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The Rake

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The Rake. Photo: The Culture Crush

Sightings of a creature known as the Rake have been reported as far back as the 1600s but gained more notoriety as a creepypasta on the internet. What is the truth about the Rake and what is just internet legend?

The Legend of the Rake

The first account of the Rake was found in a mariner’s log written from 1691. A group of settlers had recently arrived in America after immigrating from Europe. Just a few weeks after arriving at their new home the group began to be tormented by a large white creature that seemed to be like a naked man running on all fours. The dubbed the creature The Rake due to its huge claws which resembled a rake.

One of the men wrote in his log that the Rake took everything from them and demanded they return to where they came from. The men were so terrified that they returned to Europe.

Another account written in a Spanish journal entry from the 1800’s described a lanky, white creature running on all fours with hollow black eyes and rake like claws. An excerpt reads:

“I have experienced the greatest terror. I have experienced the greatest terror. I have experienced the greatest terror. I see his eyes when I close mine. They are hollow. Black. They saw me and pierced me. His wet hand. I will not sleep.”

Is the Rake real?

The Rake allegedly captured in a trail cam. Photo: The Culture Crush

If we dig a bit deeper into the legend of the Rake we find that the legend was concocted in the depths of 4chan. A group of writers came together to create a legend that sounded real and it eventually became a meme.

The stranger element to this story is the real life sightings that followed. After the story circulated online in the early 2000’s people began to report their real life sightings of the Rake.

Users on Reddit’s r/humanoidencounters have reported numerous encounters with the Rake. One user wrote:

“I woke up at 3 am to the feeling of something watching me. I felt extremely uneasy. I rolled over to look around the room and my eyes locked onto something standing beside my mom. It was extremely tall but looked as if it had a broken back and couldn’t stand up completely. It was slouched over and had extremely pale skin and bones sticking out under the skin everywhere due to how skinny it was. It had long claws hanging from both hands. It’s face was sunken in and eyes were completely black holes. A few greasy hairs were visible on its head. It had no clothes but also no genitals or nipples.”

Another user was falling asleep on the couch when they heard weird slapping sounds. They wrote:

“I hid my head under the blanket and stayed as still as possible. I could see a faint silhouette through the fabric. It looked like a hairless dog with a warped body with long, distorted arms. The creature walked across the floor and crawled out of sight. I could only assume that it had gone up the steps. I didn’t sleep at all. I held still and refused to allow myself to move until dawn. My mother had come down the steps confused and a bit aggravated. She had asked me to come upstairs and look at the wall. The walls had been covered with long scratches. The distance between the marks was large. The hands must have been at least six inches wide. We moved within the following weeks and it wasn’t until four years ago that I heard of the Rake.”

Theories about the Rake

A video debunking the Rake

Even though the Rake itself is a fictional story people around the world have reported encountering a similar creature. What could this mean?

There has always been a creature out there that resembles the Rake from the creepypasta and it now has a name that can be used to draw sightings of it together.

The Rake has become a Tulpa. The fact that so many people believe the Rake to be a real creature has caused it to become real, at least to the people who witness it.

People are misidentifying natural things like large dogs with mange or crazy naked people as the Rake.

They’re making it up. This is always a possibility when dealing with the paranormal.

What do you think about the Rake? Is it 100% fiction or is there something more to the legend?

If you enjoyed this article you may also be interested in the giant mutant spider of Chernobyl or the curious story of the Loveland Frogman.

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Cryptids

Nandi Bear: A Ferocious African Cryptid

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An artist’s interpretation of the Nandi Bear. Photo: Cryptid Archives.

The Nandi Bear is a ferocious cryptid spotted in the highlands of Kenya during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Description of the Nandi Bear

A footprint of a Nandibear

The Nandi Bear is also known as the Chemosit, Kerit, Koddoelo, Ngoloko, or Duba. It has been described as as a carnivorous animal with a formidable build, possessing long legs exceeding a height of four feet, and a back that slopes downward. It is described as being highly aggressive in nature.

Nandi Bear Sightings

A drawing of a Nandi Bear encounter by A. McWilliams

A number of early 20th century authors mention the Nandi Bear in their work.

Richard Meinertzhagen claimed in 1905 that he was told by the Nandi people that the Nandi bear was once widespread when they first settled in the highlands of present-day Kenya, around the early 17th century.

The Nandi people believed that the rinderpest epidemic towards the end of the 19th century pushed the Nandi bear to the brink of extinction. Although the Nandi bear was never numerous, it was not uncommon prior to the epidemic.

Unfortunately, the population never fully recovered from the impact of the outbreak. During the colonial era, the Nandi bear was held responsible for the deaths of numerous native people, whose skulls were found crushed every year.

While the Nandi Bear was widely feared by the native population, it does not appear to have been known to Europeans or colonial officials until the beginning of the 20th century.

Prior to 1912, the Nandi reportedly killed a Nandi Bear after it climbed onto the roof of a hut, broke through, and killed everyone inside. Subsequently, the village inhabitants burned down the hut with the animal still inside. Geoffrey Williams had heard of a similar animal’s preserved skin in Kabras, but was unsuccessful in obtaining it.

There were rumors that a Boer had shot a Nandi bear, but was unable to retrieve the carcass. C. W. Hobley wrote of this story.

Similarly, a farmer from Uganda named K. R. Williams supposedly unintentionally poisoned a young Nandi bear while setting out bait for hyenas.

Williams described the animal as being much larger than a spotted hyena, with the same yellowish fur, and a head similar to that of a bear. However, when he returned to his camp to retrieve a knife for skinning the carcass, actual hyenas had dragged the Nandi bear’s body away.

In 1905, while on the Nandi Expedition to the Uasin Gishu in western British East Africa, Geoffrey Williams wrote of his experiences with the Nandi Bear.

He observed an animal of around 5 feet in height sitting upright like a zoo bear, with small pointed ears and a long head, about 30 yards away.

The creature then ran away with a sideways canter towards the Sirgoit Rock. Williams quickly took a snapshot of the animal with his rifle, but missed it.

He claimed the Nandi bear was larger than a typical zoo bear and heavily built, with thick fur covering its forequarters and all four legs. The hindquarters were relatively smooth, and the color was dark.

Williams could not recall much about the ears, but mentioned that they were small, and the tail, if any, was tiny and barely noticeable.

Engineer Dennis Burnett and his wife Marlene reported the most recent documented sighting of the Nandi bear in February 1998.

While driving along the Koru-Kisumu road near the base of the Nandi Escarpment during a rainy evening, they saw a large animal crossing the road.

Upon reversing their car, the couple observed the animal for about fifteen seconds. Although they initially thought it was a bear, they soon realized that it was “an enormous, shaggy hyena – resembling a Striped Hyena but significantly larger.”

Theories about the Nandi Bear

Bob Gymlan of Bigfoot hunting fame has posted a detailed video telling the history of the Nandi Bear.

In 1923, Charles William Andrews proposed that the Nandi bear might be a surviving species of the extinct Chalicothere. Louis Leakey later suggested in the 1930s that the Nandi Bear’s descriptions matched those of the Chalicothere, despite chalicotheres being herbivores.

The Chalicothere hypothesis was eventually abandoned. In 2000, paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs stated that if Chalicotheres still existed, they would have been discovered, much like the giant forest hog. Jacobs concluded that if there was any truth to the Nandi bear story, it could be a description of gorillas passed down orally across the continent.

Zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock argued that the Nandi bear sightings were actually misidentified spotted hyenas. The British Natural History Museum also stated in 1932 that many reports of the Nandi bear were nothing more than spotted hyenas.

Paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson claimed that the Nandi bear turned out to be honey badgers, which zoologists had been aware of since 1776.

Have you ever seen a Nandi Bear? Let us know in the comments.

If you enjoyed learning about the Nandi Bear you might also be interested in the J’Ba Fofi: A Giant Congolese Spider Cryptid or the Tikoloshe, a South African Cryptid.

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Cryptids

Squonk: The Saddest Cryptid

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The Squonk as featured in Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods by William Cox. Photo: Wikipedia

The Squonk is said to be the ugliest creature in the world. It is so ashamed of its appearance that it will hide from anyone who approaches and, if caught, it will dissolve into a puddle of tears.

The Legend of the Squonk

The rock band Genesis wrote a popular song about the Squonk

The first mention of the squonk in written history is in William Cox’s 1910 book “Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts.”

Cox describes the as the ugliest animal in the world and claims it is aware of its unfortunate appearance.

Cox claims that the squonk used to have a wide distribution and preferred habitats with plenty of desert vegetation on high plains. As these areas changed into swampy, lake-dotted regions, the squonk was forced to adapt to the water.

Due to its low intelligence, the squonk constantly searched for food by swimming in the marshes, and over time developed webbing between its toes, but only on its left feet that were submerged in water. As a result, it could only swim in circles and could never return to shore, leading to thousands of squonks dying from starvation, as evidenced by fossil bones found in the lake bottoms.

Cox also claimed that the squonk can only be found in the hemlock forests of Pennsylvania. It is said to be shy and reclusive, and can be seen mostly during twilight hours.

It is covered in a loose and warty skin that doesn’t fit properly. The squonk is known to be perpetually unhappy and often weeps due to its distressing appearance, leaving a trail of tears that can be followed.

The best time to search for a squonk is during moonlit nights, as it tends to stay hidden in its hemlock dwelling, afraid to catch a glimpse of itself in a reflective pool.

Sometimes, the sound of a softly weeping squonk can be heard, which sounds like a mournful call resembling that of the cross-feathered snee.

A Mr. J.P. Wentling had a disappointing experience with a squonk near Mont Alto. He captured the squonk by mimicking its crying sounds and tricking it into hopping into a sack. As he carried it home the sack suddenly became much lighter. Wentling unslung the sack and looked in. He found that the squonk had dissolved into tears and bubbles.

Squonk Meme

A variation of the squonk meme that has become popular in recent times.

The squonk has become a meme in recent times, with many internet users feeling like they can relate to the poor little creature. The squonk has even featured in one of our paranormal meme dumps.

Have you ever seen a poor little squonk in the wild? Let us know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this article you might also be interested in the story of the kushtaka or the Central American Whintosser.

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