Fur-Bearing Trout

 Author: CrazyTheroiest0095

All over the world from Montana to Canada many people and fishermen know about the

urban legend myth about the fur-bearing trout. The fur-bearing is a creature that grows a thick

coat of fur to keep itself warm in cold waters. According to legends, the fur-bearing trout was

first encountered by Europeans when the Scottish settlers emigrated to Canada during the

seventeenth century.

The very rare fur-bearing trout is in Canada and some parts of the U.S. In the video, it says

that even though there is no real evidence of the fur-bearing trout, one article talks about how

you can ripe away the fur in one piece and use it for commercial purposes and you can also

eat it if you want to.

The Fur-Bearing Trout

This article talks about how in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the fur-bearing trout come out

in the spring and warmer weather but if you try to catch it. It will be extremely hard because

it’s a myth that has been passed down throughout generations. There have been different

stories about the origins of the fur-bearing trout. In the article it says, “No matter how the

story behind the fur-bearing trout came to life, the one thing that is certain, is that the myth

still lives on, and probably will for decades to come.”

The fur-bearing trout is a creature that many people think is a myth or real. It is purportedly

found in the Arkansas River, northern North America, and Iceland. The tall tale about the furbearing

trout is that the waters of lakes and rivers in the area are so cold that they evolved a

thick coat of fur to maintain their body heat. The Saprolegnia will sometimes infect fish

which causes tufts of fur-like growth to appear on the body. A heavy infection will result in

fish death, and as the fungus continues to grow afterward, dead fish that are largely covered

in white fur can be found washed ashore. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur-bearing_trout)

Works cited:

“The Fur-Bearing Trout”, Montana Wildlife, May 1929.

http://www.furbearingtrout.com/montanawildlife.html.

“The Fur-Bearing Trout”, Quickfire Cryptids, July 2, 2023, YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO1paSJWobI

“The Fur-Bearing Trout”, Quickfire Cryptids, July 2, 2023, YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO1paSJWobI.

“Discover the Origin of Lake Memphremagog’s Fur Bearing Trout”, William Alexander and

Scott Wheeler, Vermonter.com. https://www.vermonter.com/fur-bearing-trout/.

“Fur-bearing Trout” Wikipedia.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur-bearing_trout

Further Research: 

“The fur-bearing Trout” Mythcrafts, June 15, 2017. https://mythcrafts.com/2017/06/15/the-furbearing-

trout/. The fur-bearing trout is one of the rare fish creatures that has a long history in

folkloric with rabbit fur attached to it.

The Fur-Bearing Trout of Lake Superior” Paul Lundgren, Nov 05, 2022.

Perfectduluthday.com. https://www.perfectduluthday.com/2022/11/05/the-fur-bearing-troutof-

lake-superior/. This article talks about the fur-bearing trout is a very rare species of fish. It

was caught while trolling in Lake Superior off Gros Cap, near Sault Ste. Marie, District of

Algoma.

“Legend of Ross C. Jobe furry trout lives on in Scotland”, Sootoday.com.

https://www.sootoday.com/columns/remember-this/legend-of-ross-c-jobes-furry-trout-liveson-

in-scotland-3573128. In this article talks about how the legend Ross C. Jobe caught the

very rare fur-bearing trout while trolling in a lake. The trout was mounted by Ross and

arrived at the museum by way of a donation by a returning tourist believing it was real.

Changeling

 

Author: Dallas Hitt

When you think of fairies , you probably think of this nice and sweet little creatures with wings and an little wand, that has glitter on it. You probably don’t think of little thieves that still children. That is not the case with the Folklore creatures, Changelings. Changelings are fairies that were left in the place of the child that the fairies stole from the humans.

Children would be taken and replaced with a change for one of several reasons. The first reason is that it would be taken is for the child to act as a servant to the fairies. Another reason the fairies would take the child was so that the change could get the love from the humans like a human child, and the last reason would be so that the fairies could get revenge on the humans for something. Sometimes the fairies would replace the child with an elderly fairy so that it could live out the rest of its life in the care of the humans. People would notice their baby become ill or become not bale to properly function and they would assume it had been “fairy struck.” The people would say the children had been replaced by a changeling and they abandoned them or sometimes even killed them.

There were a few ways to identify if your child was a changeling. Irish legends say that changelings might look sick and not grow to full size like normal humans. Changelings also had a very large apatite and would eat a lot more food than a normal human child.

One theory that folklorist and historians studied was that people would substitute their children for changelings during raids and attacks on their villages in thoughts that they might be saving their children by doing this. Another theory about the origin of the changeling was a lot different than the other. Some people believe that changelings came from a very dark part of the mind from pre-industrial Europe. If a family felt that they wouldn’t be able to care for their child, especially if the child that had a disability or had an illness or deformity, it was easier for them to lose their child thinking it had just been talking by fairies, rather than believing they were just letting their child die. Some physical characteristics that a changeling had that you might be able to notice was they had long teeth and scraggly hair.

Changelings would continue to appear again and again in folklore in Europe. Doctors say this list of diseases from today’s time such as: cystic fibrosis, Down Syndrome, spina bifida, PKU, Williams syndrome, Hunter syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, progeria, Hurler syndrome, and Prader-Willi Syndrome, match the description of what changelings might have been like. Now adays in the modern world no one would really believe in changelings, but doctors say that a lot of autistic children might have been labeled as changelings in that time.

Works cited:

Https://Static.Wikia.Nocookie.Net/Mythology/Images/2/29/Changeling2-800x0-c-Default.Jpg/Revision/Latest?Cb=20180713191804. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023. 

Dimri , Bipin. “Your Child Is Not Your Own? The Horrific Tales of Medieval Changelings.” Historic Mysteries , 6 Oct. 2021, www.historicmysteries.com/changeling/. 

 Post, Irish. “Exploring Irish Mythology: Changelings.” The Irish Post, The Irish Post, 22 Dec. 2021, www.irishpost.com/life-style/exploring-the-irish-mythology-changelings-170347.

Links for Further Research:

1.     Encyclopedia Mythologica
https://encyclopediamythologica.com/changeling
This website will tell you about different myths from other parts of the world about changelings.

2.      Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling
This website will just give you a very good overview of changelings if you just really want to find out more about them.

3.     BMJ Journals
 https://adc.bmj.com/content/90/3/271#
This website will tell you more about how diseases were in involved in changelings like autism.

Spontaneous Human Combustion

 Spontaneous Human Combustion was once a real concern amongst individuals after it has been used in  different novels and media as stated by Radford in his article titled “Spontaneous Human Combustion: Facts & Theories.” There is even a scene in South Park where it is referenced and picked fun at, which is one of the reasons it is even a concern to those who are. Spontaneous human combustion is essentially when a person’s body just randomly bursts into flames with no real cause and leaving most of their surroundings untouched. How exactly would that even be possible? There have been many theories, though all of them have either been proven to be false, or they’re just left unanswered. There has been rumored to be cases with that being the cause of one’s death, but there is no living proof of that, leaving it just be a science question as pointed out in this South Park scene. 

Spontaneous human combustion has been questioned for years on whether it was fact or fake. Some may even call it “fat wick burns” as mentioned in Kolijonen, and Klugers article called “Spontaneous human combustion in the light of the 21st century.” There has even been those who are so convinced it to be true, that there are cases that have not ruled out spontaneous human combustion as a potential factor in play. Though there has never been any substantial proof that this phenomenon exists, there is such thing as spontaneous combustion with things like coal, and lithium-ion batteries. Morse has stated in “Oropharyngeal Injury From Spontaneous Combustion of a Lithium-ion Battery: A Case Report” a case for where a battery spontaneously combusted, causing an injury in someone’s mouth, which is probably the closest evidence to even the possibly of someone spontaneously combusting. Even then, that would be the human body itself bursting into the flames by itself, it would be due to other factors. 

Sometimes, in cases involving fire, with no known cause to how it started, they question the paranormal possibilities such as spontaneous human combustion, though majority of the time, it just gets ruled out to an accident caused by the victim. Like this one case mentioned by Mekeres in “Spontaneous human combustion, homicide, suicide, or household accident” , there was an old man who lived alone, was found almost completely burnt outside his house where there was minimal damage to his surroundings was ruled out as a potential oven misuse. There is no real reason to fear igniting into flames if you’re careful around fire as there is no scientifically proven way for your body to just ignite without other external factors being included as it’s just a myth and a hoax.  

Works cited:

Koljonen V, Kluger N. “Spontaneous human combustion in the light of the 21st century”. J Burn Care Res. 2012. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22269823/. Accessed on 20 October 2022.

Mekereş, Florica, and Camelia Liana Buhaş. "Spontaneous human combustion, homicide, suicide or household accident." Rom J Leg Med 24.1 (2016): 11-13. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Camelia-Buhas/publication/298817707_Spontaneous_human_combustion_homicide_suicide_or_household_accident/links/5759bfed08aed884620b2837/Spontaneous-human-combustion-homicide-suicide-or-household-accident.pdf

Morse, Justin, et al. “Oropharyngeal Injury From Spontaneous Combustion of a Lithium‐ion Battery: A Case Report.” The Laryngoscope, vol. 129, no. 1, 2019, pp. 45–48, https://doi.org/10.1002/lary.27275.

Radford, Benjamin. “Spontaneous Human Combustion: Facts & Theories.” Live Science. 18 December 2013. https://www.livescience.com/42080-spontaneous-human-combustion.html.

South Park Clips. “South Park: Another Combustion.” YouTube, 4 August 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxFT7rvz-Zk.

Tomlin, Jimmy, “North Carolina’s 1932 Series of Spontaneous Combustions is Still Unsolved.” Atlas Obscura. 19 January, 2016. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/north-carolinas-1932-series-of-spontaneous-combustions-is-still-unsolved.

Links for Further Research: 

      Spontaneous human combustion in the light of the 21st century https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22269823/The writers explain what spontaneous human combustion is and suggested a new term for it called “fat wick burns” and they explain the subject in the simplest way possible without fancy terms.

      Spontaneous Human Combustion: Facts & Theories https://www.livescience.com/42080-spontaneous-human-combustion.html Spontaneous human combustion was once a real concern amongst individuals after the usage of the term in fiction novels. There’s even supposed cases in the past though most of it is inexplainable, so all we’re really left with is theories.

    Oropharyngeal Injury From Spontaneous Combustion of a Lithium‐ion Battery: A Case Report https://doi.org/10.1002/lary.27275 This article mentions the increasing quantity of E-cigarettes, vapes and the likely cases of spontaneous combustion of lithium-ion batteries has increased dramatically.

The Legend of the Flying Dutchman

Author: Laura

For hundreds of years, the story of the “Flying Dutchman” has grabbed the attention of many
people around the world. A story told from generation to generation. A ship is making a
treacherous journey back to port, but never makes it back. A ship, now cursed, must sail the sea
forever, and ever, and ever...! According to William DeLong, in his article, “The Mystery Of The
Flying Dutchman Explained By The Physics Of Light”, the captain of the ship, Captain Handrick
van der Decken, who went by “The Dutchman”, said in the midst of the storm, it was too late to
retrace the route from which he came from, and decided to keep pushing forward, which led to
the sinking of the vessel

 

                                                            The Flying Dutchman

Legend has it that the myth of the “Flying Dutchman” has been in existence since, as early as the 17th century. Stefan Andrews, in his article, “For 250 years, people have spotted the Flying Dutchman... doomed to sail the Seven Seas forever”, says writings about the ship started in the 18th century, but official sightings of the ship were not recorded up until the 19th and into the 20th century. It is believed that the ship looks “ghost-like” and not like normal ships that normally sail the seas. Author of “Ghost Ships”, Daniel Loxton states, “A strange ship slides by. It is silent and empty, without a living soul on board. Passing like a phantom, it vanishes into the night.” (Loxton 64). The use of solid descriptions in this article, bring the “ghost-like” nature of the ship to life. 

What if the Flying Dutchman was Real?

It is said that the ship will destroy any other ship that sees and/or approaches it. The article,
“Ghost Ship: The Mysterious Flying Dutchman”, written by Shamseer Mambra, says, “the
Dutchman is called the harbinger of death and destruction for those vessels which have sighted
it. It has also been retold countless times that letters and missives used to be passed onto those
ships that passed the Dutchman in their route. The opening of these letters and missives by the
crew resulted in the ships getting destroyed and the crew parting with their lives.” (Mambra).
The lives of those who crossed paths with the Flying Dutchman, were sentenced to a death
provided by the vessel itself.

The story of the “Flying Dutchman” has been so heavily discussed around the world that many
types of media have picked up on the legend and have put their own twist on the story. Natasha
Sheldon, author of the article, “The Truth Behind the Legends of the Flying Dutchman”, says
that the story of this legendary ship has inspired many creators to put their own twist on the
story, through plays, paintings, poetry, and even motion pictures. In “The Story Of ‘The Flying
Dutchman’”, written by National Public Radio, it is said that the story of the ship is told through
an opera written by Richard Wagner, and it tells the story but with its own unique twist. Kerri-
Ann Bevis, who wrote the article, “The Legend of the Flying Dutchman, the Ghost Ship of the
Cape”, talks about how the story of the Flying Dutchman was featured in an opera, written by
Richard Wagner, with a story of a man on the hunt for love. This brings forth the question, what
is the true story of the Flying Dutchman? The answer to that is that the world may never know. 

 

 Works Cited:

Andrews, Stefan. “For 250 years, people have spotted the Flying Dutchman, the phantom ship
doomed to sail the Seven Seas forever.” The Vintage News, 12 Jul. 2017,
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/07/12/for-250-years-people-have-spotted-the-
flying-dutchman-the-phantom-ship-doomed-to-sail/.

Bevis, Kerri-Ann. “The Legend of the Flying Dutchman, the Ghost Ship of the Cape.” The
Culture Trip, 30 Nov. 2017, https://theculturetrip.com/africa/south-africa/articles/the-
legend-of-the-flying-dutchman-the-ghost-ship-of-the-cape/.

DeLong, William. “The Mystery Of The Flying Dutchman Explained By The Physics Of Light.”
All That’s Interesting, 2 Apr. 2018, https://allthatsinteresting.com/flying-dutchman.
Accessed 13 October 2021.

Life’s Biggest Questions. “What If The Flying Dutchman Was Real?” Youtube, 21 February
2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwIandvyKEw.

Loxton, Daniel. “Ghost Ships.” Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine, 2017,
https://www.skeptic.com/junior_skeptic/issue65/.

Mambra, Shamseer. “Ghost Ship: The Mysterious Flying Dutchman.” Maritime Insight:
Maritime History, 3 Sep. 2021, https://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-history/ghost-
ship-the-mysterious-flying-dutchman/.

Ryder, Albert Pinkham. “Flying Dutchman.” Wikipedia Commons, 24 October 2006,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flying_Dutchman,_the.jpg.

Sheldon, Natasha. “The Truth Behind the Legends of the Flying Dutchman.” History Collection,
14 Sep. 2018, https://historycollection.com/the-truth-behind-the-legends-of-the-flying-
dutchman/.

“The Story of ‘The Flying Dutchman.’” National Public Radio, 7 October 2011,
https://www.npr.org/2011/10/06/141123770/the-story-of-the-flying-dutchman.

For Further Research:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. “Flying Dutchman.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 April
2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Flying-Dutchman. Accessed 19 October 2021.
This source gives basic information on the legend of the ship. It also talks about pieces of
literature that were written based off the legendary ship and the story behind it.

“Flying Dutchman.” Wikipedia, 5 October 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Dutchman. Accessed 19 October 2021. This
resource talks about the origins of the Flying Dutchman and the sightings of the ship. It
also talks about optical illusions and how the story is recreated through many different
types of media.

Sullivan, Kerry. “Legend of the Flying Dutchman, Ghostly Apparition of The Ship of Captain
Hendrick.” Ancient Origins, 20 May 2021, https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-
legends/legend-flying-dutchman-ghostly-007285. Accessed 19 October 2021. This source
talks about the legend of the Flying Dutchman and the voyage and curse of the ship. It
also talks about the legacy that the Flying Dutchman holds and how the story continues to
be told through operas.

The Crystal Skull

by USC Aiken Student (BD)

Skull from the British Museum

Crystal skulls sometimes referred to as rock crystals are carved skulls that came about beginning around the 19th century and are considered works of art. Some are crystal clear and some are smoky colored. Some of them are human sized with fine detail while others are small and have less detail. Some people think it is a myth but according to Richard A. Lovett and Scot Hoffman, “We believe the Crystal Skulls are a form of computer which are able to record energy and vibration that occur round them.” “The skull will pictorially replay all events or images of the people who have come into contact with them (i.e. they contain the history of our world).” Thousands of them are produced in China, Brazil, and Germany each year but cost very little because they are mainly purchased by individuals because of their beliefs that they contain magical powers. There are many who are fascinated by crystal skulls and spend a lot of money on fakes so that they can display them in their own collection or have them because of their belief in the magical powers that not anyone can possess. Authentic skulls originated in Mexico and in Central America and no one really knows who made them or why.

Though the crystal skulls have had many archaeologists curious for years, there are stories about the skulls that they were thought to have supernatural powers and those that delve in the paranormal would invest in them. Some have the belief that they are associated with death and mortality. Mysteries surrounding the skulls claimed that they possessed supernatural powers with the ability to heal and expand psychic abilities and powers from people who have been in the presence of the skulls. There are dozens of these skulls in private and public collections but it is unclear as to how many because of the many fakes that are in circulation. Many of these skulls were carved thousands of years ago by ancient Mesoamerican civilizations. The 13 Crystal Skulls are shared by the original peoples of the Mayan and Aztecan tribes along with Native Americans as to their origin. That is supposedly where they originated from used by shamans or so called witch doctors in their healing rituals and each skull supposedly contained particular information needed and that one is no good without the other, hence the set together contain the information. Recent electron microscope analysis of skulls by British Museum and the Smithsonian Institute revealed markings could have only been made with modern carving tools. Thus proving that some were fake. (Electron microscopes are used because of it has the ability of high magnification and resolution as it uses beams instead of light.) Both of the museums estimate their skulls to date to sometime in the mid to late 1800’s. At that time most were interested in different pieces that were found in excavations to see if they were from ancient tribes and civilizations to display.

Though most of the information on the crystal skulls are mainly superstitious, there are a lot of people that believe in their abilities to cure illnesses such as cancer and other diseases. There are those that also believe that they can possess the ability to cause great harm as well if they have the correct information in order to “cast a spell” on someone. They may even come to the belief that they can tell the future of the world. If that were the case there would be many of us with crystal skulls in our bedrooms, in our cars, and walking around with one on our key chains similar to the rabbit’s foot. It does not matter whether we have the correct words to conjure up a certain spell or not it’s just the idea of what we believe in. This is usually why a person believing in something strong enough and hard enough will make the mind believe anything. We should all remember that the mind is a powerful thing and we should not take our thoughts lightly.

Work Cited:
Alltime Conspiracies.“The Mystery of The Crystal Skulls.” Youtube, 14 Feb. 2015, https://youtu.be/bUm-nIBgNMk

Richard A. Lovett and Scot Hoffman. “Crystal Skulls.” National Geographic. 2015, Accessed 22 Oct. 2018. 2 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/crystal-skulls/

“13 Crystal Skulls.” Crystal Skulls, 2018, Accessed 16 October 2018. 3 http://www.crystalskulls.com/13-crystal-skulls.html.

Chalgasiewicz, Rafal. The Crystal skull at the British Museum, 2009, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Crystal_skull_british_museum_random9834672.jpg/798px-Crystal_skull_british_museum_random9834672.jpg

“Crystal Healing.” Crystal Skulls, 2008, Accessed 16 October 2018. http://www.crystalskulls.com/crystal-healing.html.

Pruitt, Sarah. “What are the Crystal Skulls?” History, 1 July 2015, Web. Accessed 16 October 2018.


Links for Further Research:
Crystal Skulls
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/crystal-skulls
This web source describes what crystal skulls are and where they come from. This website also explains how they look and last but not least how many fake skulls are produced each year.

Amazing Crystal Skulls
http://www.crystalskulls.com/index.html
This website is stacked with tone of information about the crystal and the mind-blowing powers that these skulls contain. This website has multiple many tags that you can click on that contain different information about the skulls.

Crystal Skull World Day
http://www.crystalskullworldday.com/
In this website, it contains different subtitles that talk about the powers of the skulls, the size and what they are made of, where they come from, where you can find these famous crystal skulls, etc.

Alligators In The Sewers

by Kandice Thompson

Real Alligators of the Sewers, by: The Crazz Files

Many people believe the myth of alligators living in the sewers. Many people also believe that alligators are more likely to live in the big cities with cold weather. Not like Miami, where alligators are popular there, but in a cold city like New York, alligators are not. Living in cold cities, alligators would not be able to live in the sewers because they are reptiles, and reptiles are cold blooded. In the city, Miami, alligators are usually normal. As stated on http://animalquestions.org/reptiles/alligators/ “Although it is true that alligator attacks on humans have occurred from time to time, as a general rule alligators do not typically attack humans unless provoked in some way first.” Most cases, there are some people who will wrestle with alligators just for fun, but usually it is known to just ignore them and not make them feel threatened. Alligators would also not be able to live in cold climate sewers because of the diseases that might be in them. There are all types of things that are in sewers. There is sewage, diseases, and disposal from homes that transport into the sewer system. Living in the sewers , alligators would not be able to survive in that type of environment with all of the disposal in the sewers.

There are many different stories on how exactly alligators get into the sewer system. But there are questions if it is true, or just a myth. In the late nineteen twenties and early nineteen thirties there was a popular story of a group of kids who was shoveling snow into a manhole. In that manhole, an alligator was found. No evidence was shown because the alligator attacked the children making the children with no choice but to kill it. Another one of the big stories on how alligators might have ended up into the sewers was by families giving their children baby alligators as pets. When the alligator grows too big and the family was unable to handle the reptiles, they would flush the creatures down the toilet.

On some accounts about alligators, there was pictures and videos to show evidence of alligators in the sewers. Some pictures showed construction pulling out an alligators with rope around the mouth to keep it from attacking. Other evidence that was given was a video on an alligator standing still in a drain just staring at the camera. The alligator did not move or attack. But one thing that stood out in the video was a ball in front of the alligator. Possibly the reptile was looking for someone or something to come down and get the ball, so it could attack.

Work cited:
“Alligator Found In Uptown Sewer.” New York Times, 10 Feb. 1935, http://www.sewerhistory.org/grfx/misc/critters.htm. 22 Oct. 2018

“Alligators in the Sewers”. Sewer History, 2004, http://www.sewerhistory.org/grfx/misc/critters.htm.

Bartholomew, Robert E. “Alligators in the Sewers!” Skeptic, vol. 21, no. 1, Mar. 2016, pp.60-61 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=113837291&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Gormley, Jesse. “Could Alligators Survive In The Sewers of New York City?” Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, July 2018, https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/alligators-cant-live-in-the-sewers/.

Mikkelson, David. “ Do Alligators Live in the Sewers?” Snopes, 10 July 1999, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alligators-sewers/.

Radford,Benjamin. “Do Alligators Really Live In New York City Sewers?” LiveScience, 3 June 2011, https://www.livescience.com/33322-alligators-crocodiles-new-york-city-sewers.html.

Speed, Barbara.“Yes, They Really Have Found Alligators in the New York Sewer System.” City Metric, 12 Aug, 2014, https://www.citymetric.com/yes-they-really-have-found-alligators-new-york-sewer-system-102

“Man Discovers Huge Alligator Hiding In Sewer Outside His Home.” Youtube, 13 Dec. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCWoxeOUJzc.

“Do Alligators Attack Humans?”, Animal Questions, 2018, http://animalquestions.org/reptiles/alligators/. 26 Oct. 2018.

Links for further research:
“Do Alligators Attack Humans?
http://animalquestions.org/reptiles/alligators/
Although crocodiles attack anything that moves in their sight, alligators are different. Alligators only attack when they feel threatened or their young is at harm. The female alligators give a warning when they feel they feel like they are being attacked. They give a hissing sound or they will open their mouth to let you know, to back off. Once you back off, then you won't be a meal. Most alligators eat fish but if they are hungry enough they will eat and find anything up to human size.

“Do Alligators Hibernate”
http://animalquestions.org/reptiles/alligators/do-alligators-hibernate/
Alligators are cold blooded.They have to stay in warm areas in order to live. Alligators have common sense to move to different locations to find heat. If the environment is too cold for them, they will try to go underground to find warmth. Even though they need warmth to live they are able to be in 40 degree Fahrenheit climate.

“Alligators of the Sewer- Real Ones!”
http://crazzfiles.com/alligators-of-the-sewers-real-ones/
In the early nineteen hundreds, an alligator was found in the sewers of New York City. New York City, Commissioner of Sewers, Teddy May, was told many stories on alligators living in the sewers, but he did not want to listen to them at first. He decided to investigate himself after hearing so many stories.

Crybaby Bridge

by Jessica Craig

Crybaby Bridge located in Anderson, South Carolina that is no longer available to vehicular traffic

 Stepping out of your vehicle, and placing the keys on top of the hood begins the awakening of a mother and infants spirits. Placing baby powder around the hood, and chanting “I have your baby, I have your baby,” will result in your vehicles keys going missing, with prints of a baby’s foot showing up in the baby powder. All occurring on the famous Crybaby Bridge. Readers may view it just as a basic bridge, but the legend behind Crybaby Bridge holds more than just tread marks. Recognized as the bridge that holds a mother and an infant’s spirit.  Crybaby Bridge is distinguished as a nickname given to bridges all over the United states, including places such as: Ohio, Virginia, Oklahoma, Maryland, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.

 Legend states that if you park on one of the existing Crybaby Bridges that you can hear a cry of a baby or scream from a women. Each Bridge in the United States has their own account behind the myth. Ohio, being the most famous bridge of them all, tells the story as a couple arguing, and the women jumping out and getting hit by a car, which explains why citizens hear the scream of a women while crossing the bridge. Oklahoma, holding the plot twist of them all, reading as not only one child but several children were thrown of the side of the railing by their mother, because they all were a result of her being molested. Texas, where you can hear the crying from a women below the waters of the bridge, whom was killed by her husband, who soon drowned the baby along with the mother. South Carolina, holding the original and most famous myth of them all, containing the mother throwing the infant over the railing then soon hanging herself. Being a citizen living in South Carolina, I have visited the local bridge located in Edgefield, SC. Driving down the spooky trail, we rolled the windows down and instantly I heard women like screams, hearing the screeching my friend had slammed on brakes, and while sitting there in silence our back windshield shattered. 

The definition of an urban legend or a myth is just that: Crybaby Bridge. Depending on one’s belief as far as hauntings or spirits, the noises could actually be from nature itself meaning old wood, old bridges, waterways, or animals in the woods, but the myths keep it intriguing and brings people in from all over the country to experience the historical momentum of the urban legend. Crybaby Bridge could also be just a memorable scare for local citizens. Feel free to visit this historical haunting for a bridge or just the beauty of the nature around it or to make the hair stand up on your neck, either way they are worth the visit. There is nowhere to run, or nowhere to hide from the spirits of Crybaby Bridge.  

Works Cited:

Summers, Ken. “Troubled Waterways: Origins of The Crybaby Bridge Legend.” Week In Weird, 2011, http://weekinweird.com/2011/09/03/troubled-waterways-origins-crybaby-bridge-legend/ 

Jarvis, Robin. “The Stories Behind These 9 Haunted Bridges In South Carolina Will Keep You Up At Night.” Only In Your State, 2016, https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/haunted-bridges-in-sc/ 

Willis, James. “Crybaby Bridge Project.” The Strange and Spooky World of James A. Willis. https://strangeandspookyworld.com/crybaby-bridge-project/ 

Lamkin, Virginia. “Crybaby Bridge: Monmouth, Illinois.” Seeks Ghost. 2012, https://seeksghosts.blogspot.com/2012/12/crybaby-bridge-monmouth-illinois.html 


Hudson, Marilyn. “Crybaby Bridge-Oklahoma Style.”2007, http://mystorical.blogspot.com/2010/07/cry-baby-bridge-oklahoma-style.html 

Links For Further Research:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYfxYbR6HEI 

Although this video is creepy it holds a documentary of the urban legend of “Crybaby Bridge.”

Straight A’s for the Semester If Your Roommate Dies

Author: William Cain

Cover of Dead Man on Campus
MTV films, 1998

An urban myth, or urban legend, is an inaccurate story that is known by a wide spectrum of the population. “One tell-tale sign of an urban myth is that everyone seems to know someone who knows someone who had the experience in question, but no one has any verifiable proof” (Rockler-Gladen). A popular example of an urban legend, which is thought to have originated at Vanderbilt University, is known as the “Legend of the 4.0.” The legend states that if a student’s roommate dies, then they will receive straight A’s for the academic semester. In 1998, the movie Dead Man on Campus made this a popular tale for college campuses all over the United States.

However, with this urban legend, and the same with countless others, there is more than one version known. If you hear this legend on more than one college campus, the odds that they will be different is high. Some variations include an accidental death and death from a disease such as cancer or AIDS. Other variations include less than a 4.0 average for the semester, death of someone close to the student other than the roommate, like a family member, or the occurrence of the death while the student is in the same room.

In 1997, a graduate from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, named Charlie Kovas, recalls of the tragic event when the student, who was on the football team, fell out of his dorm room window to his death below after an agonizing fight with his girlfriend.

"People said, 'Oh, that's awful,' " Kovas said. "Then they said, 'I wonder if his roommate will get straight A's?' We heard that the girlfriend got all A's, and I can tell you with certainty that people believed it" (Vigoda).

The example of the football student falling from his window and a couple others make people believe that the “Legend of the 4.0” actually does exist. One semester when a young man at Alfred University in New York hung himself in the bedrooms, a mother of one of the five other roommates called the school and thought her son was eligible to receive a 4.0 for bereavement.

While it is believed that some schools will offer consideration and time to grieve for students who come in contact with these situations, there is no evidence that supports the “Legend of the 4.0” or that states any university has a policy regarding it. There is no college that is believed to give good grades to students for the death of a roommate or someone close to them. 

Works Cited:

Rockler-Gladen, Naomi. "Urban Legends about College Life." Suite 101. N.p., 2 Nov. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://suite101.com/article/urban-myths-about-college-life-a75863>.

Vigoda, Ralph. "A College Myth Dies Hard/ Dead Roommate = A's? Only in Hollywood." Philly.com. Philedelphia Inquirer, 20 Sept. 1998. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.

Dead Man on Campus. 1998. Photograph. Dead Man on Campus. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.

Links for Further Research:

Vanderbilt.edu – This website gives information that leads to thoughts of the legend being formed at Vanderbilt University.

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth263/legend_of_the_4.htm

Akorra.com – This website shows the top 20 urban legends and gives some background information on some of the variations that come about with the “Legend of the 4.0.”

http://akorra.com/2010/03/04/top-20-urban-legends

Snopes.com – Snopes.com is a website that gives information on many urban legends. It highlights a good many variations of the legend.

http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp