7. The Mongolian Death Worm
At first glance, this cryptid appears to be a fanciful creation indeed. In fact, its appearance is so striking that I myself once used one as a character for a comic book I wrote in my teens. However, many Mongolian people are convinced of its existence, it is a belief which is spurring many cryptozoologists onward in their search for tangible evidence of this strange creature. Living in the most remote regions of the Gobi desert, the Mongolian death worm (or allghoi khorkhoi to locals) is said to be able to spit venom and even give off powerful jolts of electricity to anybody unfortunate enough to go near one. Local folklore surrounding this fearsome beast even suggests that it can actually kill a person merely by looking at them. They are also said to infest the intestines of cattle and lay their eggs inside them (nice). Described as being bright red, between 2 and 5 feet long, about the same width as a mans arm and usually sausage shaped, the worm could easily go unseen in such a remote part of the world. When one factors in that the creature is said to be largely subterranean, the possibility of ever seeing one becomes even more remote. In 1926, Roy Chapman Andrews, an American palaeontologist, published the book On the Trail of Ancient Man. He interviewed various Mongolian officials, all of whom were absolutely sure that the creature existed. For Westerners, this was the first mention of the worm. Various teams have gone in search of the death worm, but none have found any evidence beyond local folktales. However, a similar species, the Minhocao (said to be a gigantic earthworm) has been reported in South America. Behaviourally, it is said to be similar to the death worm, although it is imagined to be much bigger. Once again, if the creature seems absurd to you, it is worth noting that similar creatures have a strong place within many cultures around the world. The early dragon tales of Europe tend to describe serpentine creatures that are oddly similar to the death worm (even called wyrms in English folklore, a good example is found in the story of John Lambton and the wyrm of the River Wear) and some cryptozoologists (in particular Karl Shuker, who originally put forward the following theory) have speculated that the MDW is actually a gargantuan reptile of the family amphisbaenidae, or worm lizards.
Worm lizards are burrowing reptiles that are generally carnivorous, they have severely reduced eyes (the death worm is usually reported without eyes) and they are extremely water retentive. They tend to break the surface only rarely, after the fall of rain, exactly as the Mongolian death worm is said to do. Although they are not known to live in the Gobi and are generally not dangerous, there is a long history of Human beings believing worm lizards to be venomous even when they are not. We Humans, regardless of our respective cultures, seem to have an uncanny knack for ascribing deadly supernatural powers to living animals. The aye aye, a type of lemur native to Madagascar, is thought to be supremely unlucky by some native peoples of the area. Apparently, if one points its outstretched finger at a person, that person will surely die. Closer to home, it was long believed that a bird looking in your window was an omen of death, as was four crows flying over a house. Getting back to the worm, a new species of nematode, nicknamed the Worm From Hell was discovered a few years ago living 1.8 miles under the earths surface, making it the worlds deepest-living multi-cellular life form (that we know about). If allghoi khorkoi isnt a lizard, then a giant worm (that is somehow water retentive), is not entirely out of the question. Remember, some worms can indeed squirt fluid.