Next weeks episode of Beast Hunter

Next weeks episode is called "Sea Serpent of the North". This episode features a creature called Caddy the Sea Serpent in Vancouver, British Columbia. Heres the official description.

For generations, fishermen have told tales of sea monsters. One of the world's most legendary monsters is a sea serpent known as Cadborosaurus, or "Caddy," which has been reported off the coast of British Columbia for more than a century. But to science, it doesn't officially exist. Now Pat travels to Vancouver Island to track it down. He questions eyewitnesses, explores the myths of the coastal people who have occupied the area for more than 5,000 years and confers with top oceanographers.

'Beast Hunter' Pat Spain credits TV show with saving his life

Click here for the original source.

It sounds overly dramatic, particularly for a scientist, but Pat Spain of National Geographic's "The Beast Hunter," says, "I have been saying that show saved my life."

He called Zap2it first to explain what happened and urged people to be advocates for their own health.

"The Beast Hunter" which launched last week, had Spain searching for the ape man in Sumatra. Turns out he found much more in the remote Indonesian island, where he climbed mountains, hiked through jungles and rowed across a murky lake, in a volcano.

"I was soaking wet for almost two weeks," Spain says. "I started getting trench foot and was covered in leeches."

He's not complaining as much as explaining. Then he got really sick with a stomach bug and was in violent pain -- in the middle of nowhere.

"Because of that, when I got back figured I would go to the doctor to get checked out," he says.

Spain, 30, eats organic, locally grown food, works out daily and neither smokes nor drinks. He was diagnosed with colon cancer, and has since had complications because of the surgery.

Unaware that March is Color Cancer Awareness, Spain urges people to talk to their doctors and get tested.

His message: "Absolutely early prevention. It is such a preventable cancer. You can have it removed as a polyp before it ever develops into a cancer. So if anybody is experiencing anything GI -- anything -- don't ignore it, and be your own advocate when you go to the doctor."

The first two episodes aired last Friday and tonight the third is scheduled.

Spain has more surgery, due to complications from the first, but is anxious to get back to his adventures.

"This show was obviously one of the greatest things that ever happened to me," he says. "I never imagined it would actually, in reality, save my life."

Pat Spain on Twitter and Facebook

Pat Spain has been posting updates on both Twitter and Facebook. Follow him today!

Pat Spain - Twitter
Pat Spain - Facebook

Interview with Pat Spain - Weirld.com

Pat Spain answers questions about the show in the Weirld.com interview.

Looking a bit like Justin Timberlake with an easy grin and an enthusiasm that’s infectious, Pat Spain is a wildlife scientist with a special interest in crypto-zoological creatures, ones that may or may not exist, and he’s traveled the globe to investigate them for the new National Geographic Channel series Beast Hunter, premiering Mar. 4. Having grown up the middle of three kids in Wynantskill, New York and earned his Bachelor of Science from Suffolk University in Boston, Spain created a Web series called Nature Calls in 2005, which ultimately put him on Nat Geo’s radar. “I’m so excited to be doing this and it means a lot that other people are getting interested in it too,” he says. He had a lot more to say in the following conversation.

How does your show differ from others, such as History Channel’s Monster Quest?
I feel like a lot of these shows rely on the ‘we just don’t know’ factor, quick camera turns and ‘what was that?’ Blair Witch style stuff. It’s a quest for an animal without doing the upfront work. I’m not saying it specifically about Monster Quest but a lot of these shows really bother me, like when it’s a diurnal animal and they go out with night vision cameras, looking for it at night. And they don’t call it by the correct regional name. What’s different about our show is that we’re doing an initial reconnaissance mission. We’re saying. ‘Should science look closer at this creature? Is there real evidence that this is there?’ On the investigations we were doing, if we stumbled across something it would be great but we didn’t go out there with collecting kits. This is more about learning the plausibility of this creature.

Read the full interview here.

Wearing a Glove of Venomous Ants

Clip from "Beast Hunter: Nightmare in the Amazon" when Pat Spain sticks his hand into a glove of bullet ants.

'Beast Hunter' Pat Spain talks creature conservation

Pat Spain shares a little about his life and the upcoming series.

Read the full article at http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/beast-hunter-pat-spain-talks-creature-conservation.

New Nat Geo show host, Pat Spain, works hard to share his passion for animals.

"Eating local and organic is a huge thing for me," says wildlife scientist Pat Spain, host of National Geographic Channel's new series "Beast Hunter," and an avid supporter of marine life and animal conservation groups like the World Wildlife Fund. As a crypto-zoologist specializing in strange creatures that just may be real rather than mythical, he's especially interested in what you might call monster conservation. "An area, a massive reserve, was just dedicated in the Himalayas for the Yeti," he points out. "Crypto-zoology benefits biology in ways that I think a lot of people don't realize. One of the main aspects of getting an animal named and in the public eye is it could lead to more conservation."

Pat Spain's Memoir on Charles Fort

My Great Uncle Charles Fort
By Pat Spain


It's interesting. I didn't know Charles Fort was my relative until long after I had developed a love for the unknown and for science in general. It's almost like it was in my DNA.

My parents tell stories about me collecting bees while I was still in diapers despite getting stung over and over, or bringing me to the New England Aquarium and having to physically move me from exhibit to exhibit because I would stand at one all day. Once I discovered Fort was my great uncle, I wanted to know everything about him. I re-read his works (having read bits of them before this revelation) and found I was most impressed with his sense of awe for the world; he marveled at the mysteries of it and encouraged everyone to do the same. Fort never let ridicule or concern about what others would think stand in the way of something that he loved.

Jim Steinmeyer, Fort's biographer, summed up my feelings on Fort and my hopes to continue his legacy incredibly well in a letter to me a year ago: "There's always a place for us to be intrigued, mystified, and fascinated by the world that surrounds us. It's a genuine emotion that deserves to be celebrated. It can be done responsibly, and scientifically, and with a real sense of fun. It's something that Fort did, with his limited education and experience, and I hope that you're able to continue that tradition, in your own way and with your own expertise." I try to live up to that on every shoot.

Einstein said, "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed."

Pat Spain's Journal

Beast Hunter host, Pat Spain, discusses filming part of the show.

FILMING THE OPENING SEQUENCE
New York, NY
Filming in NYC was so different! It was strange being on camera in front of people…I know that’s a weird statement, but it was distracting and strange. We did a shot I've always wanted to do... the shot everyone has to do in NYC... me standing still, in Times Square, for 5 mins while the world moves around me…so much fun! People didn't know what to make of it. Lots of stares and people talking to me and funny expressions. It was really cool. Also scared the crap out of 4 cabbies when I asked them to drive me 1 block and drop me off near the camera crew. Hahhaha. They were TERRIFIED... but all did it for $5…I should have gotten it in 1 take, but it took me 4…of course.

Ate at Meatball... delicious!

The New York Public Library was gorgeous and massive! The room we were allowed in was like heaven to me…so many old, rare books. They had a Guttenburg Bible! Original notes from Salinger and Darwin, etc. I could spend a week in that room. Holding Charles Fort’s notes in my hand was surreal. I’ve seen his handwriting on various things from my Grandmother, and I recognized it immediately (it’s messy and somewhat similar to mine), but to see his actual notes…wow. He wrote down so many random thoughts that my father began referring to the notes as "Twitter from the 1900s." His research was so thorough, each story he clipped had numerous follow-up articles, and letters he wrote to the authors, if he received a response, etc. Found a lot on sea-serpents, which was very exciting. Seems he did have an interest in them more than his works (other than Lo!) let on.


Boston, MA

Having the crew in Boston was so much fun! I loved getting to show them around my town. Being that they are British, I kept pointing out all of the revolutionary landmarks and teased them about the Freedom trail. It was great to be able to bring them to some of my favorite spots and show them my normal life...hopefully, filming will soon become “normal”.

Filming at the MCZ [Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University] was surreal also. It’s a place I’ve loved since 1998 when I first started going there for research projects, a place that really spoke to me about the history of my field. It’s kind of a hidden jewel in Boston, not many people know the incredible collection housed there. Being there before it opened to the public was a real treat…having access to rooms and areas not open to the public made me feel like a kid in a candy shop. I wanted to see it all!

The shoot turned into a much longer day than any of us expected, but it was a lot of fun sharing one of my favourite places with the crew. It was also great having Dom, my camera-man from "Nature Calls" and one of my closest friends with us as a photographer. He got some really cool shots!

I was terrified to hold the Savage skull (the actual holotype gorilla skull Savage brought back from Africa to describe the species!). I was more scared to hold that than I am holding a venomous snake. Its historical and scientific significance make it priceless... and I was able to HOLD IT! Crazy. Being a nature show host brings some incredible perks.

Having them at Genzyme was the icing. Being able to show the labs, where I have spent so much of my life, and explain concepts and equipment to a group of people who have seen so much...but never anything like what I was showing them, was really exciting! It’s easy for me to take things like the Sterility Workstation Isolators for granted, because I practically lived in them, but to see the reactions to this group of people unfazed by charging elephants, yet amazed by a CLIMET was really something. Also, it was probably the most fun I have ever had in that building. Sometimes, it’s great to take a step back from Genzyme in order to really appreciate what an amazing place it is and how important the work we do there is to the patients. Explaining what it is we do to new people really helps drive that home for me, it makes me appreciate it all over again.

Beast Hunter Nat Geo TV ad on YouTube

Beast Hunter, the new intriguing series from the National Geographic Channel, follows host Pat Spain as he tries to uncover the world's most mystifying creatures.

Who was Charles Fort

Beast Hunter Host Pat Spain mentions that Charles Fort is his great Uncle. But who really is this interesting man? Patrick J. Kiger gives us some insight in this article.

Charles Fort, Chronicler of the Unexplained

At Charles Fort's funeral in May 1932 in New York, renowned novelist Theodore Dreiser gave the eulogy address, in which he called his friend and author "one of the greatest minds the world has ever known," and predicted that future generations would pay tribute to Fort. Only six other mourners showed up to listen to those words of praise.

It could be that Fort, whose United Press obituary described him as "the indomitable iconoclast who flung his darts at the dogmatism of science," had antagonized too many people with his writings, which questioned near-sacred assumptions and pointed out phenomena that could not be reconciled to existing scientific laws and theories — UFOs, ghosts, spontaneous human combustion, stigmata, people with psychic abilities, and the like. It could be that some of Fort's own notions — he once famously argued that the Moon was only 39 miles away from the Earth — were so outré that most saw him as either a satirist or delusionary.

Or it could be that, like many other prophets and visionaries, Fort simply was a bit too far ahead of his time.

It's easy to imagine that if Fort were alive today, the author of four provocative nonfiction books — Book of the Damned, Lo, New Lands, and Wild Talents — might have his own coast-to-coast A.M. radio program similar to Art Bell's, or that his musings about strange and troubling occurrences might inspire a hit TV series along the lines of Fringe or X-Files. His startling, unsettling collection of facts might have made him a huge hit on Twitter.

All the same, Fort introduced the world to speculations about matters such as alien abductions, and his influence is still strongly felt today, in everything from the continuing scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence, to the vast legions of un-credentialed, self-taught researchers who gather data on bleeding statues of Mary, alleged sightings of strange creatures, and alternative explanations for world events. Writer Jim Steinmeyer subtitled his 2008 biography of Fort "the man who invented the supernatural."

In the style of Fort himself, here is a collection of facts: Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, NY, the oldest child of a grocer whose reportedly harsh parental discipline may have helped instill in Fort a strong distrust of authority and the status quo. As a youth, he didn't distinguish himself in the classroom, preferring instead to collect minerals and sea shells and follow his own intellectual serendipity in public libraries. At 18, he left home and traveled widely, from the western U.S. to South Africa, married a woman who raised parakeets, worked as a newspaperman and held assorted odd jobs as he struggled to make his name as a novelist. In 1916, when he was 42, Fort had a stroke of luck; his uncle left him an inheritance, which supported him so that he could write fulltime.

Fort's speculative fiction, however, was a bit too unsettling and non-commercial for his time. One of his unpublished novels, simply entitled X, envisioned a reality in which Martians secretly controlled events on Earth, while another, Y, focused on a sinister civilization based at the South Pole.

But his writing caught the attention of Dreiser, who helped Fort to publish a nonfiction work, The Book of the Damned, in 1919. As Fort explained on the first page:

By the damned, I mean the excluded. We shall have a procession of data that Science has excluded. Battalions of the accursed, captained by pallid data that I have exhumed, will march.


What follows is a vitriolic, rambling attack on established science, bolstered with bizarre happenings that Fort amassed in countless hours of perusing books, magazines and newspapers at the New York Public Library. Fort was particularly fascinated with strange objects that fell from the sky — he cites, among other things, torrents of small fish and frogs in England and France, snowflakes 15-inches across that supposedly startled Montanans in 1887, bucketfuls of a strange yellow muck that fell from the sky in the various locations around the globe in the 1870s, and "flakes of a substance that looked like beef" that descended upon Bath County, Kentucky on March 3, 1876.

After noting orthodox science's inability to explain such phenomena, Fort offered his own theory — the existence of a region in the atmosphere, a sort of aerial "Super-Sargasso Sea," which held the planet's flotsam and jetsam with some sort of magnetic force until the items were shaken free by storms.

The Book of the Damned and Fort's subsequent works attracted a modest but fervent following, many of whom corresponded with the author and took to conducting paranormal research of their own. But as he enjoyed a belated measure of success, Fort's health began to worsen — in part, perhaps, because of his distrust of medicine and reluctance to seek treatment. Shortly after he delivered his final book to the publisher in 1932, he collapsed and was rushed to a hospital in the Bronx, where he died.

Though Fort avoided joining groups himself, since his death several institutions — including the Charles Fort Institute and the International Fortean Organization — have arisen to continue the examination of puzzling phenomena. Such items and events are often referred to as Fortean, in remembrance of the unconventional seer who led us to consider them.

Nat Geo's new series: Beast Hunter on March 4th

A new series is starting on The National Geographic Channel(Nat Geo) called Beast Hunter. The show is set to begin on March 4th, 2011 at 9pm/8c, showing its first two episodes. Beast Hunter is hosted by Pat Spain, a biologist and explorer who travels the globe in search of mythical creatures, immersing himself amongst the tribes, people and cultures on his quest to find the truth between fact and fiction. In the show Pat will search for biazarre creatures and cryptids. Creatures include the Orang Pendek, Mapinguari, Mokele Mbembe, Caddy the Sea Serpent, and Mongolian Death Worm.

The first episode includes the Orang Pendek and is titled "Man Ape of Sumatra"

In the vast jungles of mystical Sumatra, locals have reported seeing a creature that looks something like an ape, yet it walks just like us. They've named it "Orang Pendek" - the little man of the forest. A recent scientific discovery proposes that another species of humans - nicknamed 'hobbits' - did once live in Indonesia. So could there be a new great ape waiting to be discovered? Or is it possible we're not the only human species living on earth? Biologist and beast hunter Pat Spain investigates.