Since the time of ancient Persia the Manticore has been known as a man-eater.
Every few hundred years its population reaches a peak and becomes a threat to civilized man.
In 17th century England they believed this creature to be driven to extinction.
But ever since 2015 fresh sightings of the Manticore have been increasing, world-wide.
Scott Johannsen of Fargo, North Dakota, woke up at two in the morning and looked out of
his bedroom window.
His neighbor had a motion-activated light and it was on, illuminating the grassy lawn
and the largest orange house cat he had ever seen... bigger than a riding lawn mower.
The cat-thing turned its head and looked up at him.
The Manticore's face was almost human but with coloration like a Mandrill.
The creature tossed its head back, opening its mouth to roar, but its cry was completely
silent.
The only sound was a ringing inside Johannsen's ears.
Then he felt a crushing pressure at his temples as if his head was in a vice.
He covered his ears with his hands but that did not help.
Everything went black and Scott passed out.
Historical reports from the most recent Manticore plague are 350 years old.
It has the body of a lion and a human head, with three rows of sharp teeth like a shark.
Assembled from a combination of the most efficient parts of earthly predators, the creature may
be a genetically engineered pet released on earth in prehistory.
According to old records the Manticore has a trumpet-like voice which can paralyze its
victims.
Perhaps this was an early interpretation of its psychic power to control minds.
It is also said to devour its prey whole and leave no trace of its victim behind.
In North Carolina, in a patch of woods near Highway 191, Rueben McGhee and three of his
friends were shooting squirrels with Reuben's shotgun.
One said he heard a woman scream.
Reuben said no, that was the call of a crow.
Another said no, it was the sound of squealing brakes on the highway.
The fourth man heard nothing at all.
They saw a large animal thrashing in the gutter across the road, as if just hit by a car.
If so, the beast recovered quickly because it started crossing the road toward the tree-line,
behind which the men were just out of sight.
His friends freaked out and ran, disappearing along with his shotgun.
Reuben stayed put out of curiosity.
The huge feline thing trotted smoothly into view.
Its body was long enough to span one whole lane on the highway.
Its fur was bone-white.
Again it cried like a crow, although Reuben knew the sound came from inside his head.
The creature's head swiveled to where Reuben was hidden in the brush.
The face looked like that of a baboon.
Reuben decided to run after his friends.
In 2010 one man in Sweden was on a camping trip, when through the open door of his tent
he saw the Manticore.
He heard the "silent roar" of the creature and passed out.
He woke up in the morning with a ringing still in his ears.
Swedish gun laws prohibit him from using a firearm.
However he does own a crossbow and he has a new game plan.
He will pitch his tent in the same spot.
He will make lots of noise so the beast will know he is there.
Even though it may make no difference, he will use ear protection against its hypnotic
howl.
When it appears again he will fire through the opening in his tent.
And he has said that after he has urinated on the corpse, he will sell the body to the
highest bidder on eBay.
Mankind has always been successful in beating back the pestilence of the Manticore.
Unfortunately information on exactly how this was done has been lost to modern man.
We can only hope that the hunters of our own era can match the skill, the awareness and
the persistence of those hunters of olden times.