Maine

1Turner Beast On the record

Beast · Route 4, Turner, Androscoggin County · first reported Early 2000s; carcass found August 2006 · also called Androscoggin Creature, Maine Mutant

For years, people in Androscoggin and Kennebec counties talked about a wild canine that mauled dogs and scared residents. In August 2006 a strange dark animal was found dead beside Route 4 in Turner, apparently hit by a car. Photos showed a lean, wolf-like body with an oddly flat, short snout, and the local paper wondered in print whether this was the long-rumored beast. The story spread fast and the press dubbed it the Maine Mutant. Genetic testing later identified the carcass as a domestic dog. Researchers still debate whether that one dog explains the earlier years of attacks, or whether the name simply got pinned on the first odd body anyone found.

• August 16, 2006On the record Lewiston Sun Journal reporter Mark LaFlamme wrote about the dead animal, suggesting it could be the mystery creature blamed for mauling dogs in the area, or simply a dog that had been living wild in the woods. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• After 2006On the record DNA testing identified the carcass as a domestic dog. A Florida woman later claimed it was her lost chow-chow, but researchers note the test indicated a male while her dog was female. Source: preston-posits.com

2Cassie, the Casco Bay Sea Serpent On the record

Water monster · Casco Bay and Portland Harbor · first reported 1779 · also called Cassie, Scotty (Penobscot Bay)

Maine's coast has its own sea serpent tradition, centered on Casco Bay off Portland and nicknamed Cassie. Reports stretch back to the Revolutionary War era and include naval officers, ship captains and a long-time fisherman. Witnesses describe a long, snake-like body, a broad head held up on a thick neck, and in some cases a forked tail. Sizes run from tens of feet to a claimed hundred feet. The Maine reports are part of a wider New England sea serpent wave that also hit Gloucester, Massachusetts. Skeptics point to whales, basking sharks, seals swimming in a line, and floating debris. Believers note how many experienced mariners put their names to these accounts.

• 1779On the record Edward Preble, then a young officer aboard the Protector, reported a large serpent in Penobscot Bay with its head raised well above the water. He fired on it and missed, and it went under. Source: emergencemagazine.org
• 1905On the record Major General H. C. Merriam and his sons said a huge serpent circled their boat as they sailed toward Wood Island Light near the mouth of the Saco. Source: emergencemagazine.org
• June 5, 1958On the record Fisherman Ole Mikkelsen described a long creature with a broad head on a thick, snake-like neck and a forked tail. He put its length at around a hundred feet. It is often called the last widely trusted sighting. Source: emergencemagazine.org

Visiting: The International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland covers New England sea serpent lore.

3Specter Moose On the record

Beast · Lobster Lake, Piscataquis County · first reported 1891 · also called Spectre Moose, White Moose of Lobster Lake

The Specter Moose is the North Woods ghost story that sportsmen kept telling newspapers. Starting in 1891, guides and hunters reported a giant pale moose around Lobster Lake and later across northern Maine. Accounts describe an animal far bigger than any normal bull, with a whitish or glowing hide and a huge spread of antlers. Hunters said they shot at it with no effect, and several claimed it charged them. A 1900 newspaper called it the wonder of northern Maine sportsmen. Later tales grow wilder, including a moose that vanished from a hunting camp after being killed. Skeptics suggest an albino or very pale bull, exaggerated over decades of camp storytelling.

• 1891On the record Hunting guide Clarence Duffy of Old Town reported a large white moose at Lobster Lake but could not get a shot. Bangor lumberman John Ross backed up his account. Source: legendsofamerica.com
• 1899On the record Gilman Brown of West Newbury, Massachusetts, said he counted 22 antler points on one side near the Roach River and fired five shots without any visible effect. Source: legendsofamerica.com
• 1906On the record George Kneeland of Sherman said the moose charged him on the road between Sherman and Macwahoc. He climbed a tree while the animal looked over his bicycle and left. Source: legendsofamerica.com
• 1938Told story A hunter named Houston reported a herd of moose in the Chesuncook region with one giant, luminous white bull that disappeared when he looked away. Source: legendsofamerica.com

4Wessie On the record

Water monster · Presumpscot River, Westbrook · first reported June 2016 · also called Westbrook snake

Wessie is a modern cryptid with a lab result attached. In the summer of 2016, a woman told Westbrook police she had seen a huge snake by the Presumpscot River near Riverbank Park. Days later a police officer on night patrol reported a big snake eating what looked like a beaver. The town went wild, with searches, songs and a beer named after the snake. In August a man found a shed skin about twelve feet long on the riverbank. Genetic testing by a university biologist identified it as a female green anaconda, a South American species. Experts said such a snake was likely an escaped or released pet and could not survive a Maine winter.

• June 2016On the record A woman reported a snake she said was as big as a truck to Westbrook police. Later in June, an officer on night patrol reported seeing a large snake eating what appeared to be a beaver near the same spot. Source: nationalgeographic.com
• August 20, 2016On the record A man found a shed snakeskin about 12 feet long along the river. Mitochondrial DNA testing identified it as a green anaconda, at least ten years old. Source: nationalgeographic.com

Visiting: Riverbank Park on the Presumpscot River in Westbrook is a public park.

5Pocomoonshine Lake Monster On the record

Water monster · Pocomoonshine Lake, Alexander and Princeton, Washington County · first reported 1882 (modern reports) · also called Poco, Chain Lake Serpent

Down East, in the lake country of Washington County, locals once talked about a giant serpent moving between Pocomoonshine Lake, Chain Lake and nearby waters. In the winter of 1882, residents described wide trails pressed through the snow between lakes, which they took as proof of a creature thirty to sixty feet long. A newspaper debate followed, with one letter writer arguing the claims were nonsense. Local histories connect the story to much older Passamaquoddy water-monster traditions, which should be treated as a living culture rather than as cryptid fodder. A naturalist of the era offered a simple answer: otters swimming nose to tail can look like one long body.

• January 1882On the record A man named Hunnewell of Alexander was said to have found a trail about four feet wide crossing the snow, and others named Hall and Libby were tied to reports at Chain Lake. Source: mainething.com
• March 21, 1882On the record The Machias Union published a letter from Sewell S. Quimby disputing the monster claims and offering ordinary explanations. Source: mainething.com
• Mid-1890sTold story Arthur Harriman reportedly saw tracks near Pocomoonshine Lake that he connected to the serpent. Source: mainething.com

6Pamola Told story

Winged · Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park · first reported Penobscot tradition; written down by 1846 · also called Pomola, Bmola

Pamola is a spirit of storms and cold in Penobscot tradition, tied to Mount Katahdin. It belongs to a living Wabanaki culture and is not a cryptid in the usual sense, so this entry sticks to how the story reached hikers. Penobscot descriptions recorded in English give Pamola the head of a moose, a man's body, and an eagle's wings and feet, and say it guards the summit. Henry David Thoreau wrote in 1846 that Pamola was always angry with those who climbed to the top. Early Baxter State Park ranger Roy Dudley later made Pamola the star of his campfire tales. Today the name is on the map: Pamola Peak sits at the east end of the Knife Edge.

• 1846On the record Thoreau, writing about his trip toward the summit, recorded the warning that Pamola is angered by those who climb the mountain. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1920s-1930sTold story Ranger Roy Dudley became known for telling Pamola stories to visitors around park campfires, helping spread the legend among hikers. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Pamola Peak on Katahdin, Baxter State Park; reservations and serious hiking experience required.