Extinct or Alive

[hittman77]

Seems I'm really enjoying this show on Animal Planet network.

The host is pretty low key and they haven't fallen into the typical "reality show" theatrics I see on some other programs.

Anybody else like this one?

 

[Texas Star]

I don't get Animal Planet any longer but my favorite interest along such lines is whether the Tasmanian wolf ("tiger") survives. It's also called a Thylacine.

I think it may remain. And Aussie researchers are trying to clone it, although the last known example died about 1936, in a zoo.

I guess the best known case of a surviving species is the Coelacanth fish.

I think the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker probably survives deep in the huge Big Thicket forest in East Texas.
I've been in there once, and it'd be easy to get hopelessly lost in that vast wilderness. It's probably bigger than some Eastern states!

 

[llowry61]

I watched an episode on the Ivory Billed Woodpecker. It was very interesting. It is definitely a step up from the usual buffoons running around in the dark looking for Bigfoot.

 

[Texas Star]

Yeah, those Bigfoot shows are a crock! I think Bigfoot is a 50% possibility, though.

And the Big Thicket that I mentioned would be a good place for them.

 

[peterGun]

Good show but success is elusive.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Watchdog]

Seems I'm really enjoying this show on Animal Planet network.

I'd never seen it and started watching an episode last night. Unfortunately, the Sandman joined me in the room and I missed the rest of it.

I do plan on checking it out soon as possible.

 

[BearBio]

Better than most but I find it hard to believe they find something the EXPERTS can't find.

That being said, I recently saw a tarantula hawk (Pepsis sp.) in my back yard. I grew up around them and have seen them in Cali, Ariz. and Mex. That's 1200 miles North of their range! Also, found a plant declared extinct for 58 years on one of my projects when I worked in Sacramento (Keck's Checkermallow). Only the second known population.

So, you never know!

 

[mtgianni]

I don't get Animal Planet any longer but my favorite interest along such lines is whether the Tasmanian wolf ("tiger") survives. It's also called a Thylacine.

I think it may remain. And Aussie researchers are trying to clone it, although the last known example died about 1936, in a zoo.

I guess the best known case of a surviving species is the Coelacanth fish.

I think the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker probably survives deep in the huge Big Thicket forest in East Texas.
I've been in there once, and it'd be easy to get hopelessly lost in that vast wilderness. It's probably bigger than some Eastern states!

I believe Patsy Adam Smith interviewed people who saw Tasmanian wolves in the 1950's. Her book was called Tiger Country and is long out of print.
My take is we don't always know what we think we know. I have seen Kaibab Squirrels on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon when all experts know they are only on the North Rim. We saw wolves in Montana about a decade before they were reintroduced.
I know that reporting grizzly bears along with pictures doesn't change their known areas as declared by the local FWP. I was told repeatedly that there was a lone sow that denned for 3 years straight in the range near me. For some strange reason they were never able to answer how she had cubs every year if she was a "lone sow".
I have seen fall spawning brook trout in full spawn mode in June. It could have been a cross but it was at least 80% Brook trout color and confirmation.
To quote Robert Service "There are strange things done in the midnight sun".

 

[mauser9]

Agree the "Finding Bigfoot" series was a crock and a half. That Bobo and his crew never found squat as usual. Not putting much faith in that "Oak Island" either. Season after season of nothing.

 

[BearBio]

I saw their "Wildlife Biologist" identify a herd of ELK as "deer?==Technically they are, but......

 

[rwsmith]

Between the climate and development......

Better than most but I find it hard to believe they find something the EXPERTS can't find.

That being said, I recently saw a tarantula hawk (Pepsis sp.) in my back yard. I grew up around them and have seen them in Cali, Ariz. and Mex. That's 1200 miles North of their range! Also, found a plant declared extinct for 58 years on one of my projects when I worked in Sacramento (Keck's Checkermallow). Only the second known population.

So, you never know!

Everything is on the move and going where they haven't been. One night an armadillo crossed the road in front of me. I see tons of rabbits. Coyotes have been killing ponies upstate in our 'horse region'. There are some even on the barrier islands.

 

[rwsmith]

Oh man.....

Agree the "Finding Bigfoot" series was a crock and a half. That Bobo and his crew never found squat as usual. Not putting much faith in that "Oak Island" either. Season after season of nothing.

What was that mystery show where one of the crew would spend the night in the dark in an old prison, or haunted clearing or some such with all of the 'paranormal' instrumentation and ask:

"Is anybody there? Who are you? Are you trying to communicate with us?" And somewhere the tape would glitch or a needle would quiver and they'd swear it was real evidence. The only reason I watched it was that they went to a lot of really interesting places with all kinds of histor that I'd never heard of. One thing that was cool was that they went to Tibet looking for the Yeti and the priests in the temple had a scalp locked in a glass box they believed was a Yeti head and honestly, it looked like a Yeti head. Kind of reddish brown long hair with a peak kinda like a gorilla. The host said something about many people not believing it was a Yeti head. The priests got mad and said, "We don't care what anybody else thinks. This is our Yeti head." Good for them.

PS: At the mention of 'cryptid' or 'cryptozoologist', I change the channel.

 

[italiansport]

What was that mystery show where one of the crew would spend the night in the dark in an old prison, or haunted clearing or some such with all of the 'paranormal' instrumentation and ask:

"Is anybody there? Who are you? Are you trying to communicate with us?" And somewhere the tape would glitch or a needle would quiver and they'd swear it was real evidence. The only reason I watched it was that they went to a lot of really interesting places with all kinds of histor that I'd never heard of. One thing that was cool was that they went to Tibet looking for the Yeti and the priests in the temple had a scalp locked in a glass box they believed was a Yeti head and honestly, it looked like a Yeti head. Kind of reddish brown long hair with a peak kinda like a gorilla. The host said something about many people not believing it was a Yeti head. The priests got mad and said, "We don't care what anybody else thinks. This is our Yeti head." Good for them.

PS: At the mention of 'cryptid' or 'cryptozoologist', I change the channel.

I believe the monks finally allowed a couple of hairs from the "Yeti" scalp to be removed for testing. They came back from testing as from some other animal but I don't remember which one it was at this time.
Jim

 

[Muddyboot]

Cleveland Brown's football- extinct or alive?

 

[rwsmith]

Maybe an....

I believe the monks finally allowed a couple of hairs from the "Yeti" scalp to be removed for testing. They came back from testing as from some other animal but I don't remember which one it was at this time.
Jim

Maybe an orangutan of some kind?

 

[rwsmith]

There are several pictures.....

...of birds that really resemble Ivory Billed Woodpeckers, but all of them are on the wing and you can barely see what appears to be the banding typical of them. The woods and swamps are so inaccessible that I wouldn't be surprised if they did turn up alive. Time may tell.

Not an animal mystery, but living in Charleston I was always really curious about the Civil War CSA Hunley sub and whether it would ever be found. Sure enough, they finally found it and they are getting ready to put it in it's own museum after studying it thoroughly. They think that the spar torpedo may have exploded before the sub had backed away, damaging it and probably incapcitating the crew.

 

[mauser9]

I believe the monks finally allowed a couple of hairs from the "Yeti" scalp to be removed for testing. They came back from testing as from some other animal but I don't remember which one it was at this time.
Jim

Yeah I recall that myself. Think it was some kind of weird bear they have up there. Not putting much faith in the megalodon shark being around still either. LOL

 

[Texas Star]

Maybe an orangutan of some kind?

I think the hair was really from a yak.

But the Amy CID lab supposedly tested a Bigfoot hair that they determined was not from any known animal, but was probably from a large primate.

 

[6518John]

Think it was some kind of weird bear they have up there.

BINGO! Members of this forum know well that you can rarely go wrong by responding to any great mystery or question with “what is the best caliber for a bear.”

So much for the abominable snowman. Study finds that ‘yeti’ DNA belongs to bears | Science | AAAS

 

[steelslaver]

Better than most but I find it hard to believe they find something the EXPERTS can't find.

That being said, I recently saw a tarantula hawk (Pepsis sp.) in my back yard. I grew up around them and have seen them in Cali, Ariz. and Mex. That's 1200 miles North of their range! Also, found a plant declared extinct for 58 years on one of my projects when I worked in Sacramento (Keck's Checkermallow). Only the second known population.

So, you never know!

Didn't we just have a thread and some laughs about "Experts"?

I don't know how many experts there are, but there are about 567 million miles of earth on Earth. I don't know that we have anywhere near than many biological "experts"

Like wolves in Montana. There are almost 17 million acres of national forest here. If you sent out 100 experts to look for wolves each would have 170,000 acres or about 260 square miles of rugged forest to cover as well as to cover their paper work, keep up their expert status etc.

 

[Sgt911]

I like the show but allot of fluff. The show when he went back to his family ranch in Zimbabwe that they got kicked off of and was destroyed was sad. My understanding is no one knew how to farm and they are asking the farmers to return now.

 

[Texas Star]

I like the show but allot of fluff. The show when he went back to his family ranch in Zimbabwe that they got kicked off of and was destroyed was sad. My understanding is no one knew how to farm and they are asking the farmers to return now.

I know all too well what happened in Zimbabwe, but can't discuss it due to Rules here.

But I didn't see this show. What happened to this man in Zimbabwe that provided data for the animal TV show?

My favourite African animal myth is from Kenya, about the Nandi bear. You can look it up; it did not originate as a TV show.

Personally, I think it was a stocky baboon or hyena seen in poor light by men who'd been drinking.

 

[MRB1]

When I was really deep into Herpetology, I spent several years field work collecting various species of reptiles and amphibians, and thanks to field notes, I see the proof of "extinction" in local home ranges of many once very common species. A good example is the amphibians - mostly all gone now. I blame it on jet aircraft exhaust pollution - others blame it on Fire Ants, and then some say its encroachment by humans eliminating their natural habitat. Whatever the cause, in another generation, they'll all be gone - at least from my North Texas stomping grounds.

 

[Sgt911]

I know all too well what happened in Zimbabwe, but can't discuss it due to Rules here.

But I didn't see this show. What happened to this man in Zimbabwe that provided data for the animal TV show?

My favourite African animal myth is from Kenya, about the Nandi bear. You can look it up; it did not originate as a TV show.

Personally, I think it was a stocky baboon or hyena seen in poor light by men who'd been drinking.

He went back to Zimbabwe to find a cape Lion, and a segment of the show was his life history, where he grew up and how he became familiar with the region and its wildlife

 

[transit]

The Fernandina Island giant tortoise.

I was almost as excited as the guy from the show.

 

[Texas Star]

He went back to Zimbabwe to find a cape Lion, and a segment of the show was his life history, where he grew up and how he became familiar with the region and its wildlife

Thanks. But who is "he"? Remember, most here haven't seen this show.

I may recognize his name if I see it. For all I know now, you may be talking about Ian Smith!

 

[hittman77]

Forrest Galante.

Says he got interested in wildlife when his grandfather (while fishing) netted some obscure species of fish that had been declared extinct for millions of years.

He's found a turtle on the Galápagos Islands that had been declared extinct in 1906 and some small leopard in Africa I think that had supposedly been gone for 25 years.

 

[Sgt911]

Thanks. But who is "he"? Remember, most here haven't seen this show.

I may recognize his name if I see it. For all I know now, you may be talking about Ian Smith!

The post above me named him, Forrest Galante. His grandfather found the Coelacanth. The episode in Zimbabwe went into detail about his family's eviction from the family ranch, it was the first time he had seen the ranch since that time. It is the only time I have seen a biologist, on what is basically a nature show, carry a pistol in a shoulder rig and extra mags.

 

[Texas Star]

Forrest Galante.

Says he got interested in wildlife when his grandfather (while fishing) netted some obscure species of fish that had been declared extinct for millions of years.

He's found a turtle on the Galápagos Islands that had been declared extinct in 1906 and some small leopard in Africa I think that had supposedly been gone for 25 years.

Thanks. The fish was probably the Coelacanth. It was a shock to Science when live ones were found in 1938. Thought to have been extinct for millions of years.

 

[LVSteve]

Better than most but I find it hard to believe they find something the EXPERTS can't find.

That being said, I recently saw a tarantula hawk (Pepsis sp.) in my back yard. I grew up around them and have seen them in Cali, Ariz. and Mex. That's 1200 miles North of their range! Also, found a plant declared extinct for 58 years on one of my projects when I worked in Sacramento (Keck's Checkermallow). Only the second known population.

So, you never know!

I've been the first to document certain species of dragonflies and damselflies in this state. That puzzles me greatly as they are very photogenic and are often cooperative subjects.

I also managed to get the one of the local Audubon "experts" in a thorough tizzy when discussing the birds I've seen in my yard. When I said I would send her pictures of the "birds I couldn't possibly have seen" she got awfully quiet, and somebody else in the room was having major straight face issues.