The Bull in the Bog
In the fens and marshes of Europe, people heard a deep booming at dusk, like a bull bellowing from under the water. Some thought it was a monster.
What was reported
Across the marshes of England and Europe, people told of a strange, foghorn-like boom heard in spring at dawn and dusk, carrying several kilometres. In the fens they called its maker the 'bog bumper' or 'butterbump', and in places people feared a monster lived in the reeds.
Even once people knew it was a bird, they disagreed on how it did it: some said it blew into a hollow reed, others that it put its beak into the water and bellowed.
Explanations offered
It's the call of the Eurasian bittern, a shy heron that hides in reedbeds. The male fills his gullet with air and pushes it out in a deep boom, one of the lowest calls of any European bird. Bitterns nearly died out in Britain, and have come back with wetland restoration.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire, England
- Witnesses
- Fen people and marsh dwellers
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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