Showing posts with label cryptozoology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cryptozoology. Show all posts
Today, the classic, pre-eminent image indelibly engrained in everyone's mind when speaking of Nessie, the Loch Ness monster (LNM), is that of a plesiosaur lookalike, complete with long slender neck and tail, small head, and four large diamond-shaped flippers.
NESSIE'S MOST POPULAR, PLESIOSAURIAN IDENTITY (RICHARD SVENSSON)
However, this was not always the case. In the past, a great diversity of alternative ideas concerning the likely appearance and identity of Scotland's cryptozoological megastar existed. Nevertheless, with the exception of just a few (such as a sturgeon, a hypothetical long-necked seal, or various misidentified familiar animals like otters and swimming deer) that still linger tenaciously in the romantic but decidedly plesiosaurian shadow of the general public's favourite concept for Nessie, these other options have largely been forgotten or discarded.
"PETER COSTELLO'S BOOK IN SEARCH OF LAKE MONSTERS" ESPOUSED A HYPOTHETICAL LONG-NECKED SEAL IDENTITY FOR NESSIE (PETER COSTELLO)
Yet they included some truly extraordinary notions and fascinating sightings, which richly deserve their belated resurrection here, as we examine just a selection of those most curious of LNM identities - identities that may have been, might still be, and surely could never, ever be...could they?
OTTERLY MYSTERIOUS
The most familiar cryptozoological identity proffering a furry or hairy mammalian Nessie as opposed to a sleek scaled or scaleless reptilian counterpart is a giant long-necked seal - of the kind first postulated during the 1960s by pioneering cryptozoologist Dr Bernard Heuvelmans for his 'longneck' category of sea serpent, and later adopted for lake monsters too by Peter Costello. This identity still receives some attention today. In contrast, a second mammalian cryptid contender has long been consigned to obscurity - a giant long-necked otter.
Its principal proponent was British zoologist Dr Maurice Burton. Although dismissing most Nessie reports as floating algal mats or misidentified known animals, in his book "The Elusive Monster" (1961) he considered it possible that a small number of reports genuinely featured an undiscovered lutrine form. And perhaps his most memorable claim was that if a long-necked giant otter did exist, it should not be looked for in the loch but on land instead: "...in the marshes or on islands (e.g. Cherry Island), up the burns and rivers or along the shores of the loch, although it may also be seen occasionally in the water".
AN OTTER IMPERSONATING NESSIE (DR KARL SHUKER)
How ironic it would be if generations of Nessie seekers have been looking for the LNM in entirely the wrong habitat! Intriguingly, an unknown long-necked giant otter-like beast has long been reported from western Ireland, where it is termed the dobhar-ch'u or master otter.
A FROG AS BIG AS A GOAT?
What may well be a unique sighting of Nessie, made as it was underwater, took place one day in 1880, when diver Duncan MacDonald was lowered into Loch Ness at Johnnies Point, close to the loch's Fort Augustus entrance to the Caledonian Canal. Not long afterwards, however, he resurfaced, gesticulating wildly to his colleagues to pull him out, and in such a terror-stricken state that it took several days before he was finally able to explain why he had been so scared.
He revealed that while he had been examining at a depth of around 10 m the keel of the sunken ship that he had been sent down to investigate, he had been horrified to see a very large and truly frightening creature lying on a shelf of rock that was supporting the ship. According to his description, the creature resembled a huge frog, at least as big as a goat, and it was staring directly at him! Not surprisingly, MacDonald refused outright to enter Loch Ness ever again.
COULD NESSIE BE A GIGANTIC SALAMANDER?
The concept of Nessie being a gigantic amphibian was revisited most notably almost a century later. This was when, in 1976, veteran cryptozoologist Dr Roy P. Mackal, a Chicago University biochemist by profession, published what remains the most scientific, rigorously objective study of the LNM in book form.
Entitled "The Monsters of Loch Ness", in it Mackal meticulously examined every reasonable zoological identity, and concluded that the most plausible Nessie candidate was a giant newt- or salamander-like amphibian, which in his view would account for 88% of the LNM characteristics on file (as opposed to 56% for a species of seal, 47% for a sea-cow, 69% for a plesiosaur, 78% for a species of eel, and 59% for a mollusc). Yet despite the convincing and thorough nature of his researches, Mackal's mega-newt theory failed to break the plesiosaur's limpet-like grip upon the imagination of Nessie seekers and the media at large.
MIGHTY MANTAS AND EUNUCH EELS
Two of the fishiest Nessie identities - zoologically - feature a couple of very different contenders of the piscean persuasion. Cryptozoologists Paul and Lena Bottriell are most famous for their king cheetah researches, but in 1988 they turned their attention briefly to Nessie, and in an exclusive "High Wycombe Star" newspaper interview published on 28 October they offered a new identity for this cryptid.
Based on personal sightings of a school of rays seen while snorkelling off Queensland, Australia, Paul postulated that the LNM may be a very large ray, sporting a series of dorsal fins along its lengthy slender tail (as species such as the electric ray possess), thereby producing the characteristic Nessie humps if protruding through the water surface. He also proposed that its elongate tail could create the familiar 'head and neck' Nessie image if lifted up out of the water (rays do lift their tails in warning displays). Although an ingenious, original idea, the notion of a ray's tail explaining Nessie's head and neck clashes with LNM eyewitness reports that have claimed the head and neck to be unquestionably sentient, actively observing while above the water surface.
AN UNDERWATER MORAY EEL IMPERSONATING NESSIE'S FAMOUS 'PERISCOPE' HEAD AND NECK POSE AT SEA WORLD IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, AS WITNESSED BY ME DURING A VISIT THERE IN 2004 (DR KARL SHUKER)
Equally ingenious is the most recent non-plesiosaur identity of note to be aired for Nessie. Expanding upon the longstanding belief of various investigators that extra-large eels may be responsible for at least some LNM reports, in 2003 Richard Freeman of the CFZ suggested that Nessie may well be a gigantic, sterile or eunuch specimen of the common eel "Anguilla anguilla" - one that did not swim out to sea and spawn but instead stayed in the loch, grew exceptionally long (8-9 m), lived to a much greater age than normal, and was rendered sterile by some presently undetermined factor present in this and other deep, cold, northern lakes.
I would not be at all surprised to learn that extra-large eels do exist here (indeed, such fishes have been reported by divers in the loch), and they could certainly explain some Nessie sightings of the 'humps above the water' variety. However, I cannot reconcile any kind of eel with the oft-reported vertical head-and-neck category of LNM sightings, nor with the land sightings that have described a clearly visible four-limbed, long-necked animal.
Also, in response to this 'eunuch eel' theory, Dr Scott McNaught, Professor of Lake Biology at Central Michigan University, has stated that even if such eels did arise, they would tend to grow thicker rather than longer. Nevertheless, giant eels remain a distinct possibility in relation to some of the world's more serpentiform lake monsters on record.
IS THE ELEPHANT SQUID A WIZARD IDEA?
Tony 'Doc' Shiels is familiar in the fortean community as a wizard, surrealist artist, showman, and cryptozoological enthusiast, with a particular interest in water monsters, and he claims to have photographed several, including the LNM. Moreover, in relation to this latter cryptid he has proposed a highly original zoological identity - an as-yet-hypothetical, extremely modified species of enormous squid, which in 1984 he dubbed the elephant squid "Dinoteuthis proboscideus". This was because its most distinctive feature is a long flexible prey-capturing structure resembling an elephant's trunk, which, held above the water surface, would account for Nessie's 'head and long neck' image. Shiels also postulated the presence of inflatable dorsal airsacs for buoyancy purposes, which would explain the many LNM sightings of humps breaking through the loch's water surface.
DOC SHIELS'S SKETCH OF HIS HYPOTHETICAL ELEPHANT SQUID (TONY 'DOC' SHIELS)
Naturally, however, so dramatically different a species of squid as this would require a very considerable evolutionary deviation from the more generalised squid blueprint, and not just morphologically. Currently, there is not a single scientifically-confirmed species of freshwater squid on record - every squid presently known to exist today is exclusively marine. So for Shiels's elephant squid to be a reality, it would need to exhibit profound osmoregulatory adaptations to a freshwater lifestyle.
"I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT IN MY LIFE!"
The above words, as sung by circus owner Albert Blossom in the classic 1960s Warner Brothers film musical 'Doctor Dolittle' upon first seeing the incredible two-headed pushmi-pullyu, came unbidden, but very aptly, into my head when, after first reading the thoroughly astonishing, one-of-a-kind Nessie sighting claimed by L. McP. Fordyce, I looked at the accompanying artistic reconstruction based upon his own sketch of what he allegedly saw. According to his report ("Scots Magazine", June 1990), his extraordinary encounter occurred in 1932 (just a year before Nessie fever filled the headlines worldwide and the term 'Loch Ness monster' was coined).
Driving along a woodland-surrounded stretch of road leading away from the lochside and towards Fort William, he and his fianc'ee were amazed to see a huge creature come out of the woods on their left and step over the road about 150 m ahead towards the loch. Fordyce described it as having "the gait of an elephant, but looked like a cross between a very large horse and a camel, with a hump on its back and a small head on a long neck...From the rear it looked grey and shaggy. Its long, thin neck gave it the appearance of an elephant with its trunk raised". He stopped the car, and followed this bizarre animal for a short distance on foot before deciding that it may be safer to abandon his pursuit and go back to his car.
"AN ARTISTIC REPRESENTATION OF FORDYCE'S EXTRAORDINARY 'GIRAFFE-CAMEL NESSIE' (SCOTS MAGAZINE", JUNE 1990)
So unlike the typical LNM is this truly weird entity, depicted in Fordyce's account with long slender legs far removed from the flippers more commonly associated with Nessie, that I swiftly checked that this was not the April issue of the magazine in question, but the article ended with an even stranger note. Fordyce revealed that, as stated in Ronald Binns's book, "The Loch Ness Mystery Solved "(1983), in 1771 a Patrick Rose had learnt of a monster seen in Loch Ness that was said to resemble a cross between a horse and a camel. However, this no doubt referred to Nessie's head and neck (rather than to the entire animal), which have indeed been likened to those of a horse on many occasions. So too have those of water monsters elsewhere, including North America's Caddy, a sea monster whose head has been compared with that of a camel as well.
A NOT SO MONSTROUS "TULLIMONSTRUM"?
One of the most bewildering Nessie sightings was that of Mr and Mrs George Spicer. Driving along the road between Dores and Foyers on 22 July 1933, they spied a very large entity emerging from the bushes onto the road ahead. They described it as "an abomination...a loathsome sight", with a long neck, but no apparent limbs, later likened to a massive slug or worm-like beast in some accounts, which lurched rapidly across the road and into the bracken separating it from the lochside.
One Nessie investigator impressed with the prospect of a worm as a suitable explanation was F.W. Holiday. In his book "The Great Orm of Loch Ness" (1969), he nominated a particularly unusual animal as his favoured Nessie. Namely, a hypothetical giant modern-day descendant of a bizarre prehistoric worm called "Tullimonstrum gregarium", or the Tully monster (after Francis J. Tully, who first brought this fossil species to scientific attention in 1958).
"A REPRESENTATION OF TULLIMONSTRUM GREGARIUM" (APOKRYLTAROS AT EN.WIKIPEDIA)
What intrigued Holiday about this animal was its unexpectedly Nessie-esque morphology. Unlike more conservative vermiform creatures, "Tullimonstrum" sported a pair of small anterior flipper-like appendages (though these may have been eye-stalks), a sizeable three-part diamond fin encircling the rear portion of its body, and a very long, slender jaw-containing proboscis superficially resembling an elongate LNM-type neck and head. However, unlike Nessie, which is often claimed to measure around 10 m long, "Tullimonstrum" was only a few cm long, is known only from Illinois, and became extinct 300 million years ago - no doubt explaining why this identity never captured the public imagination.
THE ELEPHANT OF SURPRISE?
As revealed here, several Nessie identities contain more than an element of surprise, but none more so than when the element is an elephant. After all, whatever Nessie may be, she is certainly no pachyderm...is she? Remarkably, in a "New Scientist" article of 2 August 1979, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History director Dr Dennis Power and Illinois University geography research associate Dr Donald Johnson cited similarities between the controversial Surgeon's head-and-neck Nessie photograph of 1934 and a frame from a film taken on 15 July 1960 by Admiral R. Kadirgamar of an elephant and her calf swimming from Ostenburg Ridge to Sober Island in Trincomalee Harbour, Sri Lanka, and speculated that perhaps travelling circuses have occasionally released their elephants into Loch Ness to bathe, which might then explain the Surgeon's photo (an image, incidentally, that in years to come would be famously condemned - but never confirmed! - as a hoax).
THE ABOVE-DOCUMENTED FRAME FROM ADMIRAL R. KADIRGAMAR'S FILM OF AN ELEPHANT AND HER CALF SWIMMING OFF THE COAST OF SRI LANKA IN JULY 1960, YIELDING A SURPRISINGLY NESSIE-LIKE OUTLINE (ADMIRAL R. KADIRGAMAR)
And as proof that history, even of the strangest variety, does repeat itself, in 2006 the startling elephant-Nessie scenario unexpectedly returned to the headlines when the very same notion was offered up by palaeontological curator Dr Neil Clark from Glasgow University's Hunterian Museum. An elephant in the loch's waters, or a camel in its woods? Bring back "Tullimonstrum" - all is forgiven!
MONSTERS, MONSTERS, EVERYWHERE!
Unlike Nessie's many investigators, Robert Lawson Cassie was one seeker of Scottish Highland water monsters who never had problems finding them. On the contrary, ever since he began his observations, in June 1934, everywhere he looked near his home village of Achanalt he saw monsters! As revealed in this 77-year-old author's mesmerising, self-published 2-volume book, "The Monsters of Achanalt" (1935-36), the local rivers and lochs were - at least as far as he could see - quite literally bursting at the seams with monstrous reptiles, and of gargantuan dimensions.
Indeed, one such denizen of Loch Achanalt that he dubbed Gabriel was estimated by him to measure approximately 300 m long, which meant it was only 50 m shorter than the loch itself! Moreover, it was, he claimed, just one of countless other, smaller monsters inhabiting this modestly-sized expanse of freshwater, with plenty more in Lochs Cronn, Culon, Garve, and Rosque - even though most of these are no deeper than 10 m.
LOCH ACHANALT (DAVE CONNER/FLICKR/WIKIPEDIA)
Nor were Cassie's sightings confined to the aquatic domain. As soon as he started looking for monsters on land, where he was convinced that they must breed, he was equally successful - even reporting a sighting of two giant reptilian necks outlined against the snowy face close to the summit of Morusig! Not surprisingly, Cassie's absurd observations and books rarely rate a mention in other cryptozoological publications, and are generally dismissed either as the outpourings of an extreme eccentric or as a tongue-in-cheek hoax.
Why, with such a range of other candidates to consider, does the plesiosaur identity steadfastly remain so popular? It is true that, on the one hand, some of the land sightings of Nessie have described an undeniably plesiosaurianesque entity. On the other hand, however, all manner of scientific objections to the likelihood of a modern-day representative of this officially long-demised lineage of prehistoric aquatic reptile persisting in Loch Ness have been aired over the years. My own belief is that there is no single answer to the mystery of Nessie - instead, I consider it most likely that what we refer to as the LNM is in reality a composite of several different phenomena.
Be that as it may, what seems to raise the plesiosaur's profile far above that of any would-be pretender to the Nessie throne is that the notion of some lingering race of antediluvian monster - an erstwhile contemporary of the mighty dinosaurs, no less - lurking reclusively beneath the loch's dark, mysterious waters conjures forth an incomparably romantic and, equally, chilling scenario that no over-sized newt, emasculated eel, trunk-erecting squid, vermiform wannabe, or even the (very) odd giraffe-necked water camel could ever hope to compete with!
"A TRULY WONDERFUL NESSIE-INSPIRED CARTOON BY KEITH WAITE THAT ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN LONDON'S SUNDAY MIRROR" NEWSPAPER ON 2 APRIL 1972 BUT WHICH SURELY CRIED OUT FOR INCLUSION IN ANY ARTICLE DEALING WITH THE MANY DIFFERENT FACES OF NESSIE! (KEITH WAITE/"SUNDAY MIRROR")
Now, before anyone starts complaining or ranting, the title of this article - "The Absurdities of Cryptozoology" - is most definitely not an attack on cryptozoology. The subject is, without doubt, one that I am particularly fascinated by - and which I have been fascinated by since my first trip to Loch Ness, Scotland, at the age of six. So, quit yapping before you even start.
As for those absurdities, they revolve around aspects of the phenomenon that are not addressed anywhere near enough, and which lead me to believe that so many of the so-called cryptids that populate our planet are actually things that should be investigated by people with a deep knowledge of the world of the paranormal, the supernatural, and the occult, and not just zoology or cryptozoology. I'll begin with the beasts of the aforementioned Loch Ness.
There can be very few people who haven't heard of the Loch Ness Monster. Its right up there with Bigfoot in terms of infamy. For many, the Nessies are plesiosaurs. For others, they are giant salamanders. Then there are suggestions the creatures might be massive eels. But here's the absurdity in accepting the creatures as nothing but unknown animals: Loch Ness is teeming with other mysteries.
I have no less than seven reports of so-called "Alien Big Cats" seen at Loch Ness, in the 21st Century alone. In the 1970s, a "Man in Black" was encountered at the loch by Nessie-seeker, Ted Holiday. Significant UFO sightings over the waters have been reported. There is the story of a restless, World War Two-era, ghostly airman at the loch. None other than Aleister Crowley lived at Loch Ness - at Boleskine House, and from where all sorts of occult activity was undertaken. Witch-covens, sightings of nothing less than fairy-like creatures, and even encounters with hairy man-beasts, are all staple parts of the Loch Ness controversy.
Read more >>
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-Monsters/537100722991730
And I found that these were supposedly photos of the Lake Superior monster and a reference link given to a source about the Lake Superior monster. The source did not mention this photo and I mentioned that part too. "This is one of many photographs taken in the 90s by the Us navy.They estimated the creature's length about 15 m [approx. 45-50 feet long] long,with a long tail," was the first part of the reply, "These photographs appeared in either SIGHTINGS or UNSOLVED MYSTERIES.I don't remember which, but they showed an amateur footage of the same creature on the surface." was the second half of the reply which came later.
As it turned out, both the mentioned photographs actually came from a different lake, Lake Pepin.
http://www.lakecitymn.org/about/pepie.html
With the contrast turned up a great deal higher
courier wedge dec 3 1987
Anonymous photo, pepie swimming below maiden rock 2008-06-20
SOMETHING SWIMMING ON THE LAKE BETWEEN CENTRAL POINT AND MAIDEN ROCK. SUBMITTED BY LOCAL FISHERMEN AL KNUDSON, DVM AND STEVE RAYMOND
THE LEGEND OF PEPIE
Lake Pepin is the largest lake on the Mississippi River, over two miles wide and 22 miles long. It forms the natural border between Minnesota and Wisconsin and is located about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities. Surrounded by scenic bluffs and quaint villages, Lake Pepin is widely described as one of the most scenic spots in North America!
The native Dakota people that lived in the area refused to travel on Lake Pepin in bark canoes because of the large "creatures" that would rise from the depths of the Lake and puncture the thin bark skin of those canoes. They would only travel on Lake Pepin in more stout dugout canoes that were made by hollowing out a large log.
On April 28, 1871 "a lake monster is seen swimming in Lake Pepin" (Minnesota Almanac, published by the MN Historical Society). Since then, many people have reported sightings of an unidentified creature surfacing from the depths of Lake Pepin. The locals have given this shy and elusive creature a name; Pepie.
Over the years the question persist, what is Pepie? Because Lake Pepin is almost identical in size and geography to Scotland's Loch Ness (which is 23 miles long and 1.5 miles wide), many people feel that Pepie is a relative of the famous Loch Ness creature dubbed Nessie.
Still others feel that the sightings might be surfacing schools of the huge game fish that are so abundant in the Lake
http://www.pepie.net/PepiesHome Page.php
"THE LEGEND OF PEPIE"Lake Pepin is the largest lake on the Mississippi River, over two miles wide and 22 miles long. It forms the natural border between Minnesota and Wisconsin and is located about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities. Surrounded by scenic bluffs and quaint villages, Lake Pepin is widely described as one of the most scenic spots in North America!
The native Dakota people that lived in the area refused to travel on Lake Pepin in bark canoes because of the large "creatures" that would rise from the depths of the Lake and puncture the thin bark skin of those canoes. They would only travel on Lake Pepin in more stout dugout canoes that were made by hollowing out a large log.
On April 28, 1871 "a lake monster is seen swimming in Lake Pepin (Minnesota Almanac, published by the MN Historical Society"). Since then, many people have reported sightings of an unidentified creature surfacing from the depths of Lake Pepin. The locals have given this shy and elusive creature a name"; PEPIE. "Over the years the question persist, what is Pepie? Because Lake Pepin is almost identical in size and geography to Scotland's Loch Ness (which is 23 miles long and 1.5 miles wide), many people feel that Pepie is a relative of the famous Loch Ness creature dubbed Nessie.
Still others feel that the sightings might be surfacing schools of the huge game fish that are so abundant in the Lake.
In an effort to solve the puzzle, we have posted a 50,000 reward for indisputable proof of Pepies existence. Click on "News" for the details.
An editor on the site added this message: Note; There are only three known [bona fide Plesiosaurian] Lake Monsters in existence today, Champ in Lake Champlain, Nessie in Loch Ness, and Pepie in Lake Pepin. -- M.F.A.
Lake Pepin is actually the widest part of the Mississippi River and very plausibly the creature in it could be the last refuge of "The Great Serpent of the Mississippi River (Said to be shaped like a Plesiosaur in some of the older accounts) that once roamed the whole length of the river and which was once important in Native American lore.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake Pepin
The 50000 dollar reward was mentioned once before on this blog. This is the original source for that story:
http://www.wisconsinosity.com/Pepin/articles/Pepie/wcco/"htm
http://cryptidchronicles.tumblr.com/post/26501197906/pressie-the-lake-superior-sea-serpent
http://voices.yahoo.com/pressie-lake-superiors-own-monster-6762668.html?cat=58
[One of the Lake Superior reports also specified a Puckwudgie creature on two legs and five feet tall]
"Missi", the Mississippi River Monster, at the level of Tennessee, from Flickr (During WWII reports referred to "Submarines" with "Periscopes". "Missi" is the proper regular name for the creature anywhere along the lenth of the River, and several reports at New Orleans state it is the same creature seen there as at the River's source)
[NB, I have no confidence in this photo as representing the Mississippi River Serpent, unfortunately]
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/world-largest-roadside-attractions-gallery-1.39761
The Serpent of Serpent Lake (Not only meant to represent this lake, this represents all of such creatures in the area generally. Serpent Lake runs into the Mississippi) There is a photo said to represent the monster of Serpent lake in circulation but it might be only a copy of the Lake Pepin monster photograph shown above. The statue represents a monster thirty feet in length.
The creatures are said to run generally 30-50 feet long (A minority of reports, mostly older ones, say 60-75 feet) with a horse-sized snakelike head, a 15-foot neck a foot thick and a spiny crest down the middle of its neck and back. It can be either green or brown, but running to black in either case. Fore-flippers are sometimes noted at the base of the neck, as in this case. Although scales are shown on this statue, they are not generally known as a feature of the reports.
Several early reports from Wisconsin (eg, Rocky of Rock lake) also come from tributaries of the Mississippi river. And several large lakes at the source of the Mississippi (eg, Leech Lake, etc) have historical records of such reports: Serpent Lake is in the area of the sources for the Mississippi.
George Eberhart, Mysterious Creatures (2002), Water Monsters Appendix
Minnesota
Big Sandy Lake. Chris Engstein fired at a horned monster in August 1886. Charles Fort, The Books of Charles Fort (New York: Henry Holt, 1941), p. 615.
Leech Lake. John Aldrich and Skip Christman were using a fish-finder in September 1976 when they detected two 60-foot targets at a depth of around 100 feet. Minneapolis Star, October 1, 1976; Betty Sanders Garner, Monster! Monster! (Blaine, Wash.: Hancock House, 1995), pp. 88-89
[Both these lakes are near the source of the Mississippi. Eberhart seems not to know of Pepie-DD]
Wisconsin
Devil's Lake.
Two huge serpents with finlike paddles were allegedly seen fighting in August 1889. "Western Lake Resorts Have Each a Water Monster," Chicago Tribune, July 24, 1892.
"[W]hen the first Christian missionaries arrived on the shores of Devil's Lake they were greeted by the Nakota tribe who told them about yet another creature that was revealed in the year of the great drought.
The Natkota's remained near the swiftly drying lake, not only because it was the only water source for miles, but also because the animals upon which they fed were forced to expose themselves in order to drink, providing the tribe with an ample - and relatively simple to hunt - food source. As the summer progressed the lake grew smaller and smaller, until it eventually became two lakes, separated only by a shallow strip of mud, which ran through the center.
One morning the Nakota's awoke to find what they described as a huge, fish-like creature, which they referred to as "Hokuwa," trapped on the narrow, muddy strip of exposed lake bed.
The tribe watched as the apparently amphibious animal - which they described as having a large body, long neck and small head much like other prototypical LAKE MONSTERS such as CHAMP or the LOCH NESS MONSTER - thrashed and writhed in an effort to free itself from its drying perch for days.
The sight filled the Nakota with both awe and terror and not even the bravest warrior dared to approach the creature, which they believed it to be an Unktizina - the vile progeny of the evil spirit Unk and the lizard beast known as UNKCEGI - for fear that the spirit's wrath would bring on even greater hardships than just the drought. Eventually the animal was able to free itself and (presumably) make its way back into the deeper portion of the lake."
American Monsters
http://www.americanmonsters.com/site/2010/10/devils-lake-monsters-wisconsin-usa/
Elkhart Lake. An animal with large jaws was seen in the 1890s. Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942).
Lake Mendota. See BOZHO.
Freshwater Monster of Wisconsin.
Etymology: Potawatomi (Algonquin)... May be a shortened form of the name of the Algonquian trickster figure Manabozho.[ie, "Supernatural"?] Physical description: Serpentine. Long head and neck. Large eyes. Long tongue. Distribution: Lake Mendota, Wisconsin. Significant sightings: On June 27, 1883, Billy Dunn and his wife encountered a huge, green snake with light spots that had to be beaten back from their rowboat with an oar and a hatchet. In the autumn of 1917, a fisherman saw a head and neck 100 feet off Picnic Point. Sources: "A True Snake Story," Madison Wisconsin State Journal, June 28, 1883; "Western Lake Resorts Have Each a Water Monster," Chicago Tribune, July 24, 1892; Char les E. Br own, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942).
Mississippi River. The Menomini Indians warned Jacques Marquette in 1673 that the river was filled with monsters, some like enormous trees, others with tigerlike heads. Jacques Marquette, R'ecit des voyages et des decouvertes du R. p`ere Jacques Marquette de la Compagnie de Jesus (Albany, N.Y.: Weed, Parsons, 1855).
Lake Monona. Eugene Heath took several shots at a 20-foot-long animal on the evening of June 11, 1897. "What-Is-It in Lake," Madison Wisconsin State Journal, June 12, 1897; Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942).
Pewaukee Lake. There were several sightings of a monster in the 1890s. Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942). Red Cedar Lake. A 50-foot animal was seen by a fisherman in 1891. Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942). Lake Ripley. Serpentine animal. Betty Sanders Garner, Monster! Monster! (Blaine, Wash.: Hancock House, 1995), p. 181.
Rock Lake. See ROCKY.
Freshwater Monster of Wisconsin. Etymology: After the lake. Physical description: Spotted dark brown, like a pickerel. Horselike head. Eyes like a snake's. Long neck. Distribution: Rock Lake, Wisconsin. Significant sightings: The earliest sighting was in 1867. On August 28, 1882 (or 1887), Ed McKenzie and D. W. Seybert were in a rowboat race on the lake when they spotted a floating log that turned out to be the head and neck of an animal. The creature was as long as their boat and the color of a pickerel(Pike, spotted green and brown, and Costello says the head reared up out of the water in front of the witnesses). Sources: Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942); Mary M. Wilson, A History of Lake Mills: Creating a Society (Milwaukee, Wis.: Mary M. Wilson, 1983), pp. 521-522; Frank Joseph, The Lost Pyramids of Rock Lake (St. Paul, Minn.: Galde, 1992), pp. 89-95.
Lake Waubesa. A dark-green animal, 60-70 feet long, was seen around 1900. Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942).
see also http://www.atthecreation.com/wis.monsters/deep.html
Hoax Postcard of unknown date, said to come from New Orleans area
"Minnie", a travelling mockup of the "Loch Ness Monster" type, was making the news a while back:
http://www.bringmethenews.com/2013/06/07/minnesotas-answer-to-loch-ness-monster-resurfaces-at-lake-nokomis/
And currently the mockup is on permanent display on Lake Nokomis.
Minne-the-Lake-Monster-photo-Facebook-com-LakeMonster
Recently a similar-appearing cement mockup was erected upriver of New Orleans but authorities wanted it removed since it was in violation of local ordinances.
If nothing else all of this shows a continuing public awareness of the Mississippi River Plesiosaur-shaped water monster, which according to John Keel was known as far back as colonial times and even to the "Mound builders" before them, who represented it in artworks always as being of the Plesiosaurian type.(This was mentioned in his regular column "Mysteries of Tiome And Space" along with a mention of Harold T. Wilkins' sighting of two green Plesiosaurs in a creek in Cornwall, in a book also by that title.)
MORE MISSISSIPPI MONSTERS:
http://kurtisscaletta.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/the-mississippi-river-monster-of-1877/
December 1, 2011 by Kurtis
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER MONSTER OF 1877
"A great many able monsters have been seen by sea captains in different states of gin, but the fresh-water monster which is at present infesting the waters of the Mississippi surpasses the ablest of them. (The New York Times, September 7, 1877)"A handful of stories in the fall of 1877 concern a sea monster in the Mississippi River. The monster is described as being 65 feet long, with the body of a snake, the head of a dog, and a ten-foot tusk-like bill. It has six legs and the mane of a horse. You can find the stories here, and they're all quite enjoyable for their descriptions, style, and quality of evidence. I particularly like the one where the reporter avers the certainty of the monster's existence because it was witnessed by a Methodist minister.What the monster needs is a name. What would you call this pelican-billed dogsnakehorsefish?
[The illustration which goes with this article is entirely fanciful] Since the head of this creature was compared to a dog or a seal although many times larger, because it had a "horn" on its snout and because it had large webbed feet 14 inches across, I suspect this series of reports was once again inspired by an errant Elephant Seal, the whole scenario sounding very much like Roy Mackal's version of the White Lake Monster. The tail is not reported as such and is imaginary, likely the extra pair of limbs also. http://www.unmuseum.org/whiteriv.htm "White River Monster Elephant Seal"
Posted on the Cryptomundo site by way of Jerome Clark is this account of what may actually have been a Mishipizhw or Water-Panther (American Master-Otter) since there is a mention of a long tail and "sawteeth", although the reference is obscure. It was ten feet long and 500 pounds, quite reasonable enough dimensions:
A Terrible Fish Story
A strange monster was captured recently [during May] in the [Missouri] river opposite Canton, by some fishermen, in their seine, while dragging for fish. We know not what to call it, or what it looks like, or how to describe it, for it is unlike any creature of earth, air or water, that we have ever seen. It is not a fish, nor is it an alligator, or crocodile, or a turtle, but resembles the pictures we have often seen in books of the mythical dragon. It is a hideous looking and apparently savage monster - the last remnant of a past age. It has a huge, slimy, scaly body, short, strong legs, immense claws, long, serpent-like tail and sharp teeth, set in, like those of a saw. It chaws up ravenously everything with which it comes in contact, but seems loth [sic] to leave the water even in quest of food, and can only be seen where drawn out by the chain with which it is made fast. We should judge it to be ten feet in length, and it weighs probably 500 pounds. When provoked, it makes a roaring noise similar to a sea lion. The parties having it in charge are having a large tub or tank for it, and they intend to take it to Quincy [Illinois] and St. Louis for exhibition. They have refused a thousand dollars for it. - Lagrange (Mo.) American.South Side Signal, Babylon, New York, May 14, 1870"There is, of course, not the remotest possibility that this story is true, but it's a great yarn anyway." - Jerome Clark Oh and along the way during this search there was a reconstruction of the "Big Blue" catfish under the title "The Legend of Old Blue" http://www.combat-fishing.com/talthebigcatfish.html
Origin: dark-shadowy-line.blogspot.com
Reference: anomalies-in-backyard.blogspot.com
Protest by SW/LITS.
Scientists from a hand out of countries (Russia, the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Estonia, Mongolia and Porcelain), phantom conference this week (Thursday - Saturday), to check the existence of the fabulous creatures established as the Abominable snowman.
From this conference, a form ranks of scientist phantom be sent out to polish the Kemerovo and close to Altai surface, about 1,988 miles (3,200 kilometers) east of Moscow, in search of the elusive "ape-man".
The scientists phantom be cautious about evidence of the existence of the creatures, such as tousled branches, path of up to 14 inches (35 centimeters) and perpendicular undecorated stem huts. Trace phantom along with add together whichever acoustic recordings and photographs and it is perpendicular expected by sultry meeting wardens, that evidence was obtained by a motion-triggered camera in a hole 50 miles from Tashtagol.
Then again introduce had been a extensively less significant follow in September, this new follow phantom be the first of its prepare in the role of 1958, in the function of scientists from the Soviet Academe of Sciences searched Western Siberia, in an attempt to homeland a Abominable snowman.
Igor Burtsev, head of the Moscow-based International business Average of Hominology, a minute ago hypothetical, "In the same way as Homo sapiens started populating the world, it viciously exterminated its side family member in the hominid family, Homo neanderthalensis. Positive of the Neanderthals, at a halt, may assertion survived to this day in some undulating forested habitats that are advanced or less than off limits to their arch foes."
Request these scientists bit absolute proof of the existence of the Yeti? I expect them gamble, as it seems researchers round in our own final yard can't stare to bit proof of the existence of our own Bigfoot (family member of the Yeti?), or proof explicit evidence of Outer space visits from away from space.
If the scientists and researchers do bit proof of Abominable snowman, Bigfoot, aliens, or any of the many other cryptids unerringly round on our own planet, how is that leaving to air our lives? Are they all related in some way? I'm vanished to question... and so are many others.
Surge
Surge
The revelation that a former Scottish police chief believed in the Loch Ness monster and was concerned for its survival underscores how Scottish authorities have sought to protect the iconic beast, says Loren Coleman, a leading experts on mythic animals.
"The Scottish government has long been interested in protecting Nessie," says Loren Coleman, who is co-author of "The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep". "This just reinforces this whole notion (that) the officials in Scotland take this creature very seriously."
Newly publicized documents reveal that a former Scottish police chief believed that the existence of the Loch Ness monster was "beyond doubt" but its protection could not be ensured.
William Fraser, chief constable of Inverness-shire Constabulary in the 1930s, wrote a letter expressing fears that a London man might kill the beast with a large harpoon gun. "That there is some strange creature in Loch Ness seems now beyond doubt, but that the police have any power to protect it is very doubtful," Mr. Fraser wrote.
To be sure, most biologists believe Nessie to be a myth, and nothing more, pointing out that large animals typically leave large remains when they die. No "monster" carcass has ever been found.
But as recently as 1999, Scottish authorities took steps to ensure the safety of their tourist-attracting monster, Mr. Coleman told the Monitor in a telephone interview from Portland, Maine, where he runs the International Cryptozoology Museum.
In 1999, Coleman was set to go on a Nessie-search expedition in a homemade submarine with Dan Scott Taylor. Thirty years earlier, while diving deep in Loch Ness in a one-man submarine, Mr. Taylor had said he undoubtedly bumped into the monster. Now, he wanted to bring with him both a secondary observer - Coleman - and a harpoon so he could take a DNA sample of the beast.
When Scottish authorities caught wind of Taylor's plan, they revoked his exploration permits and the submarine trip never materialized. Taylor died in 2005.
"There's always been the sense that quietly...they were taking the reports more validly. There was a serious acknowledgment that the Loch Ness monster exists," says Coleman.
While the submarine trip never happened, Coleman still presided over a two-week surface expedition in 1999. He interviewed 38 people who claimed to have seen the monster then or in the past, and of those sightings Coleman says eight appeared valid.
Sightings often describe the monster's iconic neck sprouting from the lake, but Coleman says experts agree that those sightings are only of an otter's tail or a water bird's neck. In his opinion, the Loch Ness monster is something like a whale or a walrus.
But sightings have dropped of late. There was only one "credible" reported sighting of the creature in 2009, causing enthusiasts to fear the monster may be dead, reported The Telegraph.
American officials, too, have had their odd beliefs and close encounters with the third kind. The Vermont legislature voted in 1982 to protect the legendary beast "Champ" of Lake Champlain. And current Representative Dennis Kucinich and former presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan have all seen UFOs.
Coleman says that new animal discoveries show that humans still have a lot to learn about the world. Just three weeks ago, scientists reported that they had discovered a new species of giant lizard in the Philippines. Coleman says that the finding underscored how strange animals - from Big Foot to Yeti to the Loch Ness monster - may still be lurking beneath our noses.
"There are animals out there that will surprise us in the future," he says.
On Nov. 2, 2011, Edwards photographed what appears to be a single hump in the water from the deck of his boat, Nessie Hunter. Edwards said that It was slowly moving up the loch towards Urquhart Castle and it was a dark grey color. It was quite a fair way from the boat, probably about half a mile away but it's difficult to tell in water, according to the Daily Mail, which has has posted Edwards photo. He watched the object for five to ten minutes before it slowly sank and did not resurface.
Edwards said he waited to release the photograph until after unnamed experts had examined it. Oddly, he is quoted in the Daily Mail as having had the photograph independently verified by a team of US military monster experts. In fact, the United States military does not have a team of monster experts that it dispatches to investigate huge, unknown creatures around the world. Nor, for that matter, is it clear what verifying his photo would mean other than suggesting it was likely a real (i.e., not digitally faked) image of something in the water - though what that something might be is, of course, the relevant question. The shape could theoretically be anything from a fish to a floating log to a lake monster.
Edwards' description of his sighting raises more questions than it answers. For example, if he had the object in sight for five to 10 minutes, why is there (apparently) only one photograph of it? That's enough time to capture dozens or hundreds of photographs. And though the unknown object seems large, there's no way to determine its size since we don't know the exact distance to the object (though he's quoted as saying it was a half-mile away), and there's nothing of scale nearby to help judge. Depending on how close it is to the camera, it could be 5 feet long or 50 feet long.
A watery clue to the mystery?
There are many unknowns, but if Edwards' account is accurate, it may provide an important clue as to the monster's identity. Other mysterious objects floating in lakes have been known to behave exactly as Edwards described - for example, the most famous sighting of Champ, the monster said to live in Vermont's Lake Champlain. A woman named Sandra Mansi sighted and photographed Champ, resulting in what was called the best photo of the monster, and indeed of any lake monster anywhere. [Our 10 Favorite Monsters]
That dark, humped creature was later revealed to almost certainly be a submerged tree trunk brought to the surface by buoyant gases created during decomposition. It rose to the surface, floated for about five to 10 minutes (during which time it looked exactly like a monstrous hump), then sank back down into the cold water never to be seen again. It is a well-established phenomenon that can - and has - created false lake monster sightings and photographs.
The floating log hypothesis also explains why these images are unusually good: Unlike an animal or wave that appears for mere seconds and creates blurry images, a log remains stationary for minutes, allowing for sharper, clearer photographs. Then they sink back down to the lake floor never to be seen again, having created a monstrous, mysterious best ever photograph.
The solution to one famous best ever lake monster sighting and photo does not necessarily solve another best ever sighting and photo, though Lake Champlain and Loch Ness have many similar characteristics (including wooded shorelines). The similarities are striking, and there's good reason to suspect the same natural hydrologic phenomenon was responsible for both monster photographs.
There is of course a strong economic incentive to promote monsters like Nessie: tourism. Loch Ness is the main tourist draw in the Scottish highlands, and Edwards makes his living guiding visitors who come from all over the world hoping for a glimpse of the famous monster. No one has suggested that Edwards faked the photo, but it's fair to point out that if an ambiguous shape is seen in the waters of Ness, the monster interpretation is far more likely to be accepted than a mundane explanation. If it's a fish or floating log, it's a non-story; if it's a possible best evidence of Nessie, it's international news.
The Loch Ness monster first jumped into international notoriety in the 1930s after a photo was widely published showing a serpentine head and neck. That image, taken by a London surgeon named Kenneth Wilson, was touted as the best evidence for Nessie - until it was admitted to be a hoax decades later.
