Canada

Kinosoo Told story

Water monster · Cold Lake, Alberta · first reported Pre-settlement Cree oral tradition · also called The Big Fish, Cold Lake monster

Cold Lake sits in Alberta's northeast corner by the Saskatchewan border. It covers about 373 square kilometres and runs more than 100 metres deep, which makes it one of the province's biggest and deepest lakes. Local First Nations people told early settlers about Kinosoo, a name usually given as The Big Fish. In the best-known version, a young Cree man paddled across the lake to meet the woman he loved. A huge creature with a monstrous head and gaping jaws rose from the water and bit his canoe in two. He was never seen again, and pieces of the canoe later washed up marked with deep tooth gouges. Retellings usually picture Kinosoo as a giant lake trout. Modern sightings are rare, but the name lives on in the town's beach, art and businesses.

• TraditionalTold story A young Cree man crossing Cold Lake by canoe to meet the woman he loved was attacked by Kinosoo, which bit the canoe in half. He vanished, and canoe pieces with large tooth marks later washed up on shore. Local First Nations are said to have told the story to early settlers. Source: dailyhive.com
• ModernTold story Local media note that Kinosoo rarely makes appearances today, but the legend is kept alive through Kinosoo Beach, local artwork, tourism promotion and business names in Cold Lake. Source: townandcountrytoday.com

Visiting: Kinosoo Beach in the city of Cold Lake is a public sandy beach named after the creature.

Lake Minnewanka and Bow Valley Sasquatch Told story

Ape-like · Lake Minnewanka, Banff National Park, and Canmore, Alberta · first reported 1895

Banff National Park's Lake Minnewanka has one of the oldest strings of Sasquatch stories in the Canadian Rockies. A local news retelling says 19-inch footprints were found near the south shore in 1895, and that in 1898 and 1899 settlers met a two-legged animal taller than seven feet, often with rifle fire. The last report of that run came late in 1899, when a man on horseback said he saw a creature walking with a bad limp. A boating group reported something near the shoreline in 2016. Down the valley, drivers who stopped near the Bow River Campground at Canmore to photograph the Three Sisters peaks have twice said they saw a Sasquatch by the river. The Stoney Nakoda area is described as a hotspot, with four of five members of one family reporting lifetime encounters. See the main Bigfoot dossier for the wider story.

Full story: Bigfoot →

• 1895-1899Told story Accounts collected by local media describe 19-inch tracks near Minnewanka's south shore in 1895, then encounters in 1898-99 with a bipedal animal over seven feet tall, often met with rifle fire by settlers, ending with a rider who saw one with a bad limp late in 1899. Source: rmotoday.com
• 1970sTold story A Stoney woman said that in the 1970s, coming home from school with her siblings, they watched an ape-like creature climbing a hill. Source: rmotoday.com
• 2016Told story A group out boating on Lake Minnewanka reported seeing the creature near the shoreline. Keenan of the Alberta Sasquatch Organization told local media that most people would not come forward even to family or friends because of the stigma. Source: rmotoday.com

Visiting: Lake Minnewanka is a short drive from the Banff townsite, with a day-use area, shoreline trail and boat cruises.

Nordegg and Rocky Mountain House Sasquatch Told story

Ape-like · Nordegg / Rocky Mountain House area, Clearwater County, Alberta · first reported Unknown

In September 2018 the Heritage Discovery Centre at Centre 2000 in Grande Prairie opened a year-long exhibit called In the Shadows of the Rockies: Alberta's Sasquatch Stories. Its curator, Charles Taws, who has had a lifelong interest in the subject, named the Nordegg and Rocky Mountain House area as the absolute hotspot for Alberta sightings. The exhibit also drew on stories from Jasper and Medicine Hat, and displayed artwork, coins, collectibles and eyewitness accounts. Taws was open about the limits of the evidence, saying there is no solid scientific proof and that all that exists is footprints and sightings. He told visitors they did not have to believe, and pitched the show at skeptics and believers alike. This short entry marks the Nordegg area on the map; see the Bigfoot dossier for the broader Sasquatch picture.

Full story: Bigfoot →

• 2018On the record Curator Charles Taws told local media that the Nordegg and Rocky Mountain House area is the province's leading Sasquatch hotspot. He stressed that only footprints and sightings exist, not scientific proof. Source: rdnewsnow.com

Visiting: Nordegg is on the David Thompson Highway (Hwy 11) west of Rocky Mountain House, gateway to the Bighorn backcountry.

Cadborosaurus On the record

Water monster · Cadboro Bay, Victoria, British Columbia · first reported 1930s (name); older coastal traditions · also called Caddy, Cadborosaurus willsi, hiyitl'iik, t'chain-ko

Caddy is the sea serpent of Canada's Pacific coast. It takes its name from Cadboro Bay near Victoria, and a Victoria newspaper editor, Archie Wills, gave it the nickname. Witnesses along the Strait of Georgia and beyond have described a long, snake-like animal with a horse- or camel-like head and humps that rise and fall. Several coastal First Nations have their own names for a creature of this kind. The most famous piece of evidence is a carcass pulled from a sperm whale's stomach at Naden Harbour in 1937 and photographed. A museum director thought it might be a fetal baleen whale. Skeptics, including zoologist Darren Naish, argue the reports describe many different things, from sea lions to oarfish and basking sharks.

• 1937On the record At the Naden Harbour whaling station on Haida Gwaii, workers found a long, strange carcass inside a sperm whale's stomach. Photographs were taken and still circulate. Museum director Francis Kermode tentatively identified it as a fetal baleen whale, while Caddy researchers have argued it was something unknown. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1943On the record Two police officers, Robert Owens and Jack Russell, reported seeing what looked like a sea monster in the Strait of Georgia. Russell later used binoculars and concluded it was a large bull sea lion leading six others, their bobbing line making one long body. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1968On the record W. Hagelund said he caught a baby Caddy near De Courcy Island and then let it go back into the water. No photograph or specimen was kept. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Cadboro Bay and the Victoria waterfront are public; watch from shore.

K'ak'awin, the Sproat Lake sea creatures Told story

Water monster · Sproat Lake Provincial Park, near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, British Columbia · first reported Pre-contact (petroglyphs) · also called Sproat Lake petroglyph creatures

On a rock face at Sproat Lake, west of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, ancient carvings known as the K'ak'awin petroglyphs show strange creature forms. Many people believe they were carved by ancestors of the Nuu-chah-nulth. The Wikipedia entry for the lake says the K'ak'awin figure may represent a mythical or actual sea creature from ancient times. A CBC roundup of British Columbia lake lore noted that a sign at the site says some of the petroglyphs could represent mythical sea serpents. The lake was known by the anglicized Nootka name Kleecoot until 1864, when Robert Brown renamed it after Gilbert Malcolm Sproat. The carvings are a living part of First Nations heritage, so this entry sticks to what is publicly described and does not try to interpret their meaning.

• AncientTold story Carvings on the lakeshore rock at Sproat Lake show creature forms. The K'ak'awin figure is described as possibly a mythical or actual sea creature, and many believe the art was made by Nuu-chah-nulth ancestors. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• Undated (CBC)Told story A CBC roundup of British Columbia lake lore listed Sproat Lake, noting that a site sign says some petroglyphs could represent mythical sea serpents. The piece quoted cryptozoology club president John Kirk as saying sightings have been logged at 42 B.C. lakes, none scientifically confirmed. Source: amp.cbc.ca

Visiting: Sproat Lake Provincial Park is on the lake's shore; treat the petroglyphs with respect and do not touch the carvings.

Ogopogo Told story

Water monster · Okanagan Lake, British Columbia

Canada's best-known lake monster, said to live in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. Other Canadian lake creatures, such as Manipogo, were named after it. The full story, sightings and evidence are in the main Ogopogo dossier.

Full story: Ogopogo →

Sasquatch Told story

Ape-like · Harrison Hot Springs and the BC coast ranges · also called Bigfoot

Canada's name for the hairy giant of the western forests. The word Sasquatch comes from British Columbia, and reports span the country. See the main Bigfoot dossier for the full record.

Full story: Bigfoot →

Shuswaggi On the record

Water monster · Shuswap Lake, British Columbia · first reported 1904 · also called Ta-zam-a, Shuswap Lake monster

Shuswaggi is said to live in Shuswap Lake in BC's interior. Its story has two faces. One old account describes a furry, grizzly-sized animal with big feet like a water mole, called by a Salish name that roughly means 'water bear'. Later witnesses describe something long and grey-black, like a giant eel or serpent. The earliest tale says a Secwepemc hunter killed and skinned one in 1904 and sold the hide at an Enderby trading post. Reports followed in 1948, 1970 and 1984, and a 2018 account renewed interest. Cryptid researcher Adam Benedict has written up the legend. The name now turns up on local menus and coffee bags. With no body or clear photo, the case rests entirely on eyewitness stories.

• 1904Told story A Secwepemc hunter is said to have killed and skinned the animal and sold the hide for $60 at a trading post in Enderby. Source: nelsonstar.com
• 1948Told story A fisherman said something huge swam beneath his boat. Source: nelsonstar.com
• 1970Told story A family at a birthday party watched a long, grey-green object moving through the water. Source: nelsonstar.com
• 1984On the record Linda Griffiths and her children said they watched a serpent-like animal through binoculars. Source: nelsonstar.com

Visiting: Shuswap Lake's beaches and marinas (Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Anglemont) are open to visitors.

Thetis Lake Monster Proven hoax

Humanoid · Thetis Lake, near Victoria, British Columbia · first reported 1972 · also called Thetis Lake Gill-man

In August 1972 two teenage boys told police that a scaly, man-shaped creature had come out of Thetis Lake, a swimming spot on the edge of Victoria, and come at them on the beach after dark. They described silvery scales, sharp claws and spikes on its head. Two more boys fishing on the far shore said they saw it too. The RCMP looked into the report but found nothing. Writers noted that the description closely matched the Gill-man of the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon. Years later writer Daniel Loxton tracked down one of the original witnesses, who admitted the tale had been made up for attention. Loxton also pointed out that a film about a scaly gill-man attacking teenagers on a beach had aired on local television four days before the report.

• Aug 22, 1972On the record Two teenagers reported that a scaly humanoid with claws and a spiked head rose from the water at the Thetis Lake beach after dark and came at them. A second pair of boys on the far shore later said they had seen it as well. The RCMP investigated and found no evidence. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• Later decadesProven hoax Writer Daniel Loxton contacted one of the original witnesses, who admitted the story was invented to get attention. Loxton pointed out that a beach gill-man film had played on local TV four days before the sighting. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Thetis Lake Regional Park is a public swimming and hiking area just west of Victoria.

Manipogo On the record

Water monster · Lake Manitoba, near Toutes Aides, Manitoba · first reported 1909 · also called Winnepogo

Manipogo is Lake Manitoba's long-necked serpent. Land inspector Tom Locke coined the name in 1960 by blending 'Manitoba' and 'Ogopogo'. First Nations stories of serpent-like beings in the lakes came first, and settler reports start with a Hudson's Bay Company fur trader in 1909. Witnesses describe a brownish-black, snake-like animal from 4 to 15 metres long, with one or more humps. Some speak of a head like a horse, camel or sheep, and a few describe a cry like a prehistoric beast. In 1962 two fishermen took the only known photo. University of Manitoba professor James McLeod looked for remains and found none. Skeptics suggest swimming moose, otters, floating logs and large lake sturgeon.

• 1909On the record Hudson's Bay Company fur trader Valentine McKay said he saw a huge creature in Cedar Lake. It is the first recorded sighting by a settler. Source: cbc.ca
• August 10, 1960On the record Tom Locke and 16 others reported seeing three creatures near Toutes Aides. Locke named the animal Manipogo the same year. Source: cbc.ca
• August 12, 1962On the record Fishermen Richard Vincent and John Konefell said they saw a large serpent-like animal near the mouth of the Waterhen River, about 60 yards off. Vincent's picture is still the only photograph tied to Manipogo. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 2004On the record Commercial fisherman Keith Haden reported torn nets near The Narrows, with fish bitten in half. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Manipogo Provincial Park sits on the lake's northwest shore; St. Laurent holds a Manipogo Festival in early March.

Norway House Sasquatch video On the record

Ape-like · Nelson River, Norway House Cree Nation, Manitoba · first reported 2005

In April 2005, Bobby Clarke, a member of the Norway House Cree Nation in northern Manitoba, recorded a short video along the Nelson River that his family believed showed a Sasquatch. News reports described the clip as showing a tall, dark figure moving along the river, with one report calling it a large humanoid creature. Clarke received hundreds of calls and visits once word got out. He declined to show the tape publicly at first, and his family talked of enhancing and selling it. By the end of April a U.S. television program had bought the footage, though few people had seen it and no air date was announced. No official or scientific review of the clip was reported in the coverage found. The case marks northern Manitoba on the Sasquatch map; see the main Bigfoot dossier for the wider picture.

Full story: Bigfoot →

• Apr 21-22, 2005On the record Bobby Clarke filmed a tall, dark figure moving along the Nelson River near Norway House. His family believed it was a Sasquatch, and he was flooded with calls and visitors but kept the tape private. Source: indianz.com
• Late Apr 2005On the record Clarke sold the footage to a U.S. television show. Reports said few had seen it and there was no word on when it would air. Source: indianz.com

Winnipogo Told story

Water monster · Lake Winnipegosis and Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba · first reported Indigenous tradition; settler reports from the early 1900s · also called Lake Winnipegosis monster

Winnipogo is the name given to the creature reported in Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis, the big lakes north of Lake Manitoba. It is treated as a cousin of the better-known Manipogo, and writers often bundle the two. Witnesses describe the same kind of animal: a serpent four to fifteen metres long, black or brown, with at least one hump showing above the water. Head descriptions vary from horse-like to camel- or sheep-like, and some say it cries as it surfaces. First Nations stories of these lake beings are said to go back centuries, and Cottage Life notes sightings since the 1800s with no photograph to show for them. The first settler report in Manitoba is usually credited to Hudson's Bay Company fur trader Valentine McKay in 1909, though that sighting was at Cedar Lake.

• VariousTold story Prairie writers note sightings on both Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis, describing a serpent-like animal four to fifteen metres long with humps, much like Manipogo, though specific dates are not given. Source: theflatlander.ca
• 1909On the record Hudson's Bay Company fur trader Valentine McKay is credited with the first settler sighting of a Manitoba lake serpent, at Cedar Lake, which drains to Lake Winnipeg. Source: macleans.ca

Dungarvon Whooper Told story

Other · Dungarvon River, Northumberland County, New Brunswick · first reported c. 1850-1875

The Dungarvon Whooper is New Brunswick's best-known backwoods haunting, and it centres on a sound rather than a body. The legend says that in the mid-1800s a young Irish cook, usually called Ryan, worked at a lumber camp on the Dungarvon River, a branch of the Miramichi. He carried his money in a belt. When the crew came back from the woods, they found him dead and the belt gone, and suspicion fell on the camp boss. The men buried him in the forest, and from then on the camp was tormented by terrible whooping cries in the night. Lumbermen abandoned the place. The story says the noise stopped only after Rev. Edward Murdoch of Renous prayed over the grave. Michael Whelan's 1912 poem made the tale famous across the Miramichi.

• c. 1850-1875Told story After the murdered cook was buried near camp, workers reported loud, unearthly whooping that drove them out. A priest from Renous is said to have ended it with prayers at the grave. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1895Told story Reporter Frederick Irland wrote of meeting a mysterious old man at an abandoned logging camp in the area, an encounter some later linked to the Whooper. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Whooper Spring marks the traditional grave site, and a chainsaw carving of Ryan stands in a municipal park in the Miramichi River Valley.

Gougou of Miscou Island Told story

Humanoid · Miscou Island, Gloucester County, New Brunswick · first reported 1603 (Champlain) · also called Gougou

The Gougou is one of the oldest Mi'kmaq legends in Canadian folklore, and one of the first to be put into European writing. In 1603 the explorer Samuel de Champlain mentioned it when writing about his exploration of the region. The Gougou is described as an ogress living on Miscou Island, at the northeast tip of New Brunswick in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Three centuries later, in 1903, the naturalist William F. Ganong tried to trace the legend while surveying the area. Beyond the word ogress, the published summary gives few physical details. The Gougou is part of Mi'kmaq tradition, and this entry sticks to the published history of how Europeans heard and wrote about it rather than its deeper cultural meaning.

• 1603On the record Samuel de Champlain wrote down Mi'kmaq accounts of a frightening ogress, the Gougou, said to live on an island in the region. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1903On the record Three centuries after Champlain, naturalist William F. Ganong looked into the Gougou legend while carrying out surveys of Miscou Island and the surrounding area of northeast New Brunswick. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Miscou Island is reached by bridge and has a historic lighthouse and beaches.

Old Ned Told story

Water monster · Lake Utopia, near St. George, Charlotte County, New Brunswick · first reported Maliseet tradition; 19th century · also called Lake Utopia monster

Lake Utopia is a narrow lake about seven kilometres long just northeast of St. George, near the Bay of Fundy. Its monster, Old Ned, has a long local pedigree. One traditional story says two Maliseet men were canoeing on the lake when the creature appeared and chased them. Later descriptions give it a long, bulky, whale-like shape, and some tellings say it is a toothless plant-eater. Cottage Life adds a dorsal fin and a flat tail and suggests it may be a basking shark. Wikipedia's list of lake monsters describes it as about 20 feet long, reddish-brown and eel-like, and the Canadian Encyclopedia lists Lake Utopia among lakes with reports of horse-headed, serpentine creatures. A 1908 sea-serpent report from the Bay of Fundy near Cutler, Maine, is mentioned alongside the legend.

• TraditionalTold story Two Maliseet men canoeing on Lake Utopia were chased by a large creature that suddenly appeared near them. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• Jul 28, 1908On the record The crew of the schooner Madagasca reported a sea serpent in the Bay of Fundy near Cutler, Maine, a sighting sometimes connected to Old Ned. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Cressie On the record

Water monster · Crescent Lake, Robert's Arm, Newfoundland · first reported 1950s · also called Crescent Lake monster

Robert's Arm, a small town on Newfoundland's north coast, has embraced the eel-like monster said to live in Crescent Lake. Its name blends Crescent and Nessie. Stories go back to the 1950s, when woodsmen spoke of a large, slick animal and a local grandmother had a fright while picking berries by the water. Witnesses describe a dark brown or black body 15 to 20 feet long, sleek and shiny, with a fish-like head. Sightings picked up around 1990-91 and recurred in 1995, 2000 and 2003. Proposed explanations include giant eels that keep growing throughout life, river otters swimming in a line, and old logs from past logging that rise when gas builds up as they rot. The town put up a dragon-like Cressie statue in 1991.

• Spring 1990Told story Early in the spring of 1990 a Robert's Arm resident reported seeing a dark shape rise about five feet out of churning water on Crescent Lake before sinking again. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• Jul 9, 1991On the record Fred Parsons and his wife watched a long, sleek, dark body moving in Crescent Lake. They noted that it did not seem to have a significantly large head. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• Sep 1991Told story A resident saw a black shape about fifteen feet long pitching forward through the water with a rolling motion, much as a whale moves at the surface. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: A Cressie statue stands at the entrance to Robert's Arm, and a local gas bar carries the monster's name.

Tornit Told story

Ape-like · Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador · first reported Inuit oral tradition · also called Tunit (related term)

The Canadian Encyclopedia's article on cryptozoology lists the Tornit among the giant, hairy wild men found in Indigenous traditions across Canada, naming it as the term used by the Inuit of Labrador and Nunavut. The same article lists the Chenoo of the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia alongside it. Inuit oral history itself is the authority on what the Tornit were, so a cryptid label should be used with care. This entry records only that the Tornit appear in a published overview of Canadian creature lore, and places them broadly in Labrador. No modern sighting reports tied to a specific community were found, and the map point marks the region, not a site.

• TraditionalTold story The Canadian Encyclopedia names Tornit, the term used by the Inuit of Labrador and Nunavut, as one of several giant, hairy wild men in Indigenous tradition, alongside the Chenoo. Source: thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

Ol' Slavey Told story

Water monster · Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories · first reported Unknown · also called Great Slave Lake monster

Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories is the deepest lake in North America, at about 614 metres, and it has a lake monster of its own, nicknamed Ol' Slavey. The creature appears in Canadian magazine roundups of strange lake creatures, but those same roundups admit that descriptions are scarce. There are no well-known dated sightings, named witnesses or photographs in the published record found for this entry, and the Wikipedia article on the lake itself makes no mention of a monster. For now Ol' Slavey is a name with very little story attached, on one of the largest and coldest lakes on the continent.

• UndatedTold story Canadian lake-monster roundups list Ol' Slavey in Great Slave Lake but note that there are almost no descriptions of it. Source: cottagelife.com

Visiting: Yellowknife sits on the lake's north shore.

Waheela Told story

Beast · Nahanni Valley, Northwest Territories · first reported 20th century · also called Nahanni wolf

The Waheela is a wolf-like cryptid most often placed in the Nahanni Valley of the Northwest Territories, with scattered reports also from Michigan and Alaska. Unlike ordinary wolves, it is said to travel in groups of two or three rather than in large packs. The cryptozoologist Ivan Sanderson proposed that it might be a surviving amphicyonid, or bear-dog, an extinct group of predators, though he confused these with dire wolves. It is compared with the shunka warak'in, though placed much farther north, and with the Amarok, a giant wolf of Inuit tradition. The Nahanni setting adds to its reputation: the valley is nicknamed Headless Valley and Deadmen Valley after the headless bodies of Métis prospectors Willie and Frank McLeod were found there around 1908. No specimen or photo of a Waheela has been documented.

• UndatedTold story Cryptid accounts describe the Waheela of the Nahanni Valley as a wolf-like animal moving in groups of two or three, which Ivan Sanderson suggested could be a relict bear-dog. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• c. 1908On the record The headless bodies of Metis prospectors Willie and Frank McLeod were found in the Nahanni area, giving rise to names like Headless Valley and to legends of a haunted valley. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Nahanni National Park Reserve is reached by floatplane, usually from Fort Simpson.

Bedford Basin sea serpent On the record

Water monster · Bedford Basin, Halifax, Nova Scotia · first reported 1825 · also called Halifax Harbour sea serpent

Halifax Harbour has a long record of odd marine sightings, gathered by the Dartmouth Heritage Museum. The headline case came in 1825, when a snake-like creature about sixty feet long was reported coiling in Bedford Basin near the Goreham family's wharf, an account Mr. Goreham confirmed. The same day, a whaling boat near York Redoubt at the harbour mouth reported a similar sixty-foot coiling monster. CBC's Explore the Lore series notes there were multiple reports that year. Other harbour reports followed: in 1853 a schooner captain said a large animal approached and blew like a whale for almost an hour, and Peter McNab Jr., rowing from McNab's Island, followed an eel-like creature undulating near Georges Island for about half an hour. McNab was committed to an asylum twenty years later, and some dismissed his account. Earlier, in 1752, fishermen found a dead walrus-like creature in their nets.

• 1825On the record A sixty-foot serpent was reported coiling in Bedford Basin near the Goreham wharf, confirmed by Mr. Goreham. A whaling boat near York Redoubt reported a similar coiling animal the same day. Source: dartmouthheritagemuseum.ns.ca
• 1853On the record A schooner captain said a big animal approached and blew like a whale for close to an hour. Peter McNab Jr. followed an eel-like creature near Georges Island for about thirty minutes. Source: dartmouthheritagemuseum.ns.ca

Visiting: The Dartmouth Heritage Museum covers the harbour's sea-monster history; Bedford Basin is visible from Halifax waterfront parks.

Chenoo Told story

Humanoid · Mi'kmaq territory, Nova Scotia · first reported Recorded 1884 (Leland)

The Chenoo belongs to the traditions of the Mi'kmaq, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot peoples of the Atlantic region, and the Canadian Encyclopedia lists it among Nova Scotia's giant hairy beings. In the stories, a Chenoo was once a human who was twisted by dark magic into a cannibal ice giant, similar in some ways to the Wendigo. It grows larger as it hungers, has sharp fangs and lips and shoulders it has gnawed away itself, and burns so hot inside that it must live among snow. The best-known tales are about mercy: a woman's kindness turns a Chenoo back into a person. Charles Godfrey Leland published several versions in 1884. These are living traditions; this entry gives only the widely published outline and leaves deeper meaning to Mi'kmaq knowledge keepers.

• 1884Told story Charles Godfrey Leland's The Algonquin Legends of New England printed several Chenoo stories, including one in which a woman's compassion restores a Chenoo to human form. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• ModernTold story The Canadian Encyclopedia's cryptozoology article names the Chenoo of Nova Scotia's Mi'kmaq territory among Canada's traditional giant, hairy creatures. Source: thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

St. Margaret's Bay serpent of 1833 On the record

Water monster · St. Margaret's Bay / Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia · first reported 1833

In 1833 five men from Halifax set out to fish in Mahone Bay, on Nova Scotia's South Shore. Near St. Margaret's Bay, according to the Dartmouth Heritage Museum's collection of local sea-monster reports, they were stopped by an agitated school of dolphins and then saw a dark serpent about eighty feet long swimming in the area. The account is one of several old sea-serpent reports the museum gathered for Halifax and the nearby coast. It belongs to the same run of early 1800s reports as the Bedford Basin sighting of 1825, when a sixty-foot coiling serpent was reported inside Halifax Harbour. No names of the five men are given in the museum's summary, and no later follow-up is recorded.

• 1833On the record Five Halifax men heading to fish in Mahone Bay were stopped near St. Margaret's Bay by an agitated school of dolphins, and reported a dark serpent roughly eighty feet long swimming nearby. Source: dartmouthheritagemuseum.ns.ca

Thorburn hairy man Told story

Ape-like · Thorburn, Pictou County, Nova Scotia · first reported 2003 · also called Nova Scotia Sasquatch

In 2003 a group of teenagers became convinced they had heard a Sasquatch in the woods near Thorburn, a small community in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The story was revived by CBC Nova Scotia in its Explore the Lore interactive feature on provincial folklore, under the heading Cape Breton Hairy Man. The same feature also covered the 1825 Bedford Basin sea-serpent reports and other local legends. The report rests on sounds rather than a clear sighting, and the CBC item describes no tracks or photographs. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that Mi'kmaq tradition in Nova Scotia has its own giant hairy being, the Chenoo. See the Bigfoot dossier for the wider Sasquatch picture.

Full story: Bigfoot →

• 2003Told story A group of teenagers said they heard a Sasquatch in the woods near Thorburn, N.S. The CBC included the story in its Explore the Lore feature. Source: cbc.ca

Adlet Told story

Humanoid · Cumberland Sound, Baffin Island, Nunavut · first reported Recorded 1889 (Franz Boas) · also called Erqigdlit

The Adlet are beings in Inuit tradition with the lower body of a dog and the upper body of a person, often cast as enemies of humans. The name Adlet is used in Labrador, while groups west of Hudson Bay say Erqigdlit; some groups living near First Nations used the words for those inland peoples. The origin story tells of a woman named Niviarsiang who married a dog named Ijirqang and bore ten children, five dogs and five Adlet. She sent the Adlet inland and the dogs across the sea. The anthropologist Franz Boas recorded this version in 1889 from an Inuk named Pakaq at Cumberland Sound on Baffin Island and published it in the Journal of American Folklore. It is a cultural story, not a sighting record.

• 1889On the record Franz Boas published the story of the Adlet's origin as told to him by Pakaq of Cumberland Sound, describing beings half dog and half human sent to live inland. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Ijiraq Told story

Humanoid · Bathurst Island and Resolute area, Nunavut · first reported Inuit oral tradition · also called Ijirait

In Inuit tradition the ijiraq (plural ijirait) is a shapeshifter that can take any form but keeps its red eyes. Its true shape is said to look human, with eyes and mouth set sideways, and it can be seen only from the corner of the eye. Stories warn that ijirait lead children away and abandon them. An inuksuk, the stacked-stone landmark, can help such children find their way home. In North Baffin dialects the word means shape shifter, and published accounts link ijiraq stories and to named places in the High Arctic, including Freeman's Cove at Tuktusirvik on Bathurst Island, Resolute, Grise Fiord and Somerset Island. This is a living tradition, and this entry keeps to the widely published outline.

• TraditionalTold story Inuit accounts recorded from the High Arctic, including Freeman's Cove on Bathurst Island, describe ijirait as red-eyed shapeshifters that take children away, with inuksuit helping the lost find their way home. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Gaasyendietha Told story

Water monster · Lake Ontario (Canadian waters), Ontario · first reported Seneca oral tradition · also called Meteor dragon, Fire lion

Gaasyendietha comes from Seneca tradition. It is described as a giant serpent that lives in the deep parts of rivers and lakes, with Lake Ontario named as its favoured home. It can fly across the sky on a trail of fire and breathe fire, which is why writers compare it to a European dragon and call it the meteor dragon. One explanation in the tradition is that the creature came from a meteor that struck the Earth. It is also called the fire lion and is described as the Iroquoian version of the underwater panther. In the tale of Ganyadjigowa, the being takes the shape of an old man and kills the hero Mudhen. It is a cultural tradition rather than a sighting record, and this entry keeps to what is published.

• TraditionalTold story Seneca stories place the meteor dragon in deep water, especially Lake Ontario, and describe it travelling the sky on a fiery trail. In one tale it appears as an old man and kills the hero Mudhen. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Igopogo On the record

Water monster · Lake Simcoe, Ontario · first reported 1823 · also called Kempenfelt Kelly, Beaverton Bessie, Simcoe Kelly

Igopogo is the lake creature of Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto. Locals have called it Kempenfelt Kelly, after Kempenfelt Bay at Barrie, and Beaverton Bessie. The oldest account dates to 1823, when a man described a long animal leaving a wake in the water and a trail in the mud. In 1952 the chief of the Georgina Island First Nation and three others reported a sighting. Later reports include a 1983 sonar trace and a 1991 video of what looked like a big, seal-like animal. Some reports describe something seal-like rather than a long serpent. Skeptics suggest the sonar showed a school of fish, and that otters or other swimming animals explain the rest. Barrie's waterfront has a sea serpent sculpture.

• 1823Told story David Soules described a long creature that left a wake on the water and a trail in the mud along the shore. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1952On the record Wellington Charles, chief of the Georgina Island First Nation, and three others reported seeing the creature. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1983On the record Sonar operator William Skrypetz reported a reading he took to be a large animal with a long neck. Skeptics later suggested a school of fish. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1991On the record A video was recorded of what looked like a large, seal-like animal in the lake. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Barrie's waterfront on Kempenfelt Bay has 'The Sea Serpent' sculpture.

Mishipeshu of Michipicoten Island Told story

Water monster · Michipicoten Island, Lake Superior, Ontario · first reported Anishinaabe oral tradition; Jesuit accounts · also called Underwater panther, Great Lynx

Mishipeshu, often called the underwater panther, is a powerful being in Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) tradition and is also known to Odawa, Potawatomi and Innu peoples. The Ojibwe held these beings to be masters of the water creatures. Tradition places Mishipeshu's home on Michipicoten Island, in the northeast part of Lake Superior off the Ontario shore. The being is said to guard the lake's copper, and taking that copper was forbidden. A Jesuit missionary recorded the story of four Ojibwe men who died after carrying copper away from the island. Mishipeshu remains a living, respected tradition, so this entry stays with what is widely published. For visitors, the being is also honoured in public places: an underwater panther appears in the coat of arms of the Canadian Museum of History.

• Jesuit eraTold story A Jesuit missionary's account tells of four Ojibwe men who took copper from Mishipeshu's domain and died afterward, illustrating the rule that the lake's copper belonged to the being. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Michipicoten Island is a remote provincial park reached only by boat; Lake Superior Provincial Park lies on the nearby mainland shore.

Mugwump Told story

Water monster · Lake Timiskaming, near Temiskaming Shores, Ontario · first reported Unknown · also called Lake Temiskaming monster

Lake Timiskaming is a long, deep lake that forms part of the border between Ontario and Quebec, with Temiskaming Shores (Haileybury and New Liskeard) on the Ontario side. Its resident monster goes by the odd name Mugwump. Descriptions in Canadian lake-monster roundups give it a length of about six metres, a black, glistening head and protruding eyeballs. One unusual detail sets it apart from most Canadian lake monsters: some tellings say it can crawl out onto land. The Mugwump also appears in Wikipedia's list of lake monsters with the same description. Dated sightings and named witnesses are hard to find in published sources, so for now it is best treated as a local legend rather than a documented case.

• UndatedTold story Canadian lake-monster roundups describe the Mugwump as roughly six metres long with a glistening black head and protruding eyes, and say it is reputed to be able to crawl on land. Source: cottagelife.com

Mussie Told story

Water monster · Muskrat Lake, Cobden, Ontario · first reported around 1916 · also called Muskrat Lake monster

Mussie is the mascot monster of Muskrat Lake, about 75 miles northwest of Ottawa near the village of Cobden. The modern legend took shape around 1916. Some locals say Samuel de Champlain wrote about it in the early 1600s, but no record backs that up. Descriptions are all over the map. One local historian's version gives it three eyes, three ears, one big fin, two legs and a single front tooth, silvery-green and 24 feet long. Others compare it to a walrus or a sturgeon. A 1990s tourism campaign offered a million dollars for a live one. Sonar searches in the 1990s found nothing, though deep trenches in the lake keep the question open for believers.

• 1990sInvestigated report Author Michael Bradley and Deanna Theilmann-Beann ran sonar searches of the lake. Nothing conclusive turned up. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• VariousTold story Cobden resident Donnie Humphries became Mussie's best-known champion, telling many sighting stories that varied from one telling to the next. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Visiting: Cobden uses Mussie on its welcome signs; the lake has public access in town.

Old Yellow Top Told story

Ape-like · Cobalt, Timiskaming District, Ontario · first reported 1906

Cobalt was a booming silver-mining town in northern Ontario in the early 1900s, and it is also home to one of Canada's oldest named ape-man stories. Ontario's Bigfoot history is often dated back to a 1906 report from Cobalt describing a hairy creature that wandered the area around the mines. It was said to have a light-coloured mane of shaggy hair and a visible limp. Locals gave it the affectionate nickname Old Yellow Top. The story is usually retold in modern articles rather than from the original period report, which has not been located. Cobalt today is a historic mining town near the Quebec border, and the nickname has kept the story alive for more than a century.

• 1906Told story The first documented sighting at Cobalt described a creature with a light-coloured mane of shaggy hair and a visible limp roaming near the mines. Residents gave it the affectionate nickname Old Yellow Top. Source: cottagelife.com

Visiting: Cobalt is a designated historic mining town with a mining museum and heritage walking routes.

Wendigo Told story

Humanoid · Boreal forests of northern Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba

A being from Algonquian-speaking peoples' traditions, still a living part of their culture. Many Indigenous people prefer it not be treated as entertainment. Modern sighting lore is covered in the main Wendigo dossier.

Full story: Wendigo →

West Point sea serpent On the record

Water monster · West Point, Prince County, Prince Edward Island · first reported c. 1938 · also called PEI sea monster

The waters off West Point, at the island's western tip, produced a string of sea-serpent reports collected in a Library and Archives Canada project on PEI history and folklore. Around 1938 Leslie MacLean of Dunblane saw a creature from shore and hurried home for the rifle he kept for shooting seals, but it was out of reach when he returned. About 1965 his son Raeford, an insurance underwriter, and boat builder and lobster fisherman John Ellis watched an animal with a serpent-like head about three feet long and a large hump behind it. They put its length at 40 to 60 feet or more. It surfaced about 200 yards out, then again around 500 yards away, moving parallel to the shore. Former lobster fisherman William Stewart also reported a sighting, and a swimmer reported a sighting as recently as 1983.

• c. 1938Told story Leslie MacLean saw a creature off West Point and hurried home for the rifle he used on seals; by the time he came back it was out of range. Source: epe.lac-bac.gc.ca
• c. 1965On the record Raeford MacLean and fisherman John Ellis watched a dark animal with a three-foot serpent head and a hump, which Ellis judged over 60 feet long, swimming parallel to the shore. Source: epe.lac-bac.gc.ca
• c. 1983Told story A swimmer off West Point reported seeing the animal in 1983, the most recent of the sightings gathered for the island's history and folklore collection. No further detail on the encounter was given. Source: epe.lac-bac.gc.ca

Visiting: West Point Lighthouse, a working lighthouse with an inn and museum, overlooks these waters.

Wookalark Told story

Humanoid · Glen Road, near New Harmony, Kings County, Prince Edward Island · first reported Unknown

The Wookalark is a Prince Edward Island road legend tied to the Glen Road near New Harmony and the dense woods of eastern PEI. It is described as having a human body with a pig's head and red eyes. The classic story is that travellers who have car trouble while passing through the Glen notice pairs of red eyes stalking them from above the tree line. Like many rural road monsters, it lives mostly in word of mouth, and the source found gives no dated sightings, photos or named witnesses. It appears in a roundup of spooky Canadian urban legends alongside UFO sightings, lake monsters and ghost hauntings.

• UndatedTold story Travellers who had car trouble while passing through the Glen said they saw pairs of red eyes watching them from above the trees. Source: todocanada.ca

Ashuaps, the Lac Saint-Jean monster On the record

Water monster · Lac Saint-Jean, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec · first reported Innu tradition; newspaper reports from 1975 · also called Monstre du lac Saint-Jean

Lac Saint-Jean is so wide that 17th-century Europeans called it the gentle sea. Innu (Montagnais) belief tells of a creature named Ashuaps, and local lore makes Ile aux Couleuvres, Snake Island, its lair. From 1975 on, regional papers such as Le Progres du Saguenay and L'Etoile du lac carried sighting reports for about a dozen years, some with photographs and interviews. One witness described an animal 30 to 40 feet long, slender and grey-brown, with a horse- or serpent-like head, two front flippers and two shorter rear limbs, moving sideways like a snake. Skeptics offered several alternatives: sea lions escaped from the Saint-Felicien zoo, a homemade submarine said to have been built in 1977, and a giant lighted robot built by students in Saint-Felicien in August 1978.

• 1975 onwardOn the record For about twelve years Quebec newspapers including the Journal de Quebec and Le Progres du Saguenay ran reports of a creature in the lake, with photographs and witness interviews. Source: grandquebec.com
• UndatedTold story One witness described a slender grey-brown creature 30 to 40 feet long with a horse- or snake-like head and four limbs, the rear pair shorter, moving with a sideways snake-like motion. Source: grandquebec.com

Visiting: The Traversee internationale du lac Saint-Jean swim and the Saint-Felicien wildlife zoo are both on the lake.

Lac Mekinac serpent Told story

Water monster · Lac Mekinac, Mauricie, Quebec · first reported 1950s · also called Serpent a tete de vache

Lac Mekinac lies in Quebec's Mauricie region, in old logging country. Fishermen there told of a frightening serpent, and some said they saw it in the stream that joins Lac Long to Lac Mekinac. Their most striking detail was its head, which they said looked like a cow's. In the 1950s log drivers working around the lake backed up these stories, and a diving team reportedly saw an underwater animal several metres long. The case is one of many in a survey of Quebec lake monsters by the legend site Grand Quebec, alongside creatures in Lac Williams, Lac Brompton, Lac des Sables and the Gouin Reservoir. The same survey notes that divers have found sturgeon two to three metres long in Quebec waters, which could explain some reports. No named witness or photo is known.

• 1950sTold story Fishermen described a serpent with a cow's head, some placing it in the stream between Lac Long and Lac Mekinac. In the 1950s log drivers backed up the reports, and a diving team was said to have seen a creature several metres long underwater. Source: grandquebec.com

Lac Williams creature Told story

Water monster · Lac William, Saint-Ferdinand, Centre-du-Quebec · first reported Unknown

Lac Williams at Saint-Ferdinand, in Quebec's Centre-du-Quebec region, is a lake more than seven kilometres long with a dark, muddy bottom and depths of about 30 metres. It is known for big catches, including an 82-inch muskellunge taken in 1977. Residents of Saint-Ferdinand say a lake monster lives there, and they talk of divers who were frightened while exploring it. The Quebec legend site Grand Quebec says dozens of cyclists and holidaymakers have backed up the residents' accounts, and some said they saw the beast grab white geese resting on the lake during migration. Nearby Lac Joseph connects to Lac Williams, so many locals think the lake serpent moves between the two. Grand Quebec suggests a large sturgeon feeding on the lake's walleye, muskellunge and bass, noting that divers in Quebec have found voracious sturgeon two to three metres long.

• VariousTold story Saint-Ferdinand residents, joined by dozens of cyclists and holidaymakers, described a strange animal in Lac Williams, and some said they saw it seize white geese resting on the lake during migration. Locals also tell of frightened divers. Source: grandquebec.com

Lenusic of Lac aux Castors Proven hoax

Water monster · Lac aux Castors (Beaver Lake), Mount Royal Park, Montreal, Quebec · first reported Satire piece, 2011 · also called Monstre du lac aux Castors

Beaver Lake on Mount Royal is a small artificial pond in the middle of Montreal, which is the joke behind this one. A tongue-in-cheek article posted on the Quebec legend site Grand Quebec in February 2011 described a monster called Lenusic, said to mean spirit of the lake in Iroquois. It claimed a dark red serpent about thirty metres long, sightings by hunters in 2009, a photo taken by a young woman in July 2010, a unanimous city council vote on October 6, 2010 to protect it, and a reward of free bridge tolls for capturing it. It even described a June 2011 attack on an intercity bus. In the comments, the site's administrator explained that the piece was deliberate absurd humour, and said it was once printed as a large sign in the park during renovation work. It is included here as a labelled hoax.

• 2009-2011Proven hoax The satirical article listed a 2009 hunters' sighting, a July 2010 photograph, an October 2010 council protection vote and a June 2011 incident involving a bus. The site's administrator confirmed in the comments that the whole piece is humour. Source: grandquebec.com

Visiting: Beaver Lake is a public pond in Mount Royal Park, Montreal.

Memphré Investigated report

Water monster · Lake Memphremagog, Magog, Quebec (shared with Newport, Vermont) · first reported 1816 · also called Memphre, Lake Memphremagog monster

Memphré is the creature said to live in Lake Memphremagog, a long lake that crosses the border between Quebec and Vermont. The City of Magog dates the first official sighting to 1816, and First Nations legends also speak of something in the lake. By 2001 about 223 reports involving 465 witnesses had been logged. Most people describe a sea serpent, though some say it looked more like a seahorse or a crocodile. The legend owes much to diver Jacques Boisvert, who founded the International Dracontology Society and made thousands of dives looking for it. He also coined the word 'dracontology', the study of lake dragons. As with most lake monsters, there is no specimen, only reports and a few disputed images.

• 1816On the record The City of Magog lists 1816 as the year of the first official Memphré sighting, though details of who saw it are not given. Source: magogquebec.ca
• 1997On the record Still images were taken near Les Trois Soeurs island that some believe show the creature. They remain unconfirmed. Source: magogquebec.ca
• 1933-2006Investigated report Diver Jacques Boisvert spent decades logging reports and diving the lake, around 7,000 dives in all. His society kept the case list that gives the 223-sighting total. Source: magogquebec.ca

Visiting: Magog's lakeside parks and Newport, Vermont's waterfront both look out on the lake.

Misiganebic, the Blue Sea Lake monster Told story

Water monster · Blue Sea Lake, near Maniwaki, Outaouais, Quebec · first reported Algonquin tradition; settler report 1880 · also called Monstre du lac Blue-Sea

In the Gatineau Valley, southwest of Maniwaki, Blue Sea Lake is said to hold a creature called Misiganebic. Algonquin tradition speaks of it, and the Quebec legend site Grand Quebec says both Indigenous people and settlers speak of it with respect, that nearly the whole local population accepts it, and that Algonquin offerings are still made to it. It is pictured as an enormous dark-green lizard about ten metres long, thick as a telegraph pole, with a horse-like head and a trout's tail. The creature is not tied to one lake: reports also come from Lac des Cedres, Lac Bitobi, Lac Desert, Lac Pocknock, Lac des Trente et un Milles, the Baskatong Reservoir and Lac Deschenes near Ottawa. Three or four private expeditions have looked for it without result. Some have floated a surviving plesiosaur as an explanation, though the site leaves the question open.

• 1880Told story A creature was reported on Lac Deschenes, between the lighthouse and the shore, an early sighting later linked to the Misiganebic legend. Source: grandquebec.com
• 2001Told story Hunters said they chased the creature and saw it move like a serpent and throw jets of water from its mouth. Source: grandquebec.com

Monster of Lac Aylmer On the record

Water monster · Lac Aylmer, Beaulac-Garthby, Quebec · first reported Before 1963 (talked of for three generations) · also called Monstre du lac Aylmer

Lac Aylmer lies in Quebec's Appalachian country near Disraeli and Beaulac-Garthby. According to the Quebec legend site Grand Quebec, a rumour of a lake monster has circulated there for more than three generations. Reports come from around Disraeli, the Beaulac dock and Draveurs Island. Witnesses agree on a dark animal about 20 feet long. The best-known moment came on June 24, 1963, when about twenty people told Jacques Gagnon, a journalist with La Tribune, that they had watched it for five minutes. In 1965 a Garthby resident claimed he shot and killed the creature, which sank. Later reports include several seal- or otter-like animals in 1977, a large dark object watched by dozens of shoreline residents in Moose Bay in 1991 and a 2005 photograph. The local favourite explanation is a giant sturgeon trapped when the lake was dammed.

• Jun 24, 1963On the record About twenty witnesses told La Tribune journalist Jacques Gagnon they had watched the creature in the lake for some five minutes; the sighting is linked to the Montmartre social club at Garthby. Source: grandquebec.com
• 1977 and 1991On the record In 1977 witnesses reported several animals together that looked like giant seals or otters. In 1991 dozens of residents said they watched a large dark object moving in Moose Bay, one of the lake's inlets. Source: grandquebec.com
• Oct 15, 2005On the record Mario Lavoie photographed what he described as the creature about 50 feet offshore. Local accounts continue to favour a giant sturgeon, trapped and grown huge after the lake was dammed, as the explanation. Source: grandquebec.com

Ponik On the record

Water monster · Lake Pohénégamook, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Quebec · first reported 1873 · also called Monster of Lake Pohénégamook, the Great Beast

Ponik is the monster of Lake Pohénégamook, a lake right on the Quebec-Maine border. Indigenous people are said to have spoken of a 'Great Beast' before settlers arrived. The first settler report, in 1873, came from a lumberjack who saw a huge fish. Later witnesses describe something 35 to 60 feet long with two or three humps, flippers, a horse-like head and a saw-tooth crest. Some compare it to an upturned canoe covered in scales. Around a thousand sightings are claimed. Witnesses include a local priest in 1957. In 1997 a business offered $500,000 for a photo, but no clear picture was ever taken. Skeptics suggest a large sturgeon, floating logs or old sea-serpent stories.

• 1873Told story Lumberjack Louis Bérubé said he saw a huge fish in the lake. It is the first recorded settler sighting. Source: cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com
• July 1944Told story R. Nadeau recalled a childhood encounter in which the creature struck his hay rake. Source: cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com
• 1957On the record Father Léopold Plante described seeing a big, black thing floating, with a dip in its middle. Source: cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com
• 1981On the record Sylvie Thériault-Lavoie reportedly photographed a long wake. The photo has not been located. Source: cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com

Visiting: The town of Pohénégamook sits on the lake and embraces the legend.

Turtle Lake Monster On the record

Water monster · Turtle Lake, about 100 km north of North Battleford, Saskatchewan · first reported Cree tradition; written reports from the 1920s · also called TLM

Turtle Lake in west-central Saskatchewan is linked to the North Saskatchewan River by the Turtle River. Local Cree stories told of people vanishing on the lake long before settlers arrived, and the legend is traced to at least the 1920s, with a 1947 StarPhoenix article mentioning the creature. Witnesses give it a length of roughly three to nine metres, with skin that is either smooth or scaly and no dorsal fin in most accounts. Its head has been compared to a dog, a pig, a horse or a seahorse. About one sighting a year is said to surface. Fisheries biologist Gord Sedgewick has suggested big lake sturgeon swimming up from the river system as the likeliest answer, though test netting and commercial fishing have never confirmed sturgeon in the lake. Some local residents also favour the sturgeon idea and are wary of the attention the monster draws.

• Summer 1985On the record Brothers Robert and Dave Grosse, then 11 and 9, said a dark green animal surfaced about 10 feet from their boat, showing scales, a pointy fin and a massive tail, though they did not see its head. Robert still stands by the sighting and started a Facebook page for Turtle Lake monster stories. Source: meadowlakenow.com
• UndatedTold story A man with members of his family said they watched the creature about 12 metres (40 feet) away. Its head and back came up and it rolled over; they said the head looked like a seahorse's. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• UndatedTold story Fisherman John Pulkinen told of a strike that snapped his rod, a story his daughter Seija later shared. Neighbour Don Wiley also reported a sighting. Source: meadowlakenow.com

Visiting: Turtle Lake is a cottage and fishing lake with public beaches; a local Facebook page collects sightings.

Beaver-Eater Told story

Beast · Tutchone territory, central Yukon · first reported Tutchone oral tradition

The Beaver-Eater comes from the traditions of the Tutchone people of the Yukon. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes it as a creature similar to the South American giant ground sloth, known locally as the beaver-eater because it rips open beaver lodges and eats the animals inside. That ground-sloth comparison is a modern reading laid over a traditional story, and no physical evidence of such an animal has been reported from the Yukon. The Beaver-Eater is still a useful marker on the map, as one of the few creature traditions recorded from the central Yukon in a mainstream reference work. The map point sits in the general Tutchone area and does not mark a specific site.

• TraditionalTold story The Canadian Encyclopedia's cryptozoology article records the Tutchone Beaver-Eater, said to rip open beaver lodges to eat the occupants, and notes its likeness to a giant ground sloth. Source: thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

Nahganne, the Yukon Sasquatch Investigated report

Ape-like · Squanga Lake, Takhini River and Whitehorse area, Yukon · first reported Dene tradition; modern reports 1990s onward · also called Nahganne

Retired Canadian Army officer Red Grossinger, a former president of the Canadian Sasquatch Research Organization, has spent about 25 years collecting reports from the Yukon and northern British Columbia. His October 2022 book Nahganne: Northern Tales of the Sasquatch takes its title from the Dene word for the creature. Grossinger traces his interest to his own sighting on the Takhini River in 1997, and says that once, at Squanga Lake, something in the bush mimicked his morning cough. He calls Squanga Lake, halfway between Whitehorse and Teslin, a hot spot. Other cases he logged include a Whitehorse man who drove alongside a creature for nearly 100 metres in 2011, two large figures seen by a Tahltan hunter near Ross River in 1995, and an eight-foot figure reported on the Moosehide Slide at Dawson City. Grossinger says he is not trying to convince anyone.

Full story: Bigfoot →

• 1995Investigated report Grant Pauls of the Tahltan Nation said that while moose hunting near Ross River he saw two figures eight to nine feet tall that vanished without trace. Source: aptnnews.ca
• 2011Investigated report A former city employee in Whitehorse's Crestview subdivision said he drove alongside a sasquatch for nearly 100 metres, coming within a few metres of it. Grossinger rates it his most credible report. Source: yukon-news.com
• Nov 5, 2023Investigated report A member of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation reported an eight-foot creature on the Moosehide Slide above Dawson City, seen from about 1.8 km away, with a second report of the same creature later that day. Source: yukon-news.com

Partridge Creek monster Told story

Beast · Partridge Creek, near Clear Creek, Yukon · first reported 1908 (published) · also called Ceratosaurus of the Arctic Circle

In 1908 the French writer Georges Dupuy published The Monster of Partridge Creek in the magazines Je sais tout (April) and The Strand (July). He told how banker James Lewis Buttler and miner Tom Leemore found huge tracks while hunting near Clear Creek in the Yukon, and how he joined them with missionary Father Pierre Lavagneux and five First Nations men. The party claimed to watch a hairy beast about 30 feet long for ten minutes. Lavagneux called it the ceratosaurus of the Arctic Circle and said he saw it again on December 24, 1907, carrying a dead caribou. Dupuy wrote that he and Buttler became the laughing stock of town for a month, and the Dawson Daily Nugget mocked him by comparing him to Edgar Allan Poe. Commentators treat the piece as fiction, though some cryptozoology circles repeat it as a real case.

• Before Dec 1907 (as told)Told story Dupuy's story says a party of prospectors, a priest and First Nations guides followed giant tracks into a gorge and watched a 30-foot beast for ten minutes. Source: en.wikipedia.org
• 1908On the record After publication, the Dawson Daily Nugget lampooned Dupuy, and naturalist Richard Lydekker called an Arctic carnivorous dinosaur incredible to any scientist. Source: handwiki.org