|
Chickcharnie |
|
A Bahamian folk tale describes the Chickcharnie as a three-toed elf, a red-eyed man-beast or a birdlike creature with a lizard's tail and a fluffy mane that likes to hang upside down from trees. It builds its nests by joining together the tops of two trees. On meeting it, you must treat it respectfully or else your head will spin completely around. Actually, the Chickcharnie rooted in reality. Tyto pollens was a large, burrowing, flightless owl which lived on the Bahamian island of Andros at the time of its settlement by Europeans in the 16th century. A distant cousin of the smaller, common barn owl, tyto alba, it stood three feet tall & was allegedly extremely territorial. It's known scientifically only from subfossils, its extinction coming about due to the rapid deforestation of the Caribbean Pine stands it inhabited. Bruce Marcot, amongst a few others, has written on it in his 1995 Owls of old forests of the world report for the USDA Forest Service. Swivelling head, fierce defence of its territory, vocal, unknown to settlers, soon extinct - a cryptid legend is born. And identified many years later. - entry provided by Stu, whiskybeast@hotmail.com
|