All Things weird and slimy

Across western Canada, at least 19 water monsters have reputedly been spotted in three of the four provinces. Only Alberta is, apparently, monster free (though even as we say this, ominous coils are probably breaking the surface of Lesser Slave Lake and fuzzy, inconclusive photos being shot). By far the largest number of sightings -a minimum of 12- are from British Columbia, where no summer passes without a couple of additional bizarre reports. Perhaps this has something to do with that province's greater human population. Maybe monsters prefer the laid-back lifestyle and milder winters.

Some folklorists and so-called cryptozoologists (students of unknown animals) claim the similarity of appearance of most of the western creatures suggests a common ancestry, but close scrutiny of the accounts reads more like a medieval bestiary. The creature in central Vancouver Island's Sproat Lake has two humps, says John Kirk, a member of the B.C. Cryptozoology Club, who says he saw the beast.

Ben Blatz of North Battleford, Saskatchewan, says he's heard people describe the thing in nearby Turtle Lake as horse-headed or eel-headed... or even, yes, pig-headed. The monster called Sicopogo, who lives in B.C.'s Shuswap Lake, not far from Kamloops looks like a gigantic, black eel.

Naturally there has never been any real evidence of any of these monsters' existence (word on Okanagan Lake's Ogopogo -the most sighted of the west's serpents -is still pending.) Like the animals of the bestiaries, these creatures seem more allegorical than anything else. What do they say about us? You figure it out. The following examples may provide clues:

Caddy or Cadborosaurus
Champ
Manipogo
Memphré
The Turtle Lake Monster
Utopia Lake Monster
Igopogo

Other's Ogopogo's Cousins

A research has been launched by Dr. Paul Lablond (Head of the Oceanography at U.B.C.) to correlate all information available on water monsters in lakes and oceans, on and around the fiftieth parallel. Following is a list of such monsters as compiled to date.

SHUNUKLAS -(Shuny to some) In 1976 Annie Jim of Port Douglas told the Vancouver Province that according to native elders this sea serpent of Harrison Lake, can change to look like anything he wants to, sometimes a horse, sometimes a snake. This creature rarely reported, but according to residents settled around the lake he still exists.

THE SERPENT OF SADDLE LAKE -Halloween night, 1984, an Alberta government helicopter flew out to Saddle Lake to hunt for a mysterious monster. Professor James Butler, Social Science professor at the University of Alberta feels that there may be some truth to the story.

PONIK -Known since 1974 when this sea serpent was adopted by the local residents as the community's mascot has been seen in Lac Phenegamook, Quebec and has been described as black and dragon like, as long as three canoes, fast like a boat, yet quiet as a midnight breeze.

ANNEPOGO -(Named after Ogopogo) Prince Edward Island's most feared monster, a nine meter long garter snake with a potato-like head that surfaces every decade to eat discarded copies of the Anne of Green Gables series. Like Saskipogo, it has never been seen by anyone, but Prince Edward Island didn't want to be left out.

THE CREATURE OF GRAND BANK, NEWFOUNDLAND -First seen on August 30, 1913 and described as follows: a great head, long fin like ears and great blue eyes. The eyes are mild and liquid with no indication of ferocity. Following the eyes came a neck, 20 feet in length, resembling that of a giraffe. The neck seemed to be set on a ball-bearing, so supple was it and so easily and rhythmically did it sway. Three horned fins surmounted its bony head, probably for defence and attack or for ripping things up...