Mongolian Death Worm

TODAY I AM GOING TO WRITE ABOUT THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM, I HOPE THAT YOU WILL LIKE THIS POST. SO LETS BEGIN ON THIS POST. THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM (MONGOLIAN:-OLGOI-KHORKHOI, "LARGE INTESTINE WORM") IS AN ALLEGED CREATURE REPORTED TO EXIST IN THE GOBI DESERT. IT IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED A CRYPTID: AN ANIMAL WHOSE SIGHTINGS AND REPORTS ARE DISPUTED OR UNCONFIRMED. IT IS DESCRIBED AS A BRIGHT RED WORM WITH A WIDE BODY THAT IS 2 TO 5 FEET (0.6 TO 1.5 M) LONG. THE WORM IS THE SUBJECT OF A NUMBER OF CLAIMS BY MONGOLIAN LOCALS - SUCH AS THE ABILITY OF THE WORM TO SPEW FORTH AN ACID THAT, ON CONTACT, WILL TURN ANYTHING IT TOUCHES YELLOW AND CORRODED (AND WHICH WOULD KILL A HUMAN), AS WELL AS ITS REPORTED ABILITY TO KILL AT A DISTANCE BY MEANS OF ELECTRIC DISCHARGE. THOUGH NATIVES OF THE GOBI HAVE LONG TOLD TALES OF THE OLGOI-KHORKHOI, THE CREATURE FIRST CAME TO WESTERN ATTENTION AS A RESULT OF PROFESSOR ROY CHAPMAN ANDREW;S 1926 ON THE TRAIL OF ANCIENT MAN. THE US PALEONTOLOGIST WAS NOT CONVINCED BY THE TALES OF THE MONSTER THAT HE HEARD AT A FATHERING OF MONGOLIAN OFFICIALS: "NONE OF THOSE PRESENT EVER HAD THE CREATURE, BUT THEY ALL FIRMLY BELIEVED IN ITS EXISTENCE AND DESCRIBED IT MINUTELY." THE WORMS ARE PURPORTEDLY BETWEEN 2 AND 5 FEET (0.6 AND 1.5 M) LONG, AND THICK BODIED. IN HIS BOOK "ON THE TRAIL OF ANCIENT MAN" (1926) ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS (AN AMERICAN EXPLORER, ADVENTURER AND NATURALIST WHO BECAME THE DIRECTOR OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY) CITIES MONGOLIAN PRIME MINISTER DAMBINBAZAR WHO IN1922 DESCRIBED THE WORM ALLERGORHAI-HORHAI: "IT IS SHAPED LIKE A SAUSAGE ABOUT TWO FEET LONG, HAS NO HEAD NOR LEG AND IT IS SO POISONOUS THAT MERELY TO TOUCH IT MEANS INSTANT DEATH. IT LIVES IN THE MOST DESOLATE PARTS OF THE GOBI DESERT..." IN 1932 ANDREWS PUBLISHED THIS INFORMATION AGAIN IN THE BOOK "THE NEW CONQUEST OF CENTRAL ASIA" ADDING: "IT IS REPORTED TO LIVE IN THE MOST ARID, SANDY REGIONS OF THE WESTERN GOBI." ANDREWS DIDN'T BELIEVE THAT THE ANIMAL WAS REAL. CZECH CRYPTOZOOLOGIST IVAN MACKERLE IN HIS BOOK "MONGOLSKZ HADY" (2001) DESCRIBED THE ANIMAL FROM SECOND-HAND REPORTS AS A SAUSAGE-LIKE WORM OVER HALF A METER (20 INCHES) LONG, AND THICK AS A MAN'S ARM, RESEMBLING THE INTESTINE OF CATTLE. ITS SKIN SERVES AS AN EXOSKELETON, MOLTING WHENEVER HURT. ITS TAIL IS SHORT, "AS IF IT WERE CUT OFF, BUT NOT TAPERED. IT IS DIFFICULT TO TELL ITS HEAD FROM ITS TAIL BECAUSE IT HAS NO VISIBLE EYES, NOSTRILS OR MOUTH. ITS COLOUR IS DARK RED, LIKE BLOOD OR SALAMI..." THE WORM IS SAID TO INHABIT THE SOUTHERN GOBI DESERT. THE MONGOLIAN SAY THAT THE OLGOI-KHORKHOI CAN KILL AT A DISTANCE, EITHER BY SPRAYING A VENOM AT ITS PREY OR BY MEAN OF ELECTRIC DISCHARGE. THEY SAY THAT THE WORM LIVES UNDERGROUND, HIBERNATING MOST OF THE YEAR EXCEPT FOR WHEN IT BECOMES ACTIVE IN JUNE AND JULY. IT IS REPORTED THAT THIS ANIMAL IS MOSTLY SEEN ON THE SURFACE WHEN IT RAINS AND THE GROUND IS WET. THE MONGOLIANS ALSO BELIEVE THAT TOUCHING ANY PART OF THE WORM WILL CAUSE INSTANT DEATH OR TREMENDOUS PAIN. IT HAS BEEN TOLD THAT THE WORM FREQUENTLY PREYED ON CAMELS AND LAID EGGS IN ITS INTESTINES, AND EVENTUALLY ACQUIRED THE TRAIT IF ITS RED-LIKE SKIN. ITS VENOM SUPPOSEDLY CORRODES METAL AND LOCALS FOLKLORE TELLS OF A PREDILECTION FOR THE COLOR YELLOW. THE WORM IS ALSO SAID TO HAVE A PREFERENCE FOR LOCAL PARASITIC PLANTS AS THE GOYO. BRITISH ZOOLOGIST KARL SHUKER BROUGHT THE ANIMAL BACK TO THE GENERAL ATTENTION OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PUBLIC IN HIS 1996 BOOK THE UNEXPLAINED, FOLLOWED A YEAR LATER BY HIS FORTEAN STUDIES PAPER ON THIS SUBJECT, WHICH WAS REPRINTED IN THE BEASTS THAT HIDE FROM MAN IN WHICH IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT THE DEATH WORM WAS AMPHISBAENID. LOREN CLOEMAN INCLUDED THIS ANIMAL IN CRYPTOZOOLOGY A TO Z. A JOINT EXPEDITION IN 2005 BY THE CENTRE FOR FORTEAN ZOOLOGY AND E-MONGOL INVESTIGATED NEW REPORTS AND SIGHTING OF THE CREATURE. THEY FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF ITS EXISTENCE, BUT COULD NOT RULE OUT THAT IT MIGHT LIVE DEEP IN THE GOBI DESERT ALONG THE PROHIBITED AREAS OF THE MONGOLIAN-CHINESE BORDER. IN 2005, ZOOLOGIST JOURNALIST RICHARD FREEMAN MOUNTED AN EXPEDITION TO HUNT FOR THE DEATH WORM BUT CAME UP EMPTY-HANDED. FREEMAN'S CONCLUSION WAS THAT THE TALES OF THE WORM HAD TO BE APOCRYPHAL, AND THAT REPORTED SIGHTINGS LIKELY INVOLVED NON-POISONOUS BURROWING REPTILES. REALITY-TELEVISION SERIES, DESTINATION TRUTH CONDUCTED AN EXPEDITION IN 2006-2007. A NEW ZEALAND TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER, DAVID FARRIER OF TV3 NEWS, TOOK PART IN AN EXPEDITION IN AUGUST 2009 BUT CAME UP EMPTY-HANDED AS WELL. HE CONDUCTED INTERVIEWS WITH LOCALS CLAIMING TO HAVE SEEN THE WORM AND MENTIONED ON HIS WEBSITE THAT THE SIGHTINGS PEAKED IN THE 1950S. THE SERIES BEAST HUNTER, HOSTED BY PAT SPAIN ON THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL, FEATURED AN EPISODE ON THE DISPUTED EXISTENCE OF THE CREATURE AS WELL. THE WORM'S FIRST LITERARY APPEARANCE WAS IN THE SHORT STORY "OLOGOI-KHORKHOI" BY IVAN YEFREMOV (1942-1943) BASED ON DESCRIPTION OF PROF. ANDREWS AND MONGOLIAN LOCALS. THE SHORT STORY'S FIRST EDITION WAS CALLED ALLERGORHAIL-HORHAI, BUT LATER, AFTER YEFREMOV'S VISIT TO MONGOLIA, HE CHANGED THE NAME TO THE ORIGINAL MOMGOLIAN SPELLING "OLGOI-KHORKHOI" J.R.R. TOLEKIEN'S BOOK THE HOBBIT (1937) PROVIDES AN EARLIER BUT FLEETING REFERENCE, NAMELY THE PERILOUS "WILDWERE-WORMS IN THE LAST DESERT." IN THE EARLY DRAFTS OF THE BOOK (1930-1932) TOLKIEN HAD SPECIFICALLY ASSOCIATED THE WERE-WORMS WITH "THE GREAT DESERT OF GOBI" AS NOTED BY JOHN D. RATELIFF IN THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT. IN 1990, THE FILM TREMORS FEATURES A WORM-LIKE CREATURE, WHICH ATTACKS ANIMALS AND HUMANS ALIKE. THE WORM, KNOWN AS A GRABOID, IS BASED ON THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM AND APPEARS IN ALL 4 INSTALLMENT OF THE TREMORS FRANCHISE. THE WORM IS SUBJECT OF A VECTOR 13 STORY IN THE BIRTISH ANTHOLOGY COMIC 2000 AD. IN 2009, THE SHORT-FICTION PODCAST THE DRABBLECAST PRESENTED A HUMOROUS, MULTI-PART AUDIO STORY CALLED "IN SEARCH OF THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM." THE ANIME SERIES GUIN SAGA HAS SEVERAL INCIDENTS WHERE AN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE FROM "MONGHOL" IS ATTACKED BY A GIANT RED WORM WITH A CORROSIVE TOUCH. IN THE TV SHOW THE SECRET SATURDAYS, THE MAIN VILLAIN, V.V. ARGOST, USES MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM VENOM IN MANY EPISODES. IN THE NICKELODEONTV SHOW THE TROOP, THE PILOT EPISODE "DO THE WORM" IS ABOUT MONGOLIAN DEATH WORMS ATTACKING THE SENIOR DANCE. A FILM, MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM, WAS RELEASED BY THE SYFY NETWORK ON MAY 8, 2010. IT STARTS SEAN PATRICK FLANERY AS A TREASURE HUNTER WHO GETS CAUGHT UP IN ADVENTURES AND ENCOUNTERS NUMEROUS EXAMPLES OF THE DEADLY CREATURES. ANIMAL PLANET HAD PRODUCED A DOCUDRAMA SHOW TITLED "LOST TAPES." IN SEASON 1, EPISODE 13 (FIRST AIRED 17, 2009) IS TITLED "DEATH WORM" SHOWCASING PURPORTED ACTUAL FOOTAGE (WHICH IS FICTIONAL) OF TWO MEN WHO WERE ATTACKED AND KILLED; ONE OF THEM WAS BITTEN AND BURNED WITH A CORROSIVE ACID (GREENISH YELLOW IN COLOR, AND CORROSIVE ENOUGH TO CORRODE THE METAL OF HIS BIKE) AND BOTH WERE ELECTROCUTED. THEIR CLAIM OF THE DOCUDRAMA IS THAT THE BODIES WERE NEVER FOUND, YET THEIR EQUIPMENT WAS RECOVERED. A MARCH 20111 EPISODE OF BEAST MAN ON THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL FEATURED A SEARCH FOR THE WORM IN THE MONGOLIAN DESERT. IN CHRISTOPHER FRANSWORTH'S BOOK THE PRESIDENT VAMPIRE, THE VAMPIRE NATHANIEL CADE KEEPS A LIVE SPECIMEN OF THE OLGOI-KHORKHOI IN HIS RELIQUARY UNDER THE SMITHSONIAN CASTLE IN WASHINGTON D.C. RAPPER MC FRONTALOT MENTIONS THE CREATURE IN THE SONG "SCARE GOAT" WITH THE LINES "GOT A MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM AT MY HOUSE, RIGHT NEXT TO SQUONK AND THE AQUEOUS MOISE..." IN THE 9TH EPISODE OF THE TNT TV SERIES FRANKLIN & BASH, STANTON INFELD TOLD A REPORTER THAT HE SAW THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM, OR AT LEAST HE THOUGHT HE DID. LOST GIRL (TV SERIES) SEASON 2, EPISODE 6 IN 2011, REVOLVES AROUND A WMD NAMED "MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM" WHICH REPORTEDLY CAN LIQEFY ANYTHING BY ELECTRICITY. THE 2011 BOOK THE GRAVE ROBBERS OF GENGHIS KHAN BY P.B. KERR MENTION THE WORM AND ITS ELECTRICAL POWERS. IN WILLIAM GIBSON'S 2001 NOVEL, SPOOK COUNTRY, THE CHARACTER HOLLIS HENERY REFERS TO THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM AS A "MASCOT FOR HER ANXIETY" USING IT TO REPRESENT WHATEVER SHE IS MOST AFRAID OF. IN THE 2012 NOVEL, THE SOFT EXILE BY ERIC KEIFER, THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM APPEARS AS A SPIRIT ANIMAL. THE WORM IS ALSO REFERENCED AS THE MAIN CHARACTER IN THE IOS GAME, SUPER MEGA WORM. IN THE IOS GAME BATTLE NATIONS, THERE IS AN ENEMY UNTIL CALLED AN EMPEROR SANDWORM WHICH RESEMBLES THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM.WELL THAT IS THE POST ON THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM I HOPE THAT YOU ENJOYED IT AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM THEN YOU CAN GO TO HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/MONGOLIANDEATHWORM THAT IS WHERE I GOT MOST OF MY INFORMATION FROM FOR THIS POST. ALSO IF YOU HAVE ANY REQUEST FOR A POST THENPLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK AND I WOULD BE HAPPY TO WRITE A POST FOR YOU. AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS BLOG WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
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