RAAF Scherger creature

[youcantry]

An oldie but a goodie. It's time to dust off the Scherger creature and take another look at what this most mystifying creature might be.

www.wherelightmeetsdark.com/index.php?module=wiki&page=SchergerCreature

[JeffJ]

Hi Chris! Yep, this is a great report. I contacted them right after the story was posted on their site, but never heard back. It's been years now. I might point out that the photo is actually a photo illustration. The incident happened pretty far north, in fact, on my large wall map of Australia, it is marked as the most northern sighting I am aware of. Something about these possible marsupials scares the hell out of what would normally be aggressive dogs. Heard the same thing about the Queensland tiger and big pig dogs. Jeff

[youcantry]

Hi Jeff - what do you mean the photo is a photo illustration?

I'm not surprised there are no sightings any further north. There *is* nothing further north except the tourists hitting the tip of the cape.

You're right about it being big. This past few weeks I've collected quite a number of Queensland thylacine reports from the far north - including pig dogs being mauled to death and in one case a farmer feeding 2 thylacines along with a bunch of other stray dogs and dingos that would visit his place. In most cases the animal is reported as much larger than thylacines from Tasmania.

What confuses me is that the stripes are often reported to be - what seems to me - much broader than thylacines from Tassie. Could it be something different? At any rate, the thing in the picture has spots.

[mingle]

Hi Chris,

Yeah, if that 'photo' was supposedly a real picture I would've said "hoax" in about 2 seconds flat! It's obviously some whacky photoshopped collage...

Anyhow, the reports themselves sound interesting. Particularly the farmer feeding the thylacines... Assuming it's a genuine report, that one would be worthy of further investigation, surely. How old are these reports?

Regarding dogs being afraid, I reckon it's juts because it's something 'new' to them. I've seen a few 'tough' dogs cower at their first sign of a roo! I also would say that the smell of any other predator would also put the wind up them.

Cheers,

Mike.

[JeffJ]

Hi Guys! That picture has the label "photo illustration by" and gives the name of the person who did it, directly below the photo, on the website. Sounds like Queensland tigers with the other creatures you mentioned, with the broad stripes and all. Jeff

[Thylacopardus]

The prints are not convincing for me. If they were on such a surface then the dispersal of surface material would be propelled in the opposite direction to the animals movement. I believe the prints are a hoax.

As far as the animal is concerned, I have been on several hunting trips on Cape York, Strathburn, Holroyd River etc. With the famous Mr Vic Mail (former Air Cairns owner) and Bud Quaid (Mossman Qld heavy & former to be Commonwealth boxer till he chopped his finger off in a meat slicer)...Well now they are famous!!
The movement "snap shot" is exactly as a boar appears in full flight. Like just immediately after a gun shot.
There are astimated 5 million pigs on Cape York. We shot 55 in three days.....boars only and no spotlighting...hell knows how many we would have got spotlighting, as the 55 were only sighted because we nearly stepped on them.
The heavy set front quarter and the lighter hind quarters are as a boar/razorback appears. the spots are also consistent with some boars (small percentage) in Cape York. The head is difficult to make out due to movement and the night vision spec.'s. The fact that the animal appeared in the same area the following night also adds weight to it being a boar. They sniff for and eat Narnuts in the same area at least that's what the locals call the nuts. They are red and leave a stain on the teeth of the pigs and may have a narcotic/nicotene type effect. I say heaps of pigs with this gunk from nar nuts in their mouths.
By the way I just google Narnuts and nothing comes up...maybe someone knows the correct name for these cape York Pig favourites.

My money is on Prints are a hoax and the animal if a from genuine photo is a boar/razorback with the picture out of whack through a combo of highspeed/nightvison/technical goblygook jargon talk.

[mingle]

Hey Phil,

The image is an illustration only - check out the website:

www.defence.gov.au/news/raafnews/editions/4720/features/feature02.htm

I agree with you on the print too - look like it was man-made to me...

Cheers,

Mike.

[Wally1]

How many of you have read the Barb Holdsworth papers?.
These are recorded observation and foot print sketches of wierdo critters from FN Cape York
It is on Paul Clachers web site. Paul also has the foot castings collected by Ms Holdsworth
Otherwise I can supply a limited number of discs for a small consideration.
It would be in fine handwriting as written by Ms H
She has left Cape Yorke and where abouts unknown.
Wally

[Thylacopardus]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the actual link I was not aware of this story prior to this post and reading it on the official newsletter certainly leaves me with a different impression.

Yeh very strange and an excellent post. It's got me stumped.

Phil

[TC Girl]

Thylacopardus - are Nar Nuts like Betle Nuts do you think?

Regards
TC Girl

[youcantry]

Thylacopardus ... the thing is - forget that it's in an RAAF newspaper ... and then I agree with you - the footprint does look hoaxed; anything that causes that deep an impression on that kind of substrate should have been moving which would have disturbed the edges of the print, etc.

Secondly, I don't understand what they mean by "photo illustration", but otherwise I'd have agreed - the night vision equipment (if that's what it is) is an unknown.

However, they explicitly discount the pig theory and you'd think they'd know pigs too - although my understanding is that once or twice a year, thousands of recruits fly into the northern locations like this to do their training, then they disappear and for most of the year there are only 2 staff or so on the base. So maybe they weren't familiar with pigs?

I can't help but wonder if it was a joke between friends like "Hey - let's make up a story and see if we can convince Fred so much that it's real that he prints it in the newspaper?? "

Not a malicious hoax in that sense, but still not a genuine sighting.

Now - recall it's in the RAAF newpaper. Does that change the interpretation?

I think really we can't take this one anywhere unless someone gets in touch with anyone named in the story. Jeff didn't get a reply a few days after it was published. I sure didn't get a reply earlier this year. Unless someone wants to go tracking down people by name...

[Deleted]

The term 'photo illustration' means just that - someone has photoshopped a few different elements together to create an artistic impression of what the creature could have looked like (but upon reading the description, this arty intepretation has more in common with the monsters from Alien - no doubt that's where the 'creature' image originates). No one took any photos, apart from the track which is pretty inconclusive anyhow (but it's not from a pig) - the RAAFies only saw the creature through their night vision gear, they never filmed/photographed the creature.

I don't see any motive for a hoax - the RAAF news, while an internal publication, does have external circulation and is regarded as a serious source of news for servicemen and women, and defence journalists.

Ruby

[youcantry]

Thanks Ruby,

I guess the idea of it being a joke is largely based on the image of the creature - but what you say sounds right. Nowhere in the story do they say they captured a photo of the creature. The only photo is the footprint.

[Thylacopardus]

Hi TC,

I just checked out Beetle Nuts on google and no Nar Nuts are not beetle nuts. Nar Nuts must be a native plant and obviously the name Nar Nuts is not the correct name because no reference is returned. The tree did not look like a palm tree more like a malnutritioned Currajong tree in appearance.
Yeh believe me these so referred to as Nar Nuts are basically allover in the Holroyd River area of Cape York and supposedly elsewhere. The pigs absolutley loveem.....God maybe Strathburn Station will end up being the next Nimbin if those pigs are right and they get a high off em........They just munch and lounge all day. Sounds like what I should be doing.
The Seaon they were on the ground (nuts followed by pigs ) was over the NSW October long Weekend.

They stained the pigs mouth similar to beetle nuts but not as strong in red colour.

[Wally1]

Beetle (betal) nuts when ground is used as a mild narcotic and is favoured by people in tropical areas in the main. It is used in conjunction with lime, (slaked I presume) and after dipping a stick in the powders it is chewed.
From my own observations it is a dirty filthy habit with red slobbber staining users mouth and teeth and profuse spittlle surrounding user.
It comes from the areca palm and is used as a vermicide to kill and expel intestinal worms.
In my extreme youth it was my job to dose the farmdogs at regular intevals.
It was not a very humerouus part of my life as a 9 year old but it was most entertaining watching those mutts skating around on their backsides, dragging themselves along by their front feet, with their back legs elevated.
I looked it up on the web and found pushers offering betal and trying to push the habit. One thing is the users will never suffer fron worms.

[youcantry]

Hi all.

I have a colleague who is a university professor specialising in Aboriginal bush foods. Here is his response on the name "Nar nuts":

"No, I can't recall that name for any of the 20 or 30 edible nut species I know from North Queensland. Perhaps it's an Aboriginal name for one of these, and might also be spelt gnaa, nga, or naa ? However I haven't been able to find anything like that amongst my records. I think there are a number of species of palms with edible nuts on Cape York that I haven't collected any information on yet, and it could possibly be one of these. If you find out about it please let me know."

Chris.

[Hobbes]

Nonda plum (nut)?