Gef the Talking Mongoose
Encyclopedia : G : GE : GEF : Gef the Talking Mongoose
Gef the talking mongoose was an alleged talking animal, a mongoose named Gef, who inhabited a small house on the Isle of Man, off the coast of mainland Great Britain. Opinion is divided on whether Gef was a poltergeist, a strange animal or cryptid, a hoax, or something else. Some doubt whether the case happened at all.
Overview
In September 1931, the Irving family - James, Margaret, and daughter Voirrey, began to hear strange animal noises from the attic of their farm house. Within a few days of the first disturbances, the animal began, supposedly, to talk. At first, he simply repeated words said by the Irvings, but eventually he became (according to the stories) quite a fluent speaker. He later revealed himself, and told the Irvings that his name was Gef, and that he had been born in New Delhi, India on June 7, 1852 (apparently not explaining how he came to the Island). Gef remained friendly towards the Irvings, and joked around with them, though he supposedly went too far one time when he pretended to be poisoned. Gef supposedly bothered the Irvings' neighbors, spying on them and reporting back to the Irvings.
The story became popular in the tabloid press, and many journalists flocked to the Isle to catch a glimpse of the creature. In 1935, paranormal investigator Harry Price arrived on the island to research Gef, but failed to find Gef. He apparently determined, however, that a collection of hairs from Gef had actually come from the Irvings' pet dog.
The Irvings left their home in 1937. Gef's fate after that isn't known, though it has been noted that ten years later, the farmer who had bought their land shot a mongoose, which is believed by some to have been Gef.
Theories and Skepticism
The above story is popular with many paranormal researchers, but no one has been able to determine that it actually happened. The story was widespread throughout Britain in the early '30s due to extensive press coverage, but apparently no one other than the Irvings ever heard Gef speak, or even saw him (though some neighbors claimed to have heard "strange noises" outside their homes). The only evidence of Gef's existence would appear to be a strange series of footprints, some of which were identified as those of a dog or raccoon, the third set unknown. Some photographs reportedly exist of Gef, but they do not show anything that resembles a mongoose-like creature with any certainty.
Some paranormalists believe Gef to have been a poltergeist who had taken the form of a mongoose (with daughter Voirrey as the supposed "focus"). Though poltergeists generally do not speak, there are a few alleged cases on record (the so-called "Bell witch"), and poltergeists are believed to be pathological liars, suggesting he may have really been a human's ghost.
Others believe that he was simply a unique cryptid, an unexplained, anomalous animal, or a freak (there are other, albeit rare, cases of animals such as dogs and cats allegedly having the ability to speak). Others have postulated that he may have been a demon or other spirit, though he appears to have acted benevolently towards the Irvings.
According to some accounts, a hunter who was attempting to curb Man's rabbit population had introduced a number of mongooses in 1912, and it has been suggested that Gef may have been either of these or one of their offspring.
There simply is not enough evidence either way to prove the existence of Gef, or even if the incident really happened.
See also
External links
- [The Talking Mongoose]
- [Gef the Talking Mongoose Tribute Page]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.