Richard Freeman - Adventures in Cryptozoology Volume 1: Hunting for Yetis, Mongolian Deathworms, and Other Not-So-Mythical Monsters

Praise for Adventures i n Cryptozoology

Richard Freeman must surely be the worlds most widely-travelled field cryptozoologist, scouring the globe for well over twenty years in search of such elusive mystery beasts as British lake monsters, Mongolian death worms, Tasmanian wolves, Russian and Sumatran man-beasts, South American water tigers, and African dragons, to name but a few. Now he has drawn upon the extensive knowledge and experience gained during his many expeditions and voracious reading to write this fascinating book, packed with new, original insights and forthright opinions, making it essential reading for everyone who dreams of following in his footsteps seeking unknown animals.

Dr Karl Shuker, zoologist and author

Freemans book on monsters is a page-turning treat. Not only does he pack it with excellent overviews, facts and details on cryptozoology, he also grips the reader with accounts of his own expeditions. These globe-trotting journals bring the hidden and mysterious creatures of nature into the mud and dirt of serious, real-world research, leaving us with a thrilling and inspiring book. Yes, Freeman takes monsters seriously, but he never loses his sense of fun, wonder and adventure. Rec ommended.

Peter Laws, author of The Frighteners: Why We Love Monsters, Ghosts, Death , and Gore

Copyright 2019 Richard Freeman

Published by Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.

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Adventures in Cryptozoology: Hunting for Yetis, Mongolian Deathworms, and Other Not-So-Mythical Monsters: Volume I

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication number: 20199356743
ISBN: (print) 978-1-64250-015-8, (ebook) 978-1-64250-016-5
BISAC SCI070000SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / General

Printed in the United States of America

Adventures

in

Cryptozoology

Hunting for Yetis,
Mongolian Deathworms,
and Other
Not-So-Mythical Monsters

Volume I

Richard Freeman

Coral Gables

Dedicated to Sir David Attenborough, who brought wonder and mystery into my childhood.

Ta ble of Contents

Here b e dragons

Had Richard Freeman been living in medieval times, I am quite certain he would have been burnt at the stake for being a wizard with a mind crammed full of arcane knowledge about the strangest, weirdest, scariest, and in some cases possibly even the most dangerous creatures this world has ever seen. But, as he is in fact living in present day Exeter, he has to make do with being a well-known, and to some extent even notorious (something I suspect he would actually be a little bit proud of), figure in the weird and wonderful world of cryp tozoology.

To say Richard is passionate about cryptozoology, would be to engage in an understatement of almost criminal dimension. And if you combine this with an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of everything from thylacines to the many varied forms of big, hairy ape-like creatures roaming the world, and the many creatures in between (dragons being especially close to his heart), you are in for several entertaining hours, should you find yourself seated across from him over a couple of pints, or amongst the audience of one of his lectures.

I first met Richard in the mid-1990s at the first UnConvention held by the Fortean Times magazine in London, and got to know him later at a number of the Weird Weekends held by the Centre for Fortean Zoology in Northwest Devon. Despite our differencesme being a traditional university-educated zoologist/scientist, a class of beings for which Richard can only muster a fairly limited amount of respectwe became good friends. A situation which, over the years, has resulted in me receiving mysterious and often evil-smelling letters and parcels whenever Richard has been on one of his travels to far-flung corners of the earth, on the hunt for creatures that live at the outer limits of scientific knowledge. Most of these times, he has brought back old bones, scat samples, tufts of hair, or mouldy pieces of skins for me to analyse. We havent made a major breakthrough yet, but it is not for lack of effort. Say what you will, but Richard does get out in the field considerably more than most.

I hesitate to call this book Richards definitive work on cryptozoology, as I am quite certain hes got a good number of books in him yet, but it is quite a readpart autobiography, part cryptozoological encyclopaedia. You may agree or disagree with his conclusions and observations, but I guarantee that once you have read this book, you will have been mightily entertained, and it will have made you think. What more can one ask for in a book t hese days?

Ohand should you see, find, or photograph something strange out there, remember to contact Richard (or me)! You n ever know

L ars Thomas

Copenhagen, March 2019

What is the most cunning of all animals? That which man is yet to see.

Indian proverb

This is a book about monsters, real ones. From an early age we are taught that monsters do not exist. This is a lie, pure and simple. Most of us have relegated monsters to the realms of horror movies and nightmares but, by doing this, we do them a disservice. The reality is that monsters walk the earth today. The Oxford English Dictionary has several definitions of a monster. They include a large, ugly, and frightening imaginary creature, and a thing of extraordinary or daunting size. Both would sound familiar to most people today. But what makes a monster can depend on how you look at things. Flamingos are beautiful birds. Most of us have seen them at zoos or on wildlife documentaries. They are a favourite amongst birdwatchers, admired for their lovely pink plumage. Most species derive their colouration from the carotenoid proteins in tiny shrimps that they filter from the water with the lamellae in their beaks. Though they look beautiful to us, flamingos must seem horrific to their diminutive prey: as a vast gaping maw fringed with hair-like structures, lunging down to scoo p them up.

For the sake of this book, however, I will use the term monster for a cryptid. Cryptids or real monsters fall into several categories. Some, like the Mongolian deathworm, are utterly unknown to modern science; the second category is that of creatures thought to be extinct but that may still thrive in remote parts of the world. The Tasmanian wolf belongs to the latter group. Lastly, we have known creatures who have grown to dimensions far beyond those officially sanctioned by so-called experts. These creatures would include animals like the giant anaconda.