These were two of
the favorite topics I researched, telepathy (after I decided to make my
Neanderthals telepathic) and giant beavers!
I simply loved
researching for DEATH IN THE TIME OF ICE. The book is available as an e-book or
paperback at Untreed Reads.
Chapter 11 –
aborigine telepathy
There is little
documented evidence of the ability of the Australian aborigines to convey
messages telepathically, but much anecdotal evidence. The method of
communication is sometimes called ‘bush telegraph’ or ‘mulga wire’. This
passage is taken from
The Bone is
Pointed: An Inspector Napolean Bonaparte Mystery by Arthur W. Upfield
p. 46
"I saw him
at ten o'clock on the evening of the eighteenth, the day Anderson rode Green
Swamp. I went as usual to the stable to see that the horse kept there for duty
had been properly fed and bedded. Abie--that was his name--was then asleep on
his stretcher in the adjoining stall."
"How did he
receive word about the sick lubra?"
"I don't
know. Mulga wire, I suppose."
Chapter 12 –
giant beavers
Beavers
Family Castoridae
The biggest of
all rodents during Pleistocene time—or any time, for that matter—were beavers
of the family Castoridae. These semi-aquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere
existed in North America as long ago as early Oligocene time, 35 million to 30
million years ago…
Giant Beaver
(Castoroides ohioensis)
The giant beaver
was the size of a large black bear and weighed 330 to 440 pounds (150 to 200
kilograms). It measured t least 9 feet (3 meters) long and stood about 3 feet
(1 meter) tall at the shoulder. In comparison, the modern beaver measures up to
3.5 feet (more than 1 meter) long and weighs from 20 to 86 pounds (9 to 39
kilograms). While resembling a modern beaver, the giant beaver had a longer and
narrower tail. The giant beaver had huge incisors up to 6 inches (15
centimeters) long. Researchers have found no evidence to tell us whether this
heavyweight built dams or felled trees, but base on the giant beaver’s build,
paleontologists believe it behaved much as living beavers do…
The abundance of
fossils suggests the giant beaver’s favorite locales were ponds, lakes, and
swamps south of the Great Lakes, where it ate coarse swamp vegetation.
Ice Age Mammals
of North America: A Guide to the Big, the Hairy, and the Bizarre Ian M. Lange,
p. 120
Two American
Indian beaver legends found at
http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/nalegend.html:
The Great Beaver,
whose pond flowed over the whole basin of Mt. Tom, made havoc among the fish
and when these failed he would come ashore and devour Indians. A pow-wow was
held and Hobomock raised, who came to their relief. With a great stake in hand,
he waded the river until he found the beaver, and so hotly chased him that he
sought to escape by digging into the ground. Hobomock saw his plan and his
whereabouts, and with his great stake jammed the beaver's head off. The earth
over the beaver's head we call Sugarloaf, his body lies just to the north of
it.
Field, P.,
1870-79, Stories, anecdotes, and legends, collected and written down by Deacon
Phinehas Field:
In History and
Proceedings of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA, v. 1,
p. 59.
The great beaver
preyed upon the fish of the Long River. And when other food became scarce, he
took to eating men out of the river villages. Hobomuck, a benevolent spirit
giant, at last was invoked to relieve the distressed people. Hobomock came and
chased the great beaver far into the immense lake that then covered the
meadows, flinging as ran great handfuls of dirt and rock at the beaver. Finally
he threw a bunch of dirt so great upon the beaver's head that it sank him in
the middle of the lake. Hobomock, arriving a few minutes later, dispatched the
monster by a blow with his club on the back of the beaver's neck. And there he
lies to this day. The upturned head covered with dirt is the sandstone cliff of
Wequamps (Mt. Sugar Loaf), and the body is the northward range. The hollow
between is where Hobomock's cudgel smote down his neck.
Pressey, E.P.,
1910, History of Montague: Montague, MA, p. 64.
2 comments:
Most interesting research. Sometimes one can get too fascinated with research. Sounds like you've done just enough.
I, of course, did way more research than I could put into a novel. I'm sure you do that, too. It is hard to know what to use and what to let go. I might like to be a textbook writer. Thanks for commenting, Marilyn!
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