Juanita Cousins has the 411 on the recent Georgia Bigfoot discovery:

Turns out Bigfoot was just a rubber suit. Two researchers on a quest to prove the existence of Bigfoot say that the carcass encased in a block of ice—handed over to them for an undisclosed sum by two men who claimed to have found it—was slowly thawed out, and discovered to be a rubber gorilla outfit.

I want to say, “I told you so,” but I can’t—no, won’t—because I was hoping for something miraculous. The only thing that could possibly make me feel better? Learning that those two off-duty hick-a-billies hosed some “researchers” worse than they did me.

Thanks, WTOP:

The feline is believed to be a Savannah cat, a domestic crossbreed of a short-haired cat and an African Serval cat.

“It’s something people have done over the years to create an extra-large pet kitty,” says Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Paul Peditto.

Maybe this will stop all the bad Katie Couric-esque jokes on the previous post.

According to a “campus alert” sent today to University of Maryland students and staff, a “possible cougar” has been sighted on the College Park campus. The possible cougar has been described as “light tan and tawny brown, about 4 feet long with a 4 foot tail, and weighing about 50 pounds.”

Captain John Brandt of UMD’s Department of Public Safety confirms that the possible cougar was first sighted yesterday. “The first [sighting], which happened a day ago, was not reported to the police department,” says Brandt. “The person who made the report initially wasn’t believed. But then we got a call this morning, around 6 a.m., of another sighting [of the possible cougar].”

Since the release of the campus alert, Brandt says his department has received word of an additional possible cougar sighting. At press time, Brandt’s officers—and the campus’s video security system—have yet to spot the possible cougar.

The possible cougar is a new threat for UMD, says Brandt. “We have never dealt with this before,” he says. “Cougars are not an indigenous species of the state of Maryland. . . . They’re just not seen around here. We will get the occasional report of a coyote on campus, which usually will end up just being a fox.”

Brandt does not know where the possible cougar came from. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he says.

Any sightings of the possible cougar should be reported to university police, at (301) 405-3555.

Full campus alert after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

So for the first time in my life the other day I’m early for a meeting—this one is in Farragut North, and so I decide to kill time in the park across the street until I could be awkwardly tardy as is my wont. And in the park is the usual melange of office workers, homeless guys, bike messengers, and pigeons. And then I notice something out of place—can you spot it in this photo?

It’s a pair of mallard ducks, there in a waterless park, roaming around by the tree. Now I’ve been seeing mallards around the city, and I have to admit that every time I see ducks in the city it catches my attention, but until now I’ve only seen them in watery areas, like Dupont Circle, so I’ve figured they caught my attention not because they’re wildly out of place but because I’m a little ADD and everything catches my attention at some point or another. But this pair of ducks seemed especially notable—because why would a pair of mallard ducks hang around the Farragut North park where there’s no water? So I e-mailed this question to some duck experts at Ducks Unlimited, and here’s what they said:

Read the rest of this entry »

This weekend I came across the greatest find since moving to D.C. Caveat: My interests tend to skew less toward record stores and more toward woodland creatures. If yours do, too (hey, I know it’s a stretch, but the blog is lookin’ light today, OK?), you should check out Prince William Forest Park. Once you have your immigration papers in order, that is. They don’t like them illegals there, you know, but there are 15,000 acres, so it’s easy enough to get lost no matter who you are. That’s what’s great about this place.

From D.C., the park is only about 35 miles down the road, right off I-95 and the Marine Corps training site at Quantico. That means that in less than an hour, you could be set up at a wonderful campsite deep in the woods for 15 bucks a night. The Oak Ridge Campground inside the park has nearly 100 sites and is located 5.5 miles down wooded roads from the visitor center. Stop in there to get a great map of the park. Each of the three campground loops has decent bathrooms and a water spigot; Loop A has a shower, even, for those who do that sort of nonsense while camping. There are no hookups, however, a blessed deletion for tent campers (there won’t be any retirees and their obnoxious RVs anywere nearby. In fact, having had a few bad experiences with the RV/generator crowd, I found this place with the help of The Best in Tent Camping: Virginia: A Guide for Car Campers Who Hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos). One aspect the book fails to play up is the spaciousness of the sites, especially compared to some of the puny ones inside Shenandoah National Park. Each comes with a fire ring and a pole to hang a lantern.

Beware the raccoons, though; they’re cheeky, so hide your grub. Also, I found a tick on my person, quickly tweezed off and killed, so bring some spray, but for god’s sake don’t whine about ticks. Just be careful.

Best of all: There are 37 miles of hiking trails maintained by the Potomac Appalacian Trail Club; several nice ones start right at the campground. The North Valley Trail includes a lovely stretch along Quantico Creek to Lake Quantico Falls and the former Pyrite Mine, abandoned in 1920 after workers went on strike for a 50-cent raise. Apparently, they don’t like them unions in Prince William, either.

Fresh off of Fuego/Frio’s first foray into transcontinental media commentary, Erik and Ruth tackle the Politico, the Post, and People Magazine. This week, it’s all about pork-barrel spending, interior decorating, and a pregnant man who can bench-press 250 pounds.

Got a story you’d like to see discussed on the next Fuego/Frío? Let us know in the comments.

The National Park Service is taking its sweet, federal time making improvements at Lincoln Park, the largest and most popular park in Capitol Hill. First, in late October, NPS blocked half of it off with a chain-link fence and gave no warning or explanation. Then, when pressed by D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells’ office for information, officials even boasted a little bit: “The contract period is for 90 days, however, we anticipate the project taking less than half of that time.”

So, doing the math, the renovation should have been finished by Feb. 19 at the latest. Instead, half of the park remains closed as construction equipment sits idle. Until Tuesday, no work had happened for several weeks.

The feds have two excuses: “a contract modification due to changes with the base material” and the weather.

“When the temperature falls below 40 degrees you really can’t pour concrete,” says NPS spokeswoman Janet Braxton.

Advisory neighborhood commissioner Nick Alberti, whose district includes the northeast half of the park, thinks bad weather is a lame excuse.

“I’m stunned that they would schedule a repaving project during the 3 coldest months,” Alberti writes in an e-mail. “It was either very poor planning or disingenuous to assure us that the park would reopen by Feb 19th.”

Park Service facility manager Frank Young reports that all work should be finished by April 30.

A message posted last week on Cleveland Park’s Yahoo group:

We have a raccoon which frequently climbs to our 2nd story flat top roof. It is so brazen that it will watch through the skylight while we eat. It seems to think the roof is a private outdoor privy & deposits droppings. Any suggestions for a repellant? Does the city provide a trapping service? Any suggestions short of violence?

(Emphasis added.)

Not the first report we’ve seen of a voyeuristic raccoon. Can we call it a trend?

From a recent post to Takoma’s Yahoo! group:

I just saw a young deer in the yard next door (on Piney Branch between Dahlia and Blair), but he’s gone now. I imagine he came in from the alley off 7th Street. Looked like a young male (small, with antlers). Does one call somebody about a wandering deer after he has gone off?

I say let it slide. But what do you think? Anyone know what the protocol is on this one?