Basilisk

The Basilisk is nicknamed the "king of snakes." Described as being similar to a snake but with the head features of a rooster, simply because of its colourful crown, that sometimes may appear like a comb or a white diadem. Anyone who looks at it, meaning, has direct eye contact with it, will die instantly. It was created from the blood of Medusa. Other sources say the basilisk was hatched from the egg of a cockatrice, a type of dragon. 

There's many different accounts of the basilisk, although the earliest mention was from 79 AD book Natural History by Pliny the Elder. There the basilisk was described as originating from Cyrene, being only twelve fingers long, whose own hiss frighten away other snakes. According to Pliny, the basilisk's is fire breathing, as it destroys shrubbery and burns grass that it breaths upon. Only the rue plant is immune to the basilisk. It's able to destroy stones by it's incredibly noxious touch. It's believed that if a man on horseback should try and slay it with a spear, the venom of the basilisk would crawl up the spear and infect both man and his mount.

However the basilisk isn't invincible. One of the biggest threats to a basilisk is a weasel. The very odour of a weasel can kill a basilisk. Unfortunately the weasel would also be killed by the poisonous basilisk. Another danger to the basilisk is water. It panics at the sight of water mainly because it's from the sands of a desert. The creature is also afraid of its own reflection! Another interesting thing that can kill a basilisk is the cawing of a rooster. 

More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilisk

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Little witch of Pilot Knob

There's an urban legend of a little witch girl from Pilot Knob Cemetery in Marion, Kentucky. It's been spread throughout the internet, and appears in a lot of paranormal websites. So here is the legend:

In 1916, a woman named Mary Louise Ford was accused of witchcraft. She and her five year old daughter, Mary Ellen Ford, were feared so much by the townspeople that they took it upon themselves to execute both. Mother and daughter were burned at the stake. There was never a trial. According to legend, the mother's body vanished! The body of her daughter was buried in a steel coffin at the Pilot Knob Cemetery because everyone was afraid that she would return from the dead. They filled her grave in with concrete and then put gravel on top. Afterwards, they surrounded her grave with an iron fence made up of gleaming white crosses. 

It's believed the ghost of the girl paces around inside her grave at night. A child's footprints have been found left over her grave. Local people today fear the site and don't like talking about it. Often it's believed that anyone going near the grave will be pulled inside by the witch girl and disappear. People who've seen the ghost of the witch girl described her as blonde and wearing a long white dress with scorch marks at the hem. She pulls faces at people and tries to lure someone close. Some say there is a darker entity in the cemetery called The Watcher who follows people and is around simply because of the witch girl's energy.   

While this awful legend frightens local people (and those online too), I shall uncover if it's really true or not. There really is such a grave in Pilot Knob Cemetery of the child. Mary Ellen was the youngest of six children of parents James Andy Ford and Mary Rebecca Davis Ford. Only six weeks after her fifth birthday, on 31st May 1915, Mary Ellen died of peritonitis, an inflammation of the stomach. The legend claims the mother's body is "missing" but she's really buried at the same cemetery! She passed away in 1955. Neither mother and daughter were witches and nor were they burned at the stake. The real background is very sad but the shocking nature of the legend is disturbing. While there might be paranormal goings on in the cemetery, the story of the "little witch girl" is untrue. 

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The Questing Beast

The Questing Beast is a monster that appears in Arthurian legend. It's not a very well known creature that was slain by Sir Palomides even though it's mentioned a lot in literature, film and artwork. What is this beast? It has a hybrid appearance, being described as having the body of a leopard, hooves of a deer, and the head of a snake. The sounds it made has been mentioned as being similar to barking dogs or foxes. In another version, it was described as small, white, beautiful and sounded like a baby. 

One of the adventures and missions of the knights of the Round Table is to find the Questing Beast and kill it. King Pellinore from Listenoise was hunting it. Other sources say he's from "the Isles" which may be misted islets of the Lake District or from stormy and green Anglesey. He was the father of some of the knights of the Round Table, and his sons include Percifal, Tor, Lamorak, Dornar and Anglovale. For many years the king was forever hunting the Questing Beast. While on the search for the monster, one of his daughters Elaine tragically committed suicide and was eaten by lions. The other daughter of the king, Dindrane, became a maiden of the Holy Grail and spent her life in the Grail Castle as a heroine. Much of this background is needed to learn how important it was to find the Questing Beast.

King Arthur first encountered the Questing Beast while out in the woods, after waking up from a nightmare. He dreamt that Mordred had completely destroyed the realm. Then Arthur saw the Questing Beast drinking water from a nearby pool. Later on he met with King Pellinore who told of the family quest to destroy the monster. Merlin told Arthur that the monster came from a human mother, who was a princess who slept with a demon so she could learn dark magic. Whatever she wanted to do didn't work. Her own brother was butchered to death afterwards, and cursed the princess into baring a child that would be a monster. 

Later the knights Sirs Galahad, Percifal and Palamedes were on a quest for the Grail when they met the Questing Beast. It was rounded up and forced into the lake, and eventually killed by sir Palamedes. The Questing Beast is also called Beast Glatisant. You can find it mentioned in 15th century works Le Morte d'Arthur later on translated and retold by Sir Thomas Malory. You can also find mention of the Questing Beast in Perlesvaus, a romance of the 13th Century.  

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Burrunjor

One of the most scariest cryptids of Australia is the Burrunjor. Its appearance is uncanny and frightening, described as looking like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It appears in Aboriginal myths and legends as a monster active at night, the Burrunjor or "Old Three Toes", a bipedal giant reptile that ate kangaroos. They also said it might've had feathers, and small arms but huge muscular legs. Besides Australian folklore, there's been run-ins with a beast like that as recent as the 20th century! 

During the 1950's farmers in Australia found great reptilian shaped footprints left in the soil, at the time that their cattle was being killed by a mysterious predator at night. Some have made a connection with the Aboriginal legends of Burrunjor with the attacks on livestock. Some say that the culprit could've been a Megalania, a large monitor lizard of Australia and relative of the Komodo Dragon, but this species was believed to have disappeared thousands of years ago. During the 1970's calls were made from worried people that encountered such an animal near their farm. Whatever the creature actually is, it's very clear that something fitting that description existed. Australian Aboriginal cave paintings show huge reptiles bigger than humans. 

Today the official big monitor lizard of Australia is the Perentie. It's a top predator and has venom, they eat small animals, birds, lizards and snakes. They're also scavengers too. The Perentie doesn't sound as big as the Burrunjor, and they don't eat anything larger than a young kangaroo. Besides the eating habits being different, the Perentie are not bipedal. Those who witnessed the Burrunjor would know if it was a regular monitor lizard or something far more prehistoric that shouldn't be here. 

In 1978, a man named Bryan Clark found himself lost in the Australian outback. A search was being held, and it was noted that there were violent heavy footsteps crashing through the woods, as if made by something of enormous size. The man was found alive and well, but he was warned never to wander off into those woods again. Among the searchers were two Aboriginals who experienced the shaking crashing footsteps of the Burrunjor. Then in 1985, s family went on an outing by the Roper River when they encountered a Burrunjor "monster" that had feathers. This is probably the last known sighting of the Burrunjor.

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Wildlife picture of the month

 

Every month will be a post like this showing amazing and awesome animals in the British and European countryside. 

This pine marten is ready to enter the tree where it lives. "I'm going home to watch television!" said the fluffy pine marten. "Bonfire night always has people leaving nice snacks everywhere!"

Pine martens have neat homes including perfectly rounded windows! They're little predators and they eat a variety of foods. Their diet could be anything from fruit (they love berries), bugs, eggs and small animals. At times they can control the invasive grey squirrels. Pine martens belong to the mustelid family, that also includes weasels, minks, badgers, otters, wolverines and polecats. Pine martens are nocturnal, so they come out mostly at night but in summer they may venture outside during the day. Later in the year during cold months, they prefer to stay inside to keep warm and dry. 

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Amarok

One of the most beautiful legendary creatures is the Amarok, a huge wolf from Inuit myths and legends. It's unlike regular wolves in many ways, and mostly because it's far bigger than other wolves. Wolves hunt in packs while the Amarok hunts alone. Ordinary wolves hunt in packs for food, but it seems frightening that the Amarok hunts humans for other reasons and not just for food. The size of the wolf indicates it's a type of monster, and it has powerful teeth and claws. In the book Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo by Hinrich Johannes Rink, who was an explorer and geologist, the legendry creature Amarok is featured there. 

One particular dark story is about a man grieving a deceased family member, who set out to kill the Amarok. When he found the creature's den, the Amarok wasn't inside but only the pups, which he slaughtered. Then he waited close by to wait for the Amarok to return. When the Amarok did return to the den, bringing a dead reindeer for her young, she discovered that her pups were dead. The Amarok rushed over to a nearby lake and pulled out a ghost from the water, which was the soul of the man who killed her pups. Once she did this, the man fell down and died. This was a story about a grieving mother Amarok who took the soul of the man who killed her offspring. 

The Amarok is not supposed to be an evil beast at all. Another story concerns a disabled boy who was treated badly by people in the village. So he went to visit the Amarok, who he hoped would make him stronger. Amarok wrestled with him until the boy's bones fell from his body and the Amarok told him that the bones had caused him to be weak. The boy was then advised by the Amarok to return each day to build up his strength. After several days of wrestling with the Amarok, the boy became so strong that he could fight against three bears and win. This made him popular and accepted by people.

This amazing wolf creature has both qualities of positive and negative. It's powerful senses can locate humans who dare go out hunting at night. The Amarok is respected and considered wise, and also found to be a healer and a killer. It's possible that the Amarok could actually be based on  far more ancient stories about the direwolf that existed millions of years ago.

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