Lake Monster Mysteries by Benjamin Radford

Author:Benjamin Radford
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2011-02-09T08:00:00+00:00

5

LAKE CRESCENT

Lake Crescent is a picturesque body of water in northeastern Newfoundland near the small town of Robert’s Arm (figure 5.1). Settlement of the area dates to the 1870s, although native peoples, including the Beothuk Indians, were early visitors. Robert’s Arm (formerly Rabbit’s Arm) has a population of about a thousand. The scenery is gorgeous, with walking trails snaking over lush green hills and around the placid lake. Deep and cold, Lake Crescent is allegedly home to Newfoundland’s own lake monster, affectionately known as “Cressie” (figure 5.2).

Local Indian myths and lore are often cited by cryptozoologists as evidence for the existence of mysterious creatures. As we have seen, this is the case with other lake monsters, including Champ and Memphre, and Cressie is no exception. Indian legends tell of two entities supposedly related to Cressie: the woodum haoot (“pond devil”) and the haoot tuwedyee (“swimming demon”). Several sources make this claim (e.g., Kirk 1998; Eberhart 2002), and it is tempting to marshal old native stories and legends into modern evidence. However, one must be careful. Our own Western folklore tradition includes fantastic creatures from long ago, such as fairies and leprechauns, but these stories are not meant to be taken literally. References to the woodum haoot and haoot tuwedyee seem to have been simply copied from one source to another, and the connection to Cressie has never been verified.

SIGHTINGS

To date, the Lake Crescent monster has not been photographed. Virtually all the evidence for Cressie’s existence comes from eyewitness sightings and reports. Of course, in order for Cressie to exist, there would have to be a breeding population of the animals, probably a dozen or more. Although there has been no organized, sustained effort to verify the creature’s existence, no hard evidence—bones, live specimens, or carcasses—has been found. As of this writing, there have been about a dozen Cressie sightings since the 1940s. Of these, only a handful are detailed enough to be significant.

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