Other suggestions posted to my FB pages included bear, monkey, sloth, mole, turtle, and (albeit decidedly tongue-in-cheek!) chupacabra and werewolf!
Karl Shuker is a rare beast, a scientist willing to not dismiss out of hand any claims of the fantastical, an occasional “believer” (Actually he’s just open to the possibilities, but the “establishment does like to attach that sobriquet “believer” to those it wishes to dismiss or ridicule.) who has genuine scientific chops and thus commands a grudging respect in scientific circles. Both Zoologist and Cryptozoologist, he is a man with a foot in two worlds. Enjoying this unique position, he gets lots of perks that he otherwise would not if he were just one or the other. For example, fans send him stuff to identify. Like a werewolf’s paw.
The paw looks cool as hell, and I wish I’d been the one to find it. It would command a place of honor amidst my collection of ephemera. Even after the claw was identified as something far more benign than a roaming werewolf: a kangaroo. Shuker arrived at this determination via the old-fashioned scientific method. In this case, he asked around. He even determined what the paw’s original use had been. Who knew kangaroos had such fearsome claws? (I have to admit, I almost wish he HADN’T been able to identify it, though.)
