Chupacabra

All of the Mythical Creatures covered this week have been beast rooted in hundreds of years of legend and tradition. Such is not the case with today's creature. Chupacabras, the "Goat-Suckers," have only been around and popular since the mid-90s, which is when most of the incidents began.

Image from VirtueScience

What are these incidents? Well, on multiple occasion and in multiple locations across Latin America, livestock has been been found dead.... and completely drained of blood. Often there are no tracks around the corpses, and they have strange puncture marks. The first of these incidents was in Puerto Rico in 1995, where 8 sheep were found bloodless. A few other occurrences date to the 1970s, but those may not be linked, as the sightings and livestock killings happened in huge numbers post 1995. Most of these incidents have happened in Latin America, but some have been reported as far away as Oregon and Michigan.

Chupacabras are described in a wide manner of ways. They are dog like, yet lizard like. They have wings, they don't have wings. There are a handful of people who claim they've killed Chupacabras, but the animals they find always turn out to be something else (like a Coyote baby Raccoon!) So what could the Chupacabra be? Some think its related to the Vampire Bats, which are also found in Latin America. Some think it's a government experiment gone very, very wrong. Some point to Aliens. And others believe it's a pack of wild dogs doing all of the damage. No one knows for sure, and incidents and sightings keep happening. Awesome.

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The Loch Ness Monster

How could I do a mythical creatures special without mentioning one of Cryptozoology's favorite mysteries? Stories of the Loch Ness Monster date back hundreds of years. One particular example from 565 CE tells of Saint Columba saving a swimmer in the Ness. This story was even recorded in chapter 28 of Adamnan's 7th century Life of St. Columba.

The Surgeon's Photo (1934)

Modern interest in "Nessie" arose during the 1930s after a road was built alongside the 25 mile long lake. Perhaps the most iconic depiction comes from a 1934 photograph known as the "surgeon's photo." This image cemented the Loch Ness Monster as a plesiosaur-type creature. The surgeon's photo is now believed to be a fake, but even without it, there have been dozens, if not hundreds of sightings, including other photographs and videos.

What could Nessie be? Well, there are some that believe it is a relic of prehistoric times. This is probably not the case, as the lake has only existed for 10,000 years (since the last Ice Age). Others think it might just be a seal, or large river otter, or just a bunch of logs or waves. According to calculations based upon the number of fish, and the size of the lake, the Loch Ness monster could weigh no more than 660lbs. But with an animal that big, wouldn't we have seen some evidence by now? Bones perhaps? And if it were a Plesiosaur or large mammal, it would need to come up to breathe! There have been numerous sonar scans of the lake, with the largest, Operation Deep Scan, undertaken in 1987. None of these scans, including the most recent in 2003, have turned up any evidence of an animal that large.

So is Nessie really out there? Are the hundreds of sightings over nearly 80 years all completely wrong? We don't know. Science points to the fact that there is probably nothing down there, and especially nothing like a Plesiosaur, which went extinct 65 million years ago. But either way, the Loch Ness Monster provides an interesting tourist industry, raking in several million dollars a year. Hey, even I've been there. Sightings have gone down in recent years, perhaps we have just become more skeptical, but I don't think the Nessie legend is going to go away any time soon.

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Basilisk

Ah the Basilisk, king of serpents! Even it's name comes from Basileus, a Greek word for King. The oldest descriptions of the Basilisk place it as simply a large snake, however, over time it evolved into a truly strange creature. Depictions of Basilisks range from the standard serpent, to a creature with the feet and head of a Rooster,  or even with the face of a man. In heraldry, it has a bird's body, a rooster's head, and a serpents tail. They may or may not have wings.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

The first mentions of Basilisks come from the Ancient Greek and Roman Traditions. Legend says that looking into the eyes of a Basilisk causes instant death. This is of course very bad to those who come across it, but also provides a method of killing the creatures. Holding up a mirror to the eyes of the Basilisk would cause it to kill itself. Also interestingly, hearing the crow of a Rooster also proved fatal. Weasels are also dangerous to the Basilisk. A second type of Basilisk is also found in mythology, and that is a creature that burns whatever it touches. So either way, you're in trouble.

Basilisks are sometimes interchangeable with the Cockatrice. There really doesn't seem to be much of a  different between the two. They have the exact same death stare, and same aversion to roosters and weasels. The Basilisk legends most likely spawned out of accounts from real life, poisonous snakes. The King Cobra, with it's fanned out hood, may have played a part. Today, we have small lizards known as Basilisks. They most certainly do not set everything on fire, nor can they kill with a glance. What they can do however, is walk across water!

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Roc

The Roc, also known as the Rukh, is a stupendously gigantic bird of prey that comes out of Persian legends. It appears in texts around the 8th century CE, and is present in numerous Middle Eastern stories, atural histories, and sailors' tales, including the 1001 Nights. Sinbad's second voyage includes a run-in with a Roc.

A lot of what we "know" about the Roc comes from the writings of 13th century explorer Marco Polo, who wrote about these birds in his highly embellished travel log. He claimed that they were flying birds of prey with 48 foot wingspans, 24 foot long flight feathers, and eggs that measured almost 150 feet in circumference. It is unclear what Polo was actually trying to describe, as no bird of prey has ever come close to that size. (the largest bird of prey ever discovered went extinct 6 million years ago and it had a 25ft wingspan) Perhaps he had them confused with the Elephant Birds of Madagascar, though they were flightless and had no wingspan to speak of. Their eggs however, while not 150ft in circumference, could hold 2.5gallons of water which may have assisted in Marco Polo's embellishment.

Rocs are typically described as being white, with a resemblance to either eagles or vultures, depending on the source. Because they are so large, their meals consist of large prey! Rocs were said to capture entire elephants in their claws, killing them by dropping them on to rocks from high places. This is similar to methods employed by real life birds of prey. Vultures drop bones from high up to crack them and get the marrow. Eagles will capture large prey, such as this goat, and drag them off of cliffs. So once again, we've taken a look at a mythical creature based in some fact!

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Ahuizotl

Most of you readers out there have probably heard of Unicorns and Krakens before. But have you ever heard of the Ahuizotl? Because one of my purposes of this blog is to inform about some of the lesser known beasts out there, I thought this would be a good pick for Mythical Creatures Week!

Cast of Ahuizotl Stone Plaque, Aztec
ca. 1500
Peabody Museum

Ahuizotl is a creature out of Aztec mythology. It is described in the Florentine Codex, a 16th century encyclopedia commissioned by a missionary and completed by indigenous artists. It describes the Ahuizotl as a small, smooth, dog-like creature, with a monkey's hands and a tail that includes an additional hand at the end. They live in underwater caverns and snatch all those who come near their lair. The most disturbing and frightful aspect of this mythical creature is that it loves to consume human nails, eyes, and teeth, and it's victims would be fished out of the water untouched... except with those things completely removed.

The Ahuizotl is linked to an Aztec emperor of the same name, who probably took his moniker from the creature. He ruled when the civilization was prosperous, and before the coming of the Spaniards. Montezuma, the emperor at the time of first contact, was Ahuizotl's nephew and successor. His tomb made news when it was discovered by archaeologists in 2007.

Like most mythical beasts, the Ahuizotl probably has some basis in fact. Due to the descriptions provided from the Florentine Codex and other primary source documents, the smooth, shiny, small-eared, long-tailed, handed creature may have been an otter. Otters possess most of those traits (minus the hand tail and stealing human nails and teeth of course) and could most certainly be the basis for the Ahuizotl myth.

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Kraken

We now move from a creature of magic and purity... to one of horrible watery death. The Kraken! The Kraken is a large sea monster said to live in the cold waters of the North Sea. Though it is from Scandinavian areas, the Kraken does not appear in Norse mythology (though other similar sea beasts do show up there). Other mythologies are rife with tales of sea creatures, including those of Scylla and Ceto from the Greek tradition, however, these tend to be more fish/serpent like. But we'll get to appearances later.

Sea Monster (Kraken?) Attacking Ship
Pierre Denys de Montfort, ca. 1810

Krakens share something in common with the Unicorns... they both have some base in actual, natural history. The term "Kraken" appears in several scientific texts, including Erik Pontoppidan's 1755 Natural History of Norway, and again in Linnaeus's first edition of Systema Naturae. In Systema, the Kraken is classified as a cephalopod, though this information was removed from later editions. Interestingly, Linnaeus was not all that far off, since a major inspiration for the Kraken was most likely the Giant Squid. Though earlier Krakens sometimes had crab-like qualities, since the 18th century the Kraken has often been depicted as a large squid or octopus, especially so after the 19th century confirmation of Giant Squids.

So where is the watery death I had so previously mentioned? Stories have been passed along for hundreds of years about creatures so long that they resembled islands. The Kraken was said to be so large that it could wrap its tentacles around an entire ship and crush and capsize it. Of course the largest squids and octopuses ever found would not be capable of doing such things, but the myth and allure of the Kraken lives on. The Kraken has influenced poetry, books, and movies, and with the fishing up of new and more bizarre sea creatures, the legend and the questions of "what is really down there?" won't be going away any time soon.

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Unicorn

Well, we've finally made it to Animal #100! So let's start out this themed week with one of the most recognizable of all mythical creatures: The Unicorn. Variations of the Unicorn appear in the histories and mythologies of civilizations spanning from China to Mesopotamia to Greece. Images of horned horse-like creatures can be found in the cave paintings at Lascaux, written reports of Unicorns date back to at leas the 4th century BC. In short, for hundreds, even thousands of years, Unicorns have captured the interest and imaginations of people around the world.

"The Unicorn in Captivity"
Netherlands, ca. 1500
The Cloisters, New York

There are many variations of the Unicorn, but regardless of the name and culture, they all carry the characteristic horn. It is also common for them to possess cloven hooves, a lion's tail, and a goat-like beard. They carry a variety of traits and powers, depending on the culture. In China, the Qilin is a horned creature that brings good luck and prosperity. The Medieval Unicorn is a creature that represents purity and chastity, and which carries magical properties in its horn. Unicorns became symbols for both Christ and the nobility. References to a horned creature called Re-em are found in the Bible, and many of these passages later translated that word to Unicorn. Unicorns are found in paintings and tapestries, and many of these artworks depict the Unicorns with their heads resting the the laps of young maidens. This is a not so subtle nod to the belief that only a virgin could tame a Unicorn.

And what of the Narwhal? One legend holds that the Unicorns were too slow to make it on to Noah's Ark, and thus were left behind at the mercy of the sea... and they became Narwhals. While science demonstrates that Narwhals existed far, far before when the flood story would've occurred, Narwhal horns, which are long and spiraled, may have been inspiration for some of the medieval Unicorn legends. For hundreds of years royalty would pay exorbitant sums to acquire these horns, and they adorn thrones and crown jewels today. Other real-life creatures, including Rhinos, Oryx, and even Deer, may have also contributed to the Unicorn story.

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