A Texan Alligator
Posted by: Nick Redfern on May 17th, 2012
Back in the late 1960s, a strange and diabolical beast was seen around Lake Worth, Texas. Its name was the Goatman and, during the summer of 1969, it caused a brief wave of monster-based hysteria among the locals of the town, the lake, and its immediate surroundings.
Well, the legendary cryptid of the lake now has a rival. Far more down to earth and explainable than the creature of the Sixties, this one – even though it’s now dead – is no less worthy of comment!
About Nick Redfern
Punk music fan, Tennents Super and Carlsberg Special Brew beer fan, horror film fan, chocolate fan, like to wear black clothes, like to stay up late. Work as a writer.
My grandfather helped to maintain a neighborhood fishing pier on Cedar Creek Reservoir between Seven Points and Tool, Texas, and across the lake from Gun Barrel City, roughly sixty miles southeast of Dallas. Cedar Creek’s water is used by Forth Worth and much of Tarrant County.
I remember, as a child, that he claimed to have seen at least one alligator around the concrete boat ramp and the pier’s wooden pilings often over the years, but I’ve not heard of any alligators in Cedar Creek since those days.
Ft. Worth is my hometown, and I’ve been birding at the Ft. Worth Nature Center many times. I’m not surprised at all that a big gator would be found in that area, it seems like prime real estate for North America’s reptilian king.