Fish That Can WALK Among 200 New Species Discovered In The Himalayas

If people are not amazed by these things I have no idea just HOW they live from day-to-day!

The report on wildlife in Nepal, Bhutan, the far north of Burma, southern Tibet and north-eastern India has revealed discoveries in the past five years including 133 plants, 26 species of fish, 10 new amphibians, one reptile, one bird and one mammal

By Andy Wells | Yahoo News https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fish-walk-among-200-species-074958874.html#JkIMJ4y

There's a video to view on Yahoo

More than 200 new species of animals discovered in the Easter Himalayas have thrown up several oddities - including a walking fish and a sneezing monkey.


The report on wildlife in Nepal, Bhutan, the far north of Burma, southern Tibet and north-eastern India has revealed discoveries in the past five years including 133 plants, 26 species of fish, 10 new amphibians, one reptile, one bird and one mammal.


Among the discoveries was vibrant blue dwarf “walking” snakehead fish, found in West Bengal, India, which breathes air, can survive on land for up to four days and can writhe and wriggle up to quarter of a mile over wet ground between bodies of water.


Also discovered was the snub-nosed monkey - or ‘Snubby’ as he is nicknamed by locals - who is easy to find in wet weather as the rain would get into its upturned nose, causing it to sneeze.


The report found that the monkeys would sit with their heads tucked between their knees when it was raining to try and avoid a sneezing fit.

Others animals found living in the area are new bird named the spotted wren-babbler, a striking blue-eyed frog and a lance-headed pit viper snake with a yellow, red and orange pattern that looks like a piece of JEWELLERY, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).



The report warned of the threats facing the newly-discovered species, with just a quarter of the original habitats in the region still intact and hundreds of plants and animals living in the Eastern Himalayas considered to be globally threatened.


It is thought that climate change is the most serious threat to the region, while population growth, deforestation, poaching, mining, overgrazing, the wildlife trade, pollution and development of hydroelectric dams are all putting pressure on nature in the Eastern Himalayas.


Heather Sohl, WWF-UK’s chief adviser of species, said: “These discoveries show that there is still a huge amount to learn about the species that share our world.

"It is a stark reminder that if we don’t act now to protect these fragile ecosystems, untold natural riches could be lost forever.”


Dechen Dorji of WWF Bhutan added: "The discovery of 211 new species from one of the most biologically rich regions of the world is a celebration of the amazing gift of nature.


"With discovery, comes the important responsibility to continue protecting and caring for these precious gift that this world has been blessed with.”


WWF is supporting countries in the region to develop "green” economies that value nature and the services it provides to millions of people living in the Eastern Himalayas, such as through sustainable hydropower schemes and helping people adapt to climate change.

Ghosts, Orbs and Poltergeists

Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, a claimed ghost photograph by Captain Hubert C. Provand. First published in Country Life magazine, 1936

It is one of the oldest questions Man has asked: is there life after death?  Oddly, you might think it a bit morbid as a subject for a dinner party conversation but it does crop up.

It tends to shock many when you quote the Church dictum on the subject –“de occultis non judicat ecclesia” or, if you don’t read Latin; “The Church has not decided about ghosts and the ghostly.” After more than two thousand years you might think they would have –particularly since there are an endless number of the clergy who have, over the centuries, seen and even claimed to have spoken with the departed.

English Credulity, or the Invisible Ghost in Cock Lane, satirical picture from February 1762

Over the years there have been many famous ghost incidents such as the Samford Ghost of 1810 which attracted a lot of publicity but eventually was proven a hoax. But what of others such as the Cock lane Poltergeist in 1762.  Cock Lane was near to Smithfield Market and St. Paul’s Cathedral. 


After the death of a William Kent’s wife, Elizabeth, during childbirth, he became romantically involved with her sister, Fanny. However, ecclesiastical laws prevented the couple marrying so eventually they moved to London and took the apartment in a three storey house in Cock Lane, owned by Richard Parsons –his daughter, Elizabeth also lived in the property.

There are several accounts of ghostly apparitions and loud and “strange” knocking sounds.  The couple moved out and things “went quiet.”  Kent was not very lucky in marriage and, like many others of the time, Fanny contracted smallpox and died. Kent did, however, get lucky in his legal action against Parsons over a small debt. Now the haunting began again and Parsons claimed that Fanny was haunting his property. There were regular séances to discover what “Scratching Fanny” wanted and these no doubt pulled in a few shillings.  At times Cock Lane was blocked by the curious wanting to “take a peek.”

It seemed that “Fanny” claimed in séances that her husband had killed her using arsenic and so Kent was publicly suspected of murder. Someone smelt a rat. A commission, including the famous Samuel Johnson, looked into the matter and declared the haunting a hoax: Elizabeth Parsons admitted that it was a scam she had been forced into by her father –resulting in Richard Parsons being pilloried and serving two years in prison.

There was money to be made in hauntings. But the motives for the poltergeist events at the Lamb Inn, Bristol between 1761-1762 are a bit vague.  Investigators held out fingers in their pockets so that they could not be seen by the two young girls at the centre of events.  Raps and voices told how many fingers were extended. 


Objects were also seen to rise into the air in front of investigators –all in a small room which excluded a hoax using string, etc..  Also, the two poorly educated daughters of the inn-keeper responded to questions in Greek and Latin –understood by the investigators but not the girls.

And the inn-keeper himself died after observing a “evil old witch” appear close to him one day. Even today, you can argue both for and against the case being genuine for hours.  Was a fraud involved?  Certainly the educated investigators could find none.

Historical accounts are full of people seeing loved ones who are many miles away (some times hundreds of miles) appearing before them before vanishing.  Those who note the times of such events are later shocked to learn that their loved ones died at around the same time.

And then there are the ghosts who help living relatives recover documents or hidden treasures.  Such is the case of  the Reverend Dr. Blomberg, who was rector at Shepton Mallet and later a Canon at St. Paul’s.   Blomberg’s father, a major serving in the army during the Seven Years War (1756-1763), died of a violent fever in Martinique. Not unusual in those days but what followed was. Resplendent in his “Regimentals”, the late Major appeared before a Colonel Stewart and Captain Mounsey and asked them to take care of his “little boy” back in England. Blomberg told the duo about his estate in England and said that the papers necessary for his son to inherit the estate were in a certain old chest in Yorkshire.

The Lamb Inn, Bristol.

Mounsey Stewart could hardly refuse such a request from beyond the grave.  The papers were located and, after legal action, Blomberg’s son won the estate. But there was an extra “gift” due to this curious ghost story because, when it reached the ears of Queen Charlotte, she “became interested in the youth and took him into the Royal household,where he was ‘educated in intimate association with the children of George the Third.’  

All Saints Church in Bristol is situated right next to the St. Nicholas covered market just off the city centre and there are thousands of others who also pass it on the way to work or while on shopping trips.  Surrounded by businesses and narrow streets it looks rather “snug”.  Snug but with “a history”.

    All Saints dates from the 12^th  Century with enlargements and alterations such as the 15^th Century aisles and East nave and in 1716 the NE tower was designed by William Paul and eventually completed by George Townsend,  The Chancel was rebuilt in the mid-19^th Century.

    The church contains memorials and graves to a number of 18^th Century businessmen and merchants not to mention the tomb of Edward Colston (1636-1721); Colston helped to fund the restoration of the All Saints Church's tower in 1716.

    The Church itself is said to be haunted by a “black monk” of the Kalendars Order, who supposedly hid the treasures of the place from Henry VIII.  How the monk died, whether killed by Henry’s men or having committed suicide is uncertain.  However, at that period the act of suicide was to damn oneself so it’s rather unlikely a religious man would resort to this.  As for the treasure….never been found.

In 1846 the local talk was of poltergeist activity in the house associated with the church.  Strange lights crossed the room of the servant-maid whose honesty was strongly attested to.  She had the unenvied honour of seeing this restless night visitor;

she declared she had repeatedly had her bedroom door unbolted at night, “between the hours of 12 and 2 o’clock” by something in human semblance. This was a whiskered man whose clothing was that of the Kalendars –something the maid knew nothing about.

"Ghost orbs" in a church.  We say "dust particles"!

My personal experience on so called “ghostly matters” are not very spectacular.  Back in 1966/1967,I was living in Dalborn,Germany.  One overcast,slightly drizzly but very oppressive thundery day,along with two of my cousins,I headed for a stream that had become flooded –we had much fun crossing the stream using the trunk of an old tree placed there by someone months before.  We watched as soldiers in trucks drove by and waved but the horrible,smokey brown low cloud made little difference –we were having fun!  

Not far from the stream, in easy view, was an upward sloping path near to a reputedly haunted mill [though we never knew that at the time].  The entire length of the path was covered in an arch of tree branches with the far end allowing in light.  At one point, all three of us turned to look up this path. At the very end of  the path stood a tall, misty grey figure devoid [seemingly] of any facial or clothing features.  The figure moved forward.

Three kids ran like Hell!

Of course, in the prevailing weather conditions it is possible any normal person might have seemed grey and featureless.  That would explain it away to my satisfaction.  But why did all three of us turn at the same time and run without speaking to each other?

Above: I love this early double exposure photograph.

In my grandparents home in St Werburgh’s, Bristol, we had a typical terraced house situation for the mid-1960s.  The old tin bath has on a hook outside the back door for bath nights and the toilet was outside the house.  The row of houses looked out onto Mina Road Park and there was a stream, an off-shoot of the River Frome which ran under houses.  On more than one occasion, while seated in “the throne room” I heard voices quite distinctly, though what exactly was being said I couldn’t tell you.  I was not the only person to hear these voices –my mother dreaded having to use the outside toilet but just said, in a thick German accent “it’s spooky”.

There was a small back bedroom that over-looking the garden, privy and park and there was definitely something “odd” about it.  The room had been given over to my mother and father on returning from Germany.  Within the week my mother would not even venture into the room alone and rooms were swapped around.  It is odd but, thinking about it years later, I recall my grand mother never ventured into the room by herself either and never used it for a bedroom.  Two later lodgers did complain about “something wrong” with the room.

 

There are many thousands of such accounts and even a few photographs.  Some of these photographs are proven hoaxes or even misidentifications –optical effects caused by shadow and light.  There are some interesting images, though, but not having looked into those cases personally it is hard to say “genuine.”  It was the advent of digital video recorders and cameras that brought us the “orb” phenomena.

Unlike old cameras, digital ones pick up every small detail and the big thing back in the 1990s were “ghost orbs” –the alleged manifestations of the departed.  Orbs were everywhere and said to be the “final evidence” that ghosts existed.  In fact, particles of dust, hair and even insects were being picked up by the digital camera.  Even today, when this has been proven, orbs are still cited as evidence –as are camera flashes reflected off camera straps, cobwebs and even the photographers thumb!

Above: hmmm. Faked or....?

But with increased use of infra red and night vision cameras some interesting things have been filmed and photographed.

EVP –Electronic Voice Phenomena- are recordings of, allegedly, the departed at haunting sites.  In the old days investigators used reel-to-reel tape recorders or dictaphones but today, again, digital sound recorders and other pieces of equipment are recording odd sounds but in many cases you really do have to use your imagination to accept that some of the EVPs are not just noises that “sound like” words.

Maybe the Church knows what it is doing by sitting on the fence but to those having items move around the house, sees strange figures and are some times chased out of their dream homes, the ghostly undoubtedly exist.

Introduction: Investigation And Research Is Not “Debunking”

This introduction was written for my  book, Some More Things Strange & Sinister. Since that time new books on Sasquatch have appeared including  Jeff Meldrums excellent -and highly recommended- SASQUATCH: LEGEND MEETS SCIENCE.

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    Some have suggested that in Some Things Strange And Sinister I took the stance of a “debunker” –someone who takes it upon himself to explain away anything unusual or odd.  I suppose that I should not have been in the least bit surprised by that response.

    The last thing I would ever want to be is a debunker.  Some “Forteans” and “cryptozoologists” were quite annoyed –several very annoyed— by the way I had “casually dismissed” the Canvey Island Dead Aquatic Creatures incidents.  Well,I have looked into those events,and others like them,for over thirty years and my conclusions are backed up by full documentation.  “Casually” indeed!

    Some “ufologists” were a tad upset,too.  How dare I dismiss crashed UFO cases!  Well,if there was one iota of evidence in just one case I would not.  Roswell is a big money earner yet it has been adequately explained as a non-crashed flying saucer for a long time.  The 19^th Century Aurora,Texas crash –a downright hoax.

    Were I more the cribbing and rehashing from other books type I’m quite sure I would be much more like!  However,if something is false it needs to be shown and declared as such rather than let it continue to be used in literature and the media and all that entails.
 

    At times I rather feel like that masked magician on TV revealing how all the old tricks are done.  Hated by those “within” that circle because he hopes to push the magicians into developing new tricks rather than continue on with the same old stuff.  If we can rid cryptozoology,Forteanism and ufology of all the fakes and easily explainable cases then we can concentrate on those that seem genuinely unexplainable.

    With UFO landing reports I concentrated a great deal of time on non-humanoid cases since these seemed to hold more promise of finding a genuine,unexplainable case[s].  I was very disappointed when one after another disintegrated into a tissue of hoaxes and lies.   But what was really annoying was the fact that those who had published foreign language accounts in English language publications knew of the follow-up articles/reports that proved hoaxes.  One ufologist complained to me that he had just published two of the accounts [from Some Things Strange And Sinister] in his book and that I made him look stupid.  

 Apparently,though,he had carried out no research but merely taken the accounts from existing UFO book sources.  My response was “Well,had you even vaguely carried out any type of research you would not be looking stupid now!”

    After over thirty-five years of UFO investigation,some of that while running the officially unofficial Anomalous Observational Phenomena Bureau [AOP B],apart from what we termed “UNP” [Uninvestigated [by science] Natural Phenomenon] no evidence was found proving any kind of alien,or extra-terrestrial involvement.

    I witnessed a number of UNP –on one occasion within 100 yards of me and though very impressive it was quite obviously not “alien”.  I’ve climbed around giant rock conveyer belts in quarries,forests,buildings and much more looking for physical traces left behind following UFO incidents but found nothing.  I’ve chased hoaxers over fields and other places.  I’ve advanced by myself toward a supposed landed UFO with occupants while three squad cars full of police hung back “this is your speciality” I was told.  

     Having written that I ought to point out that I was with about forty other “truth-seekers” at Cradle Hill, Warminster,in the late 1970s when a red light moved about the copse there.  Myself and Franklyn Davin-Wilson realised there was something “off” about it and we moved forward –to shrieks and calls from the other folk there not to go toward the “UFO”.  As I said loudly,”What the hell is the point of trying to find proof of what is going on if you stand like lemons and don’t confront anything head on?”  It turned out to be a hoaxer anyway but better the mad dash than add more junk to ufology.

    I have never hidden in conversation or writing the fact that I firmly believe that there are probably unknown large species,commonly referred to as “sea monsters” awaiting discovery.  That is if we are lucky.  The seas and oceans usually take care of dead –rather like jungles and forests can see all remains of a large deer vanish in a little less than a month.  

    Whether the number of such aquatic unknowns is falling we can only guess as by looking at other large species such as whales,etc..  Depleting fish stocks as well as pollution and destruction of aquatic environments probably mean there are not as many “sea monsters” as there used to be.  Unlike in the old days of sail when a ship might look,from below,like a whale or other sea animal,today we have sonar and much more,including very noisey engines,that might scare off unknown creatures –probably why the number of sightings have dropped from the mid-20^th century onward.

    I would hope that noise pollution at sea was a better explanation than recent extinction.  But science will not be happy until it can kill and dissect any such creature.  It is the way of science sadly,for that reason,I’d hope –hope— for a dead beasty washed ashore.  The nature of these things is that you might kill a good specimen for study but it could be the last breeding male/female of a species just holding on.

    I’ve also been told that I seem to sit on the fence regarding hairy hominids such as Bigfoot/Sasquatch,the Yeti and so on.  Well,although I used to be in regular contact with hominologists back in the 1970s-1980s,my AOP Bureau work meant I had to restrict some things.  Sadly,a number of those early credible investigators are now no longer with us.

    The late Ivan T. Sanderson produced what we can call the first real technical field book on the subject [1].  I was shocked to learn that out of 101 people professing to be investigators or researchers into Bigfoot/Sasquatch,only three –three— had read Sanderson’s book!  It should be the book read by anyone interested or involved in that field.

    I have always been a little “iffy” when it comes to the Yeti.  A hairy hominid travelling,occasionally,to higher snowy ground..maybe.  But when you come to the kingdom of Nepal you have a different situation.  


Nepal is a land of geographical extremes and these include near sea-level elevations in the southern Terai to the world's highest mountains.  And the country contains a variety of eco-systems;from the tree-less sub-alpine pastures and dense fir forests of the high valleys,the oak and rhododendron woods of the middle hills,and the tall sal forests of the south. Along the southern borders of Nepal are preserved much of the lowland jungles and grasslands that once covered this part of the sub-continent and here you can see birds and mammals found nowhere else.  It should be noted that, although animal habitat has been somewhat depleted as a result of agriculture,deforestation and other causes,because of Nepal's extensive and effective park and reserve system the country still has more varied flora and fauna than any other area in Asia.

     An unknown biped is possible.  

    The Orang Pendek is a hominid that reportedly inhabits remote,mountainous forests on the island of Sumatra.  There is the highly likely possibility that this is some unknown form of primate and research certainly seems to be attracting a lot of people from established science.

    There are others,of course.  Certain islands covered with jungle and rarely if ever visited could hold a few more surprises in this field.

    As for Bigfoot/Sasquatch.  John Green [2] and many others who know what they are doing,have looked at everything from food and habitat to possible migratory routes throughout the year.  The food and habitat aspect is the real stuff of any study because if any animal is real it must have a diet –specialised or otherwise.  When you look at some of the habitat consisting of dense forest running into thousands of square miles and into which only a few venture you see that any large hominid could exist.

    Really,it will take a prolonged investigation of a year or so to draw conclusions or gather evidence and I think that there are certain locations that would be perfect for this,but it takes money!

    In the former Soviet Union,research into hominology and the Almas has always been taken seriously and Dmitri Bayanov is a well known and internationally respected researcher.  And in the Peoples Republic of China rsearch and investigation into the Yeren is taken just as seriously and there have been officially sanctioned investigations,some yielding interesting results.  The United States seems to have lagged behind because until more recent years anyone involved in serious science who even suggested that there might be “something interesting in this Bigfoot business” could see a good career suffer.

    So,no,I do not dismiss hominology as a very interesting subject worth delving in to.

    When it comes to ghosts –as opposed to poltergeist activity—I have to admit to really wanting to find evidence.  I think most of us would like to find proof of life after death.  My mother always said that if there was anything after death she would do her best to let me know.  Years have passed and nothing.  I’ve known others who have said the same thing but still nothing.  Franklyn A. Davin-Wilson was a solid believer in ghosts and the paranormal and had a brilliant mind and we both agreed that,whichever one of us “popped off” first,would come back to prove there was life after death. 


 Over twenty-five years later I still wait on the agreed anniversary of death but Franklyn still hasn’t shown up.

    I think my views on poltergeist activity were adequately explained in Some Things Strange And Sinister.

    With digital technology every particle of dust,pollen or other mundane minute piece of debris became “orbs” –“energy amassing before a ghostly event”.  It just shows how ignorant people are of the technology they use and I think the mass of amoebic-like orbs I photographed and reproduced in my last book proves a point:use a digital camera in a dusty [even seemingly dust-free] environment and the flash will reveal “orb central”.

    The point is that,some 99 per cent of the things I look into sound incredible and unexplainable but turn out to be wild goose chases.  However,I am still holding out for that 1 per cent that will prove that there are genuinely some things strange and,possibly,sinister out there.  That one case or,hopefully,several cases,that will show that this is not a seemingly mundane world devoid of things to stimulate the human mind and further research.

    While working with the University of Wales Swansea Exotic Cat Group,I delved into more 18^th,19^th and early century newspapers and publications than I care to think about.  However,what these sources revealed were truly astonishing because most modern wrtiters/researchers do not carry out this type of work.  Finding something interesting by accident while reading a book or picking items reprinted for the umpteenth time seems to be the norm.

    Whether gorillas in captivity prior to scientific discovery –such as “Jenny”— or The Beast of Faudiere,Girt Dog of Ennerdale or Beast of Gevaudan:the facts are all there.  

    While certain factions of Forteanism,Cryptozoology and Ufology try to keep the cult of personality alive for their own kudos or to become a “character”,the idea of rolling up your shirt sleeves and getting to work in the field or in research takes a backseat.  Certain “field investigations” tend to be more reminiscent of adventure holidays than anything serious.

    So,I am definitely not a debunker.  I am certainly not a “Ufologist”,”Fortean” or “Cryptozoologist”.  I am an investigator-researcher and naturalist.

    Never be too shy to share your opinion.  And if you can add anything new to any of the subjects within this or the previous book I’d very much like to hear from you.  If you have seen,filmed or photographed anything unusual I would definitely like to hear from you!

    I hope I have a few more years left in me for research and investigation even if my home does appear to be solely decorated with files and folders with some very unusual titles on them.

    Here’s to a few more years!

Terry Hooper-Scharf

Corryn Gwall,

Bristol,

   

1.      Sanderson,Ivan T.,Abominable Snowman:Legend Come To Life,[reprinted]

         Adventures Unlimited Press,Illinois,2006

2.      Green,John,Encounters With Bigfoot,Hancock House Publishing,1980.