Thanx, Shazz! I've always been fascinated by Australia, but could never afford to take a trip there, and now I'm also too old and with medical disabilities to go anywhere outside of Texas!
I do love Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherds and watch that regularly on Animal Planet. Your Outback is awesome, as is the northern rain forest. Like the USA, you're a land of contrasts. I'm still grieving for Steve Irwin, as I imagine yall are too.
Americans have been accused of being obsessed with Bigfoot, and I think that's probably correct, speaking for myself. I'm a Bigfoot junkie! The best general CZ and BF site over here is cryptozoology.com. There are really some raging debates going on there--the guys sometimes almost come to blows! I'm a true believer, and of course I believe the Yowie lives too. Apparently they and our Bigfoot are first cousins and essentially alike. Some years ago, I was shown plenty of footprints and tree structures in Oklahoma, a main hot spot, by an expert Native American tracker!
I'd sure be happy if there were a few Thylacines left around. I also love T-birds in America, which as you know are apparently huge, condor-like birds like Teratorns. One good theory is that their home base is northern South America, and they migrate to Illinois and Pennsylvania, as well as a few other states, then fly out over the Atlantic and back home. And as for other flying cryptids, some years ago I had a lengthy e-mail correspondence with a young man who was living in Washington, DC but grew up in Austin, Texas and saw what sounded just like a great big Pterandon, along with other witnesses! And of course, the Mapinguary (Mylodon), allegedly still living in the Amazon rain forest, is one of my favorites too. A friend who used to work for the US military says he saw one in Amazonia back in the 1970s, and that it was coal black. Of course, like every other cryptid sighting, those could be mistaken IDs too. Over the years, I've learned to be very skeptical of sightings without a lot of strong evidence. A narrative report alone won't do it for me, or even photos of Bigfoot, all of which are blurred and not good, if not hoaxes, except the Patty film, which I do believe was the real deal.
I look forward to reading lots about the Yowies here!
