THE DREADED TAWAGA

Should you happen to be in Nevada and in monster-hunting mood, I can assure you that you may well find your quarry in Walker Lake.  The Paiute Indians knew all about this creature, or, rather, creatures, for they maintained a pair of them dwelt in its waters.  It first seems to have been observed by white settlers in 1868.  Speculation is that there is only a single monster, dwelling in caves by night.  The idea of the Paiutes, who call the beast Tawaga, seems to me much more sensible.  A single specimen, for all the legends to accrue to it, would need to have been living there from time immemorial, if not further back.  A pair, on the other hand, could generate more tawagas, the number rarely exceeding two provided that the stronger devoured the weaker.

This monster has been given the nickname Cecil, which strikes me as a slightly effete name for a monster.  Although I describe it as dreaded, I know of no records of attacks on humans.  It's just that monsters tend to be dreaded.

Walker Lake, Nevada