Friday, December 3, 2010

Creature Feature: The Ahool



Is it  bird? A Plane? Nope, it’s just an Ahool.

Some of you may be wondering just what an Ahool is. It’s one of the less common cryptids, and generally thought to be a giant bat spotted throughout Java. It has grey fur, large claws and loves to snack on fish it catches in local rivers. Its name comes from the sound it makes and most locals really believe it exists.

It’s not terribly far fetched for people to be spotting giant flying creatures above them. Several large birds, including large owls, live in Java. It’s easy to misidentify something spotted above you. Estimating distances from the ground is no easy task. Add a dark night and a scary sound and you have yourself a legend.

And, just maybe, there really is a large bat hanging around. It wouldn’t be the first surprise nature has thrown at us. Real or not, the Ahool has people watching the skies, searching for something unknown.




Coleman, Loren and Clark, Jerome. Crypto-zoology A to Z. The Encyclopedia of Loch Ness Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature. New York. Fireside. 1999

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