CRYPTIDS: Trunko

 

One of four known photographs of the Trunko carcass, taken by A. C. Jones

On December 27, 1924, an article titled "Fish like Polar Bear" was published in the London's Daily Mail. On October 25, 1924, an animal was spotted in Margate, South Africa. first seen battling two killer whales for 3 hours. it reportedly lifted itself out of the feet 20 ft and used its tail to fight. The creature would lose the fight and wash up on Margate Beach. Where it lay there for 10 days. 

The creature was given the name Trunko . It appeared to have long white fur and an elephant trunk and a lobster-like tail. The trunk was said to be attached directly to the torso and no head was noticeable. It was measured to be 14 m (47ft)  in length and 3m (10ft), and the trunk was 1.5 m (5ft) and the diameter was 36cm (14in). It was devoid of blood.

Though it's unknown what the creature was it's now believed that it may have been a washed-up whale carcass. Because the locals or those who've seen it were ignorant of how animal carcasses can decompose. It's possible that it was a globster which made it look as if it has hair.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Obscuran Legends

Cryptid Wiki

Uyan and Dina

 

Photo by Vera Salnitskaya/Siberian Times

In the summer of 2015, the mummified remains of two lion cubs were found in the Edoma permafrost deposits in Yakutia, Russia in the Uyandina River. The two cubs were named Uyan and Dina after the river.

The cubs were well preserved they still had their soft tissue, fur, ears, and whiskers intact. Uyan was better preserved than Dina.  It was found that the two were cave lions spelaea (Goldfuss). The two lived and died Middle and Late Pleistocene period on the Eurasian continent between 370,000 and 10,000 years ago and were at least 25,000 to 55,000 years old. This species went extinct around 10,000 BC.

They were fairly young as their eyes were still not open and their baby teeth were still not coming in. It was assumed that they were 1 or 2 weeks old, but after looking in their stomach contents it was believed that they were closer to one or two days old. (some sources state that it was estimated that they were  1 or 2 months old but actually 1 to 2 weeks old). There was no milk in their stomach, but there was sediment combined with them having a crushed look to them it was believed that the den they were in collapsed and killed them. It's unknown what happened to the mother or why she did not feed them after their birth. She may have died before doing so or maybe for some other reason was unable to feed her cubs. 

Even though the two were greatly preserved we are still unable to tell what an adult version of the cubs would have been. It's possible that the adult version would not look similar to the cub version of the animal. 

SOURCES:

Mummipedia

Earth Touch News Network December 6, 2017

Smithisonian Magazine November 

MONSTERS: Tsurube Otoshi (Falling in Well Bucket)

 

"Nishioka no Tsurube-oroshi" (The Tsurube-Oroshi of Nishioka) from the Kokon Hyakumonogatari Hyōban written by Yamaoka Genrin, edited by Yamaoka Motoyoshi

Tsurube Otoshi (Falling in Well Bucket) is a yokai from Japan. It is a gigantic disembodied head of either a human, a tengu, or an oni and sometimes appears as fireball flames with facial features. Its size is the typical size of a human head to two meters in diameter. They live and spend most of their time in the tree tops preferring taller trees like pines, kayas, and other such conifers. The trees they live in are typically deep along paths in the forest and outside of towns where travelers are likely to be. The places they are known to be is the Wakayama Prefecture, the Kyoto Prefecture, the Shiga Prefecture, the Gifu Prefecture, and the Aichi Prefecture.

At night they wait in the treetops for unspecting creatures and travelers. When they need to eat they will quickly fall to the ground to trap their prey. This is how it got its name. They enjoy this kind of killing and let out a laugh as they hunt and eat their meal. Sometimes when they are not hungry they will come down and do the same crushing people to death for fun. Sometimes they don't use themselves, but large rocks or well buckets and enjoy the damage dealt. After they are done feeding and or having their fun they will slip back into the trees laughing and challenging others to pass underneath their tree.

Travelers are warned to not pass under the tall trees at night because the Tsurube Otoshi might get them. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Yokai

Yokai Wiki