At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is - we believe - the largest professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992 the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. Since 2009 we have been running the increasingly popular CFZ Blog Network, and although there has been an American branch of the CFZ for over ten years now, it is only now that it has a dedicated blog.

Wednesday 14 May 2014

AMERICAN LAKE MONSTERS


Recently we looked at some of the more obscure lake monsters.  Today we are looking at some more well known ones.  We start with the Flathead Lake Monster.  The lake it occupies is in Montana and is freshwater.  It is said that the monster figured in the lore of the Kootenay Indians.  Serpentine in its configuration, it is said to proceed in an undulating fashion.  Its color is variously given as brown or black, though the variants may be due to visibility, shade, etc.  In size it has been compared to a whale.  We may be dealing here with a population of monsters, for its length is variously given as 20' to 40'.  It was seen from a vessel, the U.S. Grant, about 1889 (the exact year has not been established).  Since then, there has been a great number of sightings, but some of the reports would appear to be of a fish.  

The monster of Lake Memphremagog on the American-Canadian border is well-known to monsterologists.  The head has been said to resemble that of a dragon.  Widely varying elements of length have been given, perhaps indicating the existence once again of more than one monster.  It has been reported since the 19th Century.  The creature is thought to live in a deep part of the lake under Owl's Mountain.

Reports of the Lake Manitou Monster continued until at least 2006.  The Potawatomi Indians believed there was a monster in this Indiana lake and a number of alleged sightings were reported in the Logansport Telegraph in 1835.  There have been discoveries of mastodon bones in the area and Roy Mackal has suggested that they may have given rise to the Indian legends.  Of course, maybe the monster ate mastodons and spit out the bones.  The monster is said to be 60' long.  Its head was described by one witness as resembling a cow's.

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