gef the talking mongoose~!

okay...

since i first heard the story of gef (pronounced jef) the talking mongoose roughly 15 years ago, i've been eager to learn more and, as it turns out, eager to bring him into the pages of the perhapanauts.

sadly, there's not much more to read about him and his bizarre appearance at cashen's gap on the isle of man back in 1931. accounts were well documented and, for those of you eager to read more into the strange events, a google of the words gef mongoose will bring up a handful of great sites and articles on the little varmint.

basically, the story goes that the irving family--mom, dad, and 13 year old daughter, voirrey--became aware of scratchings and tappings in the walls of their sparse farmhouse situated on the stark irish coast. soon the scratchings included grumblings and growlings which caused them concern and piqued their curiosity. eventually, the unseen creature began speaking with them and identified itself as the spirit of a young man from new delhi living in the body of a small, furry creature. (a mongoose was the closest they could come to a proper comparison.)

reports of this entity reached the cities at the time and the spectacle of gef captured the interest of many. a book, the haunting of cashen's gap by harry price and richard lambert, was written on the subject and can be found, in it's entirety, at 

http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/hc1936/index.htm

as in our story, gef was clever, well-read, condescending, caustic, and mischievous.

reluctant to be photographed, there are a few pictures of get, but they seem staged and probably hoaxy. 

if your curiosity is piqued and you'd like to explore the mystery of gef further, check out this article from fate magazine.

http://www.fatemag.com/inside-fate/fortean/gef-the-talking-mongoose-30-years-later/

don't miss DDU 4--out today!

tell your friends!

smell ya later!

 todd