Further reading for Gef, the talking mongoose
Gef!: The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose by Christopher Josiffe
On the Isle of Man in the early 1930’s something really weird happened. The Irving Family of Cashen’s Gap reported hearing sounds of scratching and movement behind their walls. They caught glimpses of it but couldn’t identify what it was, describing it as a rat. But then it spoke. Like a person, only its voice was high-pitched, like a little girls. It identified itself as Gef (Jeff) and told them that he was an extra, extra clever mongoose and thus, the legend of Gef, the talking mongoose was born. Which explains everything, obviously. Thing is, Mongooses aren’t native to the Isle of Man, let alone talking mongooses which Gef explained away by informing the Irvings that he’s from New Delhi, India.
Parapsychologists, which existed even back then, attempted to explain the phenomenon of Gef as everything from a ghost to a faerie and Gef caused quite a sensation in the British tabloids, which brought the predictable skepticism out of the woodwork. When put to close scrutiny, the story began to come apart. Though, many witnesses claimed to have heard Gef speak and several went so far as to say that they had even seen him, evidence provided to investigators and skeptics was later proven to be that of a dog. The dog being of a similar breed to that of the Irving’s own dog.
As the case wound down and the heat died, the fortunes of the Irving family died with it. Voirey Irving, whom the entire affair seemed to orbit gained a reputation either as a witch or a fraud, depending on who you asked and the Irving home gained the reputation of being haunted, which made it incredibly hard to sell. Gef was likely a family joke which ran out of control and had dreary consequences but a good deal of people still believe that Gef was real.
Honk! Honk!
Episode: 409
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