• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Warning After Mystery Object Found Hanging From Tree—Giant Bat Or Nest?

maximus otter

maximus otter

Recovering policeman
Joined
Aug 9, 2001
Messages
14,054
Spooked locals in Stourbridge in the West Midlands fear the 10inch grey object is a giant BAT or a nest hanging from a branch.

But other eagle-eyed viewers have claimed it's a Chinese honeylocust fruit pod - a plant which is not native to the UK.

hp-comp-bat.jpg


Worried locals have even claimed it's a cat trapped in a sack.

Resident Emily JC spotted the object on a tree in her back garden and took to Facebook to share her confusion.

She wrote: "Any idea what this is, Stourbridgians? Hanging from tree in the garden."

Anne Steele commented on the Facebook group post, writing: "We think it's a cat in a bag, you can see it's face half way up inside the bag it's back legs are pushing down in the bag."

Less sinister suggestions included a bat, a squirrel and even a pair of tights.

Emily later added: "It's not a bat guys. It's some sort of nest."

Another viewer added: "Omg that’s horrifying. Please be safe guys."

John Cahill suggested the sack is the pod of a Chinese honeylocust fruit.

The fruit is produced in northeastern, midwestern, and mideastern China.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/18294381/walkers-warned-horrifying-mystery-object-tree-bat/

maximus otter
 
Reminds me a bit of a story that’s here on FT (Where? I’ll have to see if I can find it; it’s from years ago): a child was saw something in a tree which he thought was possibly a huge spider, or nest of one? It was in the garden of a rather grumpy person so it wasn’t investigated.
I can’t really make out what this is, but I expect someone who’s feeling quite brave or has better camera equipment will find out.

E.T.A. Found the story! I’ll copy-paste then link it. I knew something about it was familiar: The ‘suede-y bundle’ description.
______________________________________________

“You're not alone...

Just read your tale and to tell the truth it's sent shivers down my spine because I've seen exactly the same creature - or more probably the same species of monster. However, my rather more prolonged encounter with this monster took place in Manchester, Wythenshawe and I was probably about 10 years old and like yourself have since put the whole incident down to a dream or some childish misunderstanding. No matter how much I tell myself otherwise I saw what I saw and actually prodded the thing with a long stick ( a small branch stripped of twigs ).

I can't remember how I first spotted it but here's my version of events anyhow:

I noticed one day a large rusty brown almost suedey bundle wedged in the nook where the lower branches of a neighbour's tree met the trunk. On closer inspection it looked for all the world to be like a spider (the common garden spider) except huge - my estimates have always been that this spider would be 3 foot if outstretched. It had the same pinkish mottled patterning although as I remember only on it's ovesized abdomen. It's legs where held very tightly in to it's body and it was to all intents and purposes crouched up. I was scared, horrified and intrigued all at the same time. This particular tree was in the corner of a large front garden (due to the garden belonging to a corner house). I relayed my find to various friends who played in the streets there but all showed no real interest even after seeing it and soon returned to their perpetual road-based footy games.
I was undeterred by their indifference and stared up toward the creature wondering what I should do (as I recall it was residing on the first branch of this tree and about 7-9 feet from the ground).

I decided to tell these neighbours just what they had living up in their tree. They were always an aloof family and childless or else the children were then all adults; the man I spoke to ridiculed me and told me it was probably poison and not to touch it. He wouldn't even come to look at it just as your father would not humour you!

Still awestruck, a few days later I decided to prod the thing which is what I did. It felt fairly heavy and despite some seemingly minute give, it was not budging. Either way I was too scared to prolong my investigation with what was, after all, a huge crouched up spider.

A day later it was completely gone and so was a neighbour's dog (2 doors down). A dog not prone to wandering, an unexcitable and reliable creature gone off the face of the earth and leaving behind a very upset lad (owner) who could not come to terms with the abstract disappearance of his faithful guardian. A strange and timely coincidence if you ask me.

I've often thought about this monster spider and even relayed the tale to a few people and have been met with the same incredulence each time. I can't blame people for rejecting the incident as complete fiction but I know what I saw and have never seen it's like since. What do you think? Have we both seen the same type of creature? If so then it must surely raise a multitude of questions about how such a huge creature could exist and remain to all intents undiscovered. If it is real, then it can only be a nocturnal mover and a rare mover at all, if ever. Perhaps I saw the creature doing what it does best, keeping still and out of sight.

I'd be very excited if anyone else has ever come face to face with the impossibility of a huge native arachnid such as this.”


__________________________________________________________

Spider Spirit

7th post down.
 
Last edited:
Someone to film and someone with a very, very long stick. Also: Check local dogs are not missing.
 
I reckon it's a squirrel in a stocking.
 
A more recent Birmingham news item notes yet another theory ...

Now a new idea has been put forward, that the object could be a stocking stuffed with human hair, used to keep foxes away. Sheree Daly said: "The mysterious object hanging from the tree looks like a stocking stuffed with human hair. It's a device to keep foxes away.

"Hair is usually harvested from barber shops and hairdressers." The method is known as "human scent marking" and is used to repel foxes from the area.
Click to expand...
FULL STORY: https://birminghammail.trem.media/black-country/fresh-theory-emerges-mystery-object-23718396
 
I can't help thinking that it looks like a wisteria seed pod spiced up with some deliberate foreshortening - a la the 'huge' (not) rat on a stick pictures that now appear on a regular basis in the dumbtown media.

If I saw something weird hanging out of a tree, or anywhere else for that matter, I guarantee that - unless it ate me, or shoved a probe up my backside in the meantime - I'd have dozens of photos of the bloody thing. But these stories never seem to supply any other pictures with which one might be able to form some idea of context, do they? Odd, that.
 
Looks a bit like a Weaver Bird nest, could do with a better pic,
 
Last edited:
An orb spider imported from from Australia might fit the bill. Here's a large one in someone's garage. Note there may be some photographic exaggeration in this photo, but not much.

https%3A%2F%2Fs3-images.ladbible.com%2Fs3%2Fcontent%2Fe79727615e54f0bef1b0b6c587056ada.png


My brother's garden in the Seychelles had several large orb spiders, about half this size, but still as big as a human hand. I don't think these warm-weather spiders would last long in the UK, however.
 
eburacum said:
My brother's garden in the Seychelles had several large orb spiders, about half this size, but still as big as a human hand. I don't think these warm-weather spiders would last long in the UK, however.
Click to expand...

Ahhhh :oops:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top