Varmints: Rich Resource!
Posted by: Loren Coleman on June 30th, 2010
Varmints: Rich Resource!
Highly Recommended by Loren Coleman
Who would have thought that cryptozoological bibliographical researcher Chad Arment (above) would gather more resources and do a bigger book on the cryptid carnivores of North America than he would produce on his beloved herps (see Boss Snakes: Stories and Sightings of Giant Snakes in North America)?
Who could imagine that the archives would hold richer material than Arment found on old Sasquatch accounts (see The Historical Bigfoot)?
Chad Arment’s latest survey of North American mystery animals is currently available from Coachwhip Publications, via online booksellers. Varmints: Mystery Carnivores of North America (ISBN 1-61646-019-9) is easy enough to obtain, and certainly worth the price of $29.95 US.
For those that wish to be surprised, pick up his latest book.
It is full of raw material for you to digest for weeks and months. Varmints is an absolute must for anyone seriously interested in mystery cats, phantom panthers, melanistic wonders, cryptic canids, mystery bears, and other unknown carnivores in North America. The wide range of mystery carnivores covered for North America, includes strange felines (black, striped, spotted, maned, or brindle), hyena-like animals, oversized polar bears, miniature grizzlies, huge white wolves, and more. It is an ultimate resource book for the mammalian specialists in North American cryptozoology. There is more than enough material here to keep both the beginning cryptozoology enthusiast and the seasoned researcher pondering for some time.
Let me describe some other things about this volume that I found worthing of noting.
First is a large book. You truly are getting the fruits of Arment’s labor with this tome. At almost 700 pages, it is a superb volume resulting from his archival research, detailing 600 cases for almost two and a half centuries, from 1770 to 2010, via 470 references and sources.
The text is supported with 66 black and white illustrations.
For research by state and province in North America, investigators will find this is a terrific resource. Each state/province serves as your guidepost, with the cases individually organized under those locations and then chronologically surveyed through the years across various kinds of “varmints.”
Research by species, and the cross-variable tabulation of same (such as comparing “black panthers” with “tan mystery cats”), is a bit more difficult. This book, unfortunately, does not have an index. I am an advocate of the fact that a good index in a good book like this makes it all the greater as a research tool. I am hopeful that a future edition of Arment’s book will add an index. Although I completely understand they are difficult to create, this excellent book would be a masterpiece with a comprehensive index.
That one minor shortcoming aside, Arment has done a wonderful job assembling this resource.
Varmints: Mystery Carnivores of North America is highly recommended for anyone truly interested in the most widespread of the natural history unknowns remaining in North American cryptozoology.
For those that understand that Bigfoot is not what most people see unidentified in the forests and backwoods of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, this is the book for you.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
My only problem with Varmints is that it isn’t in hardbound. Flimsy cover aside, this is a must book for any cryptozoology buff.
I can’t say anymore.
Personally, I was disappointed in Chad’s previous work, “Boss Snakes” which is essentially a compilation of North American newspaper articles and folklore about reports of unusual N. A. snakes. Not much more.
No so “Varmints.” Aside from an almost staggering number of reports, this is additionally, a field guide to all the mammal carnivores, native or exotic, that anyone might expect to encounter in N.A. Chad even offers some opinions which is long overdue, imho. In no way is this a typical cryptozoology book and I would suspect, “Varmints” would appeal to anyone interested in N.A. mammal carnivores.
Money well spent!
Thanks Chad. Excellent work.
I have now ordered the book and I will be patiently awaiting it’s arrival. I hope it lives up to the generous hype my fellow researchers have promised.