Rare Monsters

  The yale was a goat or antelope from medieval bestiaries and heraldry. Its name might comes from the Hebrew word yael, meaning ibex, or the Greek word eilo, meaning to roll or swing. It’s also known as the eale and the centicore The Yale’s most notable feature is its large horns, which it can swing around to point forward or back at will. It was believed the forward pointing horns were used as an offensive attack, while the horns pointing backwards were better for defence. Being able to switch between the two made the yale unparalleled in combat. In addition to this the yale also had boar like tusks. It was also huge, being comparable in size to a hippopotamus. The yale first appeared in the writings of Pliny the Elder. Here, and in medieval bestiaries the yale is described as a stocky bull like animals with black fur. It was likely based on misinterpretations of a cape buffalo. Over time the yale morphed into a more goat or antelope like animal. It also gained a yell...

  Ponik is an aquatic reptile that allegedly lives in Lake Pohenagamook, in eastern Quebec, near the border with Maine. It’s a very active Active cryptid with over 1000 sightings since the 1800’s. Although its activity comes in waves, with some decades having many more sightings than others. The 50s where the peak of Ponik sightings. The monster’s appearance varies quite a bit from different reports. The most consistent thing is that it has two or three humps on its back and a saw tooth ridge down its back. It’s said to be anywhere from 35 to 60 feet long. Some people have reported that Ponik is a giant fish, the saw tooth ridge on its back being the diamond shaped scales of a sturgeon. However sturgeons don’t live in Lake Pohenagamook, and even if they did this would be a record breaking size for a sturgeon. Other people report a serpentine shaped monster, while others still a more reptilian body with either four legs or four flippers. Those who’ve seen its head d...

  Here are three unicorns from China that feel oddly western. They lack the scales and other traits that make the qilin seam more exotic. The bo is a hybrid creature and the least unicorn like of the three. The bo looks like a unicorn with the paws and fangs of a tiger. It has a white body and black tail. The bo is entirely carnivorous, and hunts leopards and tigers. It primarily lives on Mount Winding Centre where jade and metals are plentiful, according to The Classic Of Mountains and Seas. It was also said to live on the steppes of Mongolia and some isolated islands in the North Sea. It was said the bo could be tamed with some difficulty and doing so would protect you against harm during times of war. The bo was said to be a just and honourable animal. It’s call is the sound of rolling drums. Out of the three the boma has the least information available. Like the bo, it also comes from The Classic Of Mountains And Seas . The boma has a white coat, and ox’s tail and a si...

   The questing beast is a hybrid monster from Arthurian Legend. It’s also known as the Beast Glatisant, which is related to the french word glapissant, which means yelping or barking. In the Vulgate and earlier cycles describe a creature with the head of a lamb which is white, the legs of a dog which are black and the body of a fox which is red. In the post-Vulgate cycles the questing beast takes on a more familiar form of having the head of a snake, the front body of a leopard, the back half of its body of a lion, and the feet of a deer. The sound of barking dogs constantly issues from the questing beast’s belly, causing it to constantly flee from hunting dogs it can never escape, hence both its names. Even within this later description there’s a large amount of variation. In the Vulgate Estoire Del Saint Graal , the questing beast appears briefly at the beginning of the story, guiding a narrating character to the book containing the story of Arthur, making this ve...

  The xiphis was a confusing animal that appeared on two Roman mosaics, one was the Nile Mosaic of Palestrina and the other in the House of the Physician in Pompeii. It’s a heavy bodied creature, similar to a rhino or hippopotamus, with a long snout and carnivorous teeth similar to a crocodile. Many theories have been put forth to explain what the xiphis is. Most people assume it’s just a poor rendition of a hippopotamus. That might be the case for the House of the Physician, but there’s a much more realistic hippo on the Palestrina mosaic. Rhinos and crocodiles have also been suggested, but these also appear in the Palestrina mosaic. As well the animals on the Palestrina mosaic have their names written under them as part of the mosaic, with the hippo, rhino, and crocodile clearly labelled. The name xiphis comes from the labelling on this mosaic. Xiphis was a type of sword in Rome, not an animal, but this may have been part of a longer name or out interpretation of it is miss...

  The moha moha is a cryptid from Australia, spotted on June 8 th , 1890. It was seen my Selena Lovell, a school teacher and amateur naturalist, as well as a group of people accompanying her, while they were on an outing to Great Sandy Island. The creature was well known to the natives, who called it the moha moha, or danger turtle, as it was known for attacking their fishing camps and grabbing their legs in the water. With all the other strange Australian wildlife discovered Ms Lovell didn’t question the creature’s odd appearance and wrote up a report on it. This report was then used by Willian Saville-Kent to publish a formal description of the creature in Land And Water and give it the name Chelosauria lovelli. Little did either of them know that this creature would only ever be seen once, and become the topic of controversy. The moha moha had a rounded head that was more like that of a lizard or other reptiles than a standard turtle. Ms Lovell didn’t see any nostrils and...