated with a particular place, often where violent crimes happened. As they are likely to appear next to water and Great Britain, being the place where they are mostly reported, presents few areas far from water.<br />
They are usually reported at night, though there are exception to this statement as few sightings happened in daylight. <br />
Black Dogs are usually sighted outdoors, mostly in rural settings, though encounters inside dwellings have been reported as well.<br />
They seem to be attracted to churches. <br />
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Sometimes Black Dogs appear silently, other times the sound of their claws ticking will be heard.<br />
Very few times they have been reported barking or growling; still less the Black Dogs that laugh or speak or those whose appearance is linked to the sound of chains.<br />
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===Habitat===<br />
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Black dogs have been greatly reported in Great Britain, especially in England, and are mainly considered a British phenomenon.. <br />
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On the other hand, they have also been reported in various forms in Ireland, Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland,, Scandinavian countries, the United States of America and Cananada<br />
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==Legend==<br />
In a church in Surrey a black dog appeared and terrorised the villagers, then it disappeared and reappeared in St. Mary's church in Boswell if you go to that church today you can still see claw marks on the east door <br />
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==Main Belief==<br />
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Conan Doyle's inspiration for his ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' was the folk tale of a phantom black dog on Dartmoor. <br />
Such beasts are reported throughout Britain, <br />
A typical reference appears in the Rev Worthington-Smith's book on the folklore of Dunstable, published in 1910, stating ''Another belief is that there are ghostly black dogs, the size of large retrievers, about the fields at night, that these dogs are generally near gates and stiles, and are of such a forbidding aspect that no one dare venture to pass them, and that it means death to shout at them. In some places the spectral dog is named "Shuck" and is said to be headless''.<br />
Indeed, usually in Dunstable the black dog was referred to as ''Old Shuck'', while the term ''Shuck'' is typical to Norfolk. ''Shuck'' probably takes its origin from the Old English word ''scucca'', meaning [[Demon]]). <br />
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==Origins==<br />
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Black Dogs and the folklore surrounding them is full of tales and stories, but mythology offers a different perspective to them viewing dogs not only as men’s companions but also providing guardianship.<br />
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The notion of dogs as spiritual guardians fits the separate folklore of Church Grims, as Sabine Baring-Gould used to believe it was a tradition to sacrifice a dog and bury it in the foundations of a church in order to guard inhumed souls.<br />
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Such packs of spectral hounds have been seen all over Europe, with or without hunters, and are generally known as the [[Gabriel Hounds]] or ''Gabble Retchets'' in Britain, and as the [[Wild Hunt]] in Germany and [[Woden's Hunt]] in Scandinavia. <br />
The wild hunts also remind of Cwm Annwn, the spectral hunt, and with the [[Wandering Jew]] folklore which is known throughout Europe. <br />
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Guardian hounds are widely known in Shamanic Otherworldly lore as well. <br />
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==References==<br />
*Arthur Conan Doyle’s ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'';<br />
*Brown, Theo ''The black dog'', Folklore, 1958;<br />
*Michell, John and Rickard, Bob, ''Phenomena: a book of wonders'', Thames and Hudson 1977. <br />
*Michell, John, ''Earthspirit'', Thames and Hudson, 1975<br />
*Worthington-Smith, ''Dunstable and its surrounds'', 1910.<br />
*Janet and Colin Bord's ''Alien Animals'' <br />
*Jerome Clark's ''Unexplained!''<br />
*Robert Trubshaw's ''Explore Phantom Black Dogs''<br />
*Rosemary Guiley's ''The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits'' (Third Edition).<br />
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==Other Links==<br />
*[http://www.deardeath.com/death_hounds.htm Monstrous]<br />
*[http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/bdogfl.htm At The Edge]<br />
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==See Also==<br />
*[[Bran and Sgeolan]], Fionn Mac Cumhal’s hounds in Celtic lore;<br />
*[[Cwn Annwn]], hounds of the Welsh tales, and [[Annwn]];<br />
*[[Cusith]], the fairy dog;<br />
*[[Gabriel Hounds]] or ''Gabble Retchets'', spectral hounds haunting Britain;<br />
*[[Hounds of the Hills]]<br />
*The [[Wild Hunt]], typical of German mythology;<br />
*The [[Fairy Raed]]<br />
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[[Category:Black dogs]]<br />
[[Category:Omens]]<br />
[[Category:Celtic mythology]]<br />
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon mythology]]<br />
[[Category:Ghosts]]</div>RopensRockhttps://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Ropen&diff=13699Ropen2009-10-12T06:20:16Z<p>RopensRock: /* Description/Morphology */</p>
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<div>[[Image:ropen.jpg|thumb|The Ropen]]<br />
The '''Ropen''' is a fabulous creature and a flying cryptid in the Umboi and Manus islands near Papua New Guinea.<br />
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==Description/Morphology==<br />
The Ropen is said to possess two leathery wings like a bat, a long tail with a flange on the end, a beak filled with teeth, and razor-sharp claws. According to the book ''Searching for Ropens'', it is "any featherless creature that flies in the Southwest Pacific, and has a tail-length more than 25% of its wingspan. The ropen is believed to be nocturnal and to exhibit bioluminescence which the natives call "indava". Purportedly it lives on a diet of fish, though there have been some reports of the creature feasting on human flesh, especially grave robbery.<br />
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==Sightings==<br />
*Duane Hodgkinson was stationed northwest of Lae, near Finschaven, PNG as part of the Army cavalry in 1944. About noon one day in August he was walking down a trail through a clearing in the forest when he was startled by a crashing in the brush. As he watched a large bird-like creature ponderously rose from the ground, circled and flew away. Hodgkinson, a pilot, estimated the wing-span to be about 20 ft. He clearly recalls the dark-gray coloration, long serpentine neck, beak, and distinctive head crest. <br />
*In 1987, Tyson Hughes, an English missionary, began an 18 month contract to assist the Moluccan tribespeople of Ceram Island, Indonesia to develop efficient farms. Tyson heard stories about a terrifying creature called the Orang-bati (“men with wings”) that possesses enormous leathery wings like a bat and live in the caves of Mount Kairatu, an extinct volcano situated in the center of the island.<br />
*Gideon Koro, Wesley Koro, and Mesa Agustin saw a "ropen" flying over the crater lake "Pung" in 1994. Its tail was "seven meter" and its wingspan or wing- size was also seven meters. Gideon was certain about it having no feathers. Also, the mouth was like a "crocodile."<br />
*An Australian couple saw a giant lizard-like creature flying over Perth one evening in 1997. Its "size" was between thirty feet and fifty feet.<br />
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==Searchings==<br />
As an attempt to discredit mainstream scientific views on the age of the Earth, several expeditions have been embarked upon by American creation scientists, including Carl Baugh, Paul Nation, Jonathan Whitcomb, David Woetzel, and Garth Guessman.<br />
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In late 2006, Paul Nation, of Texas, explored a remote mountainous area on the mainland of Papua New Guinea. He videotaped two lights that the local natives called "indava." Paul Nation believed the lights were from the bioluminescence of creatures similar to the ropen of Umboi Island. The video was analyzed by a missile defense physicist who reported that the two lights on the video were not from any fires, meteors, airplanes or camera artifacts. He also reported that the image of the two lights was not caused by any paste-on hoax.[18] Later, the ropen was the subject of an episode of Destination Truth. Host Joshua Gates captured images of luminescent objects in the sky that could not be identified.<br />
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==See also==<br />
The seklo-bali, around Wau, on the mainland, is probably the same creature. The wawanar legend from the small islands southwest of New Britain may come from the ropen as well. <br />
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==Theories about origin and existence==<br />
Many skeptics believe the ropen to be misidentifications of Flying Fox fruit bats and even Frigate birds. <br />
[[Image:fregate.jpg|thumb|The Fregate bird]]<br />
According to Jonathan Whitcomb, a forensic videographer who interviewed native islanders in 2004, the “ropen” of Umboi Island is a long-tailed pterosaur. However, all pterosaurs became extinct by about 65-million years ago. According to Whitcomb, a smaller pterosaur is believed to inhabit the caves that dot the islands of Rambunzo in the Bismarck Archipelago. Reports seem to fit the presumed-extinct Rhamphorhynchus, a pterosaur with a wingspan of 3-4 feet. Like the Kongomato in Kenya, the Ropen is said to have a taste for decaying human flesh and has even harassed native funeral gatherings with western missionaries present. Carl E. Baugh of the Creation Evidence Museum conducted an expedition to Manus. With missionary Jim Blume, he observed one of the creatures through a monocular night scope and snapped a picture of a strange print in the sand the next morning.<br />
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== References ==<br />
* [http://www.objectiveness.com/ropen-cred/ Credibility of the Umboi Island eyewitnesses]<br />
* [http://www.ropens.com/indava/ Indava and Ropen of Papua New Guinea]<br />
* [http://www.livepterosaur.com/live_pterosaurs_and_evolution/ Live Pterosaurs and Evolution]<br />
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==Sources==<br />
{{Wikipedia}}<br />
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[[Category: Winged creatures]]<br />
[[Category: Australasian mythology]]</div>RopensRockhttps://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Death_worm&diff=13698Death worm2009-10-12T06:18:01Z<p>RopensRock: /* Powers */</p>
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<div>The '''Mongolian Death Worm''' is a cryptid reported to exist in the Gobi Desert. It is generally considered a cryptozoological creature, one whose sightings and reports are disputed or unconfirmed.<br />
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[[Image:deathworm.jpg|thumb|A fantasy representation]]<br />
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=Nature=<br />
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==Etymology==<br />
The local name is ''allghoi khorkhoi'' (or orghoi) which means "blood-filled intestine worm," because it is reported to look like the intestine of a cow.<br />
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==Description/Morphology==<br />
It is described as a fat, bright red worm, two to five feet long (about 0.6 to 1.5 meters), which is vividly likened to a living cow's intestine.<br />
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==Powers==<br />
The death worm is so feared among the people of Mongolia that many consider the mere mention of its name bad luck. It is attributed with the dramatic ability to kill people and animals instantly at a range of several *feet. It is even believed that the worm sprays an immensely lethal poison; a sort of acidic liquid that immediately makes anything it touches turn yellow and corroded. The nomads also said that the color yellow attracts the Allghoi khorkhoi. The analogy with the basilick (cockatrix) is strong as this creature has also the power to kill instantaneously anyone who tries to observe it. The colour yellow attracts the worm.<br />
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=Theories and analysis=<br />
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==Theories about origin and existence==<br />
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As many invertebrates, worms cannot survive in a brutally hot and dry climate like the Gobi desert. Mackerle has proposed the skink, a strange variety of lizard whose nondescript head is hard to distinguish from its tail. Skinks also live buried under desert sands but the smooth-bodied death worm has no legs. He has also suggested that it could be a type of lizard called the worm lizard, although that species is not poisonous. Among lizards, only the Mexican beaded lizard and the Gila monster possess poisonous venom, but they do not squirt it, and their venom definitely is not instantly lethal on contact. The only existing snake that sprays its venom and could survive in the Gobi environment is the death adder, a member of the cobra family but he is found only in Australia and New Guinea and is much smaller. More likely, the death worm is a mythological monster based on an exaggeration of some desert-dwelling snake or reptile, which is not truly as deadly as its reputation would suggest According to a press release from his group, Freeman has his own theory on the death worm: “I don’t think that it’s a worm at all. True worms need moisture. I think it is a limbless, burrowing reptile, probably a giant member of a group of reptiles known as amphisbaenas or worm lizards. These are a primitive group of poorly studied animals. They are not snakes or lizards but are related to both. I think the Death Worm is a giant member of this group.”<br />
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==Modern searchings==<br />
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*The first reference in English to this remarkable beast appears in Professor Roy Chapman Andrews’ 1926 book On the Trail of Ancient Man, although the American palæontologist (apparently the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character) was not entirely convinced by the tales of the monster he heard at a gathering of Mongolian officials: “None of those present ever had seen the creature, but they all firmly believed in its existence and described it minutely.”<br />
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*The worm was popularized by Czech author author Ivan Mackerle, who learned about the creature from a female student from Mongolia. After Communism collapsed in Mongolia in 1990, he mounted two expeditions in search of the allghoi khorkhoi (in 1990 and 1992). Except a few testimonies from locals, he did not bring back any evidence.<br />
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*A joint expedition in 2005 by the Centre for Fortean Zoology, and E-Mongol investigated new reports and sighting of the creature. They found no evidence of its existence, but believe that such a creature could exist in the deep Gobi Desert along the prohibited areas of the Mongolian/Chinese border.<br />
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The most recent expedition was one in 2006-2007, conducted by the reality-television series, "Destination Truth" produced by the Mandt Brothers.<br />
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=References=<br />
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Shuker, Karl P.N. ''The Beasts that Hide from Man: Seeking the World's Last Undiscovered Animals.'' New York: Paraview Press. Copyright (c)2003 by Karl P.N. Shuker, Ph.D.<br />
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==Source==<br />
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{{Monstrous}}<br />
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[[Category: Mongolian mythology]]<br />
[[Category: Reptilian monsters]]<br />
[[Category: Cryptids, dinosaurs and bizarre animals]]</div>RopensRock