Unresolved: Cryptids - Mongolian Death Worm

The next cryptid I want to talk about is the Mongolian Death Worm.

www.wikipedia.org

The Mongolian Death Worm, a.k.a the Olgoi-Khorkhoi (large intestine worm in Mongolian) is a creature that is said to exist in the Gobi desert. Western society first got a glimpse of the creature when explorer Roy Champman Andrews's 1926 book On the Trail of Ancient Man came out. In the book, Andrews talks about second-hand tales of the creature that he heard from Mongolian officials.

Andrews cites in his book that according to the Mongolian Prime Minister Damdinbazar, he describes the creature as a two feet long, sausage-shaped, no legs or head and if you touch it, its poison will kill you instantly and that it lives in the most isolated parts of the desert. Andrews however, doesn't believe it exists.

In 1983, locals who claimed to have seen the creature were shown a Tartar sand boa. They confirmed that this was the creature they called "Olgoi-Khorkhoi."

Tartar sand boa, www.kingsnake.com

There has been investigations for the creature. In 1990 for 8 weeks, cryptozoologist Ivan Mackerle led a small group of friends to the Gobi to look for the worm. Mackerle created a device inspired by Dune, a novel written by Frank Herbert. The book is about giant sandworms that you can bring to the surface by using rhythmic thumping. Mackerle's used his thumper device and small explosions to try and find the creature. Mackerle believed that the death worm looked like the amphisbaenian from South America. He guessed that the worm took the venom from the goyo plant and was able to deliver lethal electric shocks to its victims. He made a second trip in 1992. While there, he was warned by the people of a Buddhist monastery that the creature was supernatural and evil and him looking for it was a danger to his life. Mackerle said he remembered having a vivid dream about the creature and states he awoke with blood-filled boils on his back. He went on a third venture in the early 2000's and found nothing. He concluded that the worm was a figment of the imagination due to the extreme heat of the desert.

South American amphisbaenan, www.wikipedia.org

In 2005, zoologist Richard Freeman went on a expedition for the creature but also came up empty-handed. He concluded that the reported sightings were probably a unknown species of amphisbaena or worm lizard. Television show Destination Truth which most of us probably heard of also went out to search for it back in 2006. A New Zealand television reporter named David Farrier went on an expedition in 2009 and came up empty-handed as well.

If the claims people have made are true, if the identity of the creature is not a tartar sand boa but what the 1920's Prime Minister described it as then I think there is a good chance it's a type of amphisbaena. In the picture below is a two-pored amphisbaena from Brazil. It has a slightly red body and is similar to what some eye-witnesses described it as.

Brazilian two-pored amphisbaena, www.bioone.org

I always want to believe that these weird, unknown creatures are living among us. It would be wild, fascinating and thrilling if these creatures truly existed. What do you think of this one? Do you believe real-life Graboids live within the sands of the Gobi desert?

I think we need Michael Gross on this one, haha.

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