In Search Of The Beast of Busco
Posted by: Loren Coleman on June 22nd, 2011
Yesterday and today, I find myself in north-central Indiana, tracking down information on the Beast of Busco. Some have said it is still seen today. The annual festival just took place last week, so folks here are still in a heightened state of awareness, of course.
The story of the Beast of Busco is relatively well-known. A giant turtle was sighted in Fulks Lake in 1949, a search party was organized, and it became national news. Since it was described as the size of a “dining room table,” it was thus bigger than any alligator snapping turtles seen around these parts.
The Indiana newspapers published lots of photographs of the hunts and the crowds. Then in the years that came after, pictures of the turtle floats and structures created as turtles would be printed in the local media.
I’m also going to check out nearby Decatur, Indiana, where the actual shell of “Oscar” is said to still be kept.
From the files of the Indianapolis Star.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Bon voyage Loren! Ol’ Oscar is a fun critter. I’ve always thought it unlikely that that kind of ruckus could build up over nothing at all. Are you planning on searching the lake for signs?
Is that a regular snapping turtle or an alligator snapper? I know they CAN reach huge sizes if the body of water and food supply are available to them. There is a soft shelled turtle in Asia (N. Korea, I think) that gets pretty massive as a matter of course. No reason to think a few freshwater turtles in North America can’t reach some pretty impressive sizes if they can avoid predation.
Curious if ‘Oscar’ was a one off sort of thing or if they just manage to grow large due to optimal conditions (and do those conditions still exist).
Have a lovely trip Loren! Happy turtle hunting!
My interest in Cryptozoology was sparked by a Disney Adventures magazine when I was a kid. Oscar was one of the “monsters” profiled. Still sits in my mind as one of the premiere cryptids…. even if it isn’t, really.