Black Shuck

Black Shuck (also known as Old Shuck, Padfoot, Skriker, and Black Shag) is a black phantom dog rumored by legend to live along the Norfolk, Essex and Suffolk coastline in the UK.

The name and concept of Black Shuck isn't unique to one case, however, as the term is seen in many different legends and stories throughout the British isles.  Tales of enormous Hellhound creatures rumored to haunt dark places such as heaths, crossroads, graveyards, and even abandoned towers and castles exist in numerous towns.  They are said to be horrid creatures, often being described as the same height as a horse and covered in matted, pitch black fur and glowing red or green eyes.  Although they are sometimes described as being headless, or having the ability to run atop a black mist.  (Or in layman's terms, being totally badass.)

One notable account of Black Shuck comes from August 4^th, 1577 at Blythburgh, a church in Suffolk.   Black Shuck is said to have rampaged through the church, killing a man and a child and causing the church steeple to collapse.  To this day scorch marks exist on the northern door which are said to have been burned into the wood by the dog.  Reverend Abraham Fleming filed an account of the event:

“This black dog, or the divel in such a linenesse (God hee knoweth al who worketh all,) runing all along down the body of the church with great swiftnesse, and incredible haste, among the people, in a visible fourm and shape, passed between two persons, as they were kneeling uppon their knees, and occupied in prayer as it seemed, wrung the necks of them bothe at one instant clene backward, in somuch that even at a mome[n]t where they kneeled, they stra[n]gely dyed.”

Phantom cats have noting on these things.

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[Phantom Dogs on Mysterious Britain]

[Wikipedia article]

Awesome.

The Beast of Busco

The Beast of Busco is an enormous snapping turtle said to have once lurked in Folk Lake near the small town of Churubusco, Indiana.  Named “Oscar” for Oscar Fulk, a man who once owned a farm which borders the lake, the turtle haunted the town populace in 1949 and lead to a fruitless hunt which lasted for two months and sparked a small amount of national notoriety.

Have you ever caught one of these things?  They're nasty as fuck.

The turtle, presumably 15 feet in length was first reported in July 1948.  A year later in March, 1949, after the legend had become publicly known an expedition to capture the beast was undertook by a man named Gale Harris.  Supposedly his efforts paid off, and Harris managed to ensnare the creature in a 10-foot patch of water using an array of stakes and chicken wire.  Unfortunately the beast soon broke free and vanished into the deeper sections of the lake.

A video of the event is said to exist but, naturally, it has been lost.

The hunt was on after that as spectators and hunters alike flocked to Churubusco in order to witness Oscar for themselves.  Divers searched the lake to no avail, and as the Beast of Busco continued to dodge capture the public interest soon faded.

However interest sparked again in September of 1949 when Harris drained the 7 acre lake down to one acre using his tractor and a sump pump.  Soon people began to flock back to the site in hopes catching  another glimpse; on October 13^th over 200 spectators got what they had been hoping for when the Beast of Busco reportedly came to the surface of the lake and carried off a fake duck which had been being used as a lure.

Harris’ pump soon died and the adoring public thinned once again.  Since the sightings in 1949, no other reports have been filed.  Some believe Oscar managed to escape through an underwater channel during the draining, while others believe it buried itself in the muck at the bottom of the lake in order to escape the draining and suffocated to death.

Regardless, an event known as Turtle Days has become a tradition in the town ever since 1950.  A four day extravaganza of rides, games, food stands, merchant tents, an ending parade and a four-hour turtle race.

[Link]

[News Story]

[Turtle Days Article]

About

This is a blog for those who find a small bit of interest in the stories and legends surrounding Cryptozoology.  Each week I will update it with a new cryptid article, including pictures and links.

We'll see where it goes.