Do Lake Monsters Roar?
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 11th, 2010
Algona Republican
Algona, Iowa
June 4, 1879
The Lake Champlain water monster has been seen again, this time by a “trustworthy and temperate farmer.” He describes it as having a head like a serpent, only much larger; showing fifteen feet of its body above the water, and making a noise like the discharge of a gun.
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.
could it be a cousin of the european eel? they can live up to 88 years. and there distant cousins can get past 40 feet in length. They also crawl out of the water at night to hunt for prey to eat. Its a pretty neat animal. And there really fast out of the water. They can even get up on trees. now im not sure if anyone has seen them on trees but these animals are very adaptable.
“like the discharge of a gun”?
Maybe this noise was due to it slamming back into the water? 15 feet of head and neck would make a considerable noise if it submerged quickly.
Sorry shownuff, but there are no known eels which come only close to 40 feet. Perhaps you are meaning oarfish, but at first they aren´t related to eels at all, but the often claimed length of 11 m is also highly dubious. Maximum lengths of around 7 m are much more probable.
The very largest true eels are conger eels which can in exceptional cases reach around 3 m and the giant moray Gymnothorax javanicus which reaches similar lengths.
I suppose it depends on where in the animal kingdom it fits…obviously not a bird, and most likely not an insect.
If it’s a reptile, well alligators and lizards can make sounds, but I don’t know enough to know if size would have any influence other than decibel levels. If it’s a mammal or pinniped, then walruses and sea lions could definitely make noises that fit that description–bark like noises. If it’s a fish of some sort, I doubt it, but who knows…not up on that front either.
And perhaps there was another source for the noise that the farmer wasn’t aware of. Of course, the force of slamming back down into the water could be the culprit too.