Thetis lake monster
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Thetis Lake in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada lies within a 831 hectare conservation area, a 20 minute drive from Victoria on Vancouver Island [1]. Many proponents of cryptozoology claim that Thetis Lake is home to a reptilian humanoid, reported by individuals in August of 1972.
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[edit] Known Sightings
As reported by the Victoria Daily Times [2] on 22 August 1972, two teens, Gordon Pike and Robin Flewellyn, were chased from the beach at Thetis Lake by what they described as a creature "roughly triangular in shape, about five feet high and five feet across the base" three days earlier on 19 August 1972. Flewellyn claimed to have been cut on the hand by six razor-sharp points on the creature's head. An investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ensued. An officer interviewing the teens stated that "The boys seem sincere, and until we determine otherwise we have no alternative but to continue our investigation." [3]
At 3:30 pm on 23 August 1972, the same creature was spotted by Mike Gold and Russell Van Nice on the opposite side of the lake from its first appearance. According to Gold, "It came out of the water and looked around. Then it went back into the water. Then we ran!" Gold and Nice described the creature as "shaped like an ordinary body, like a human being body but it had a monster face, and it was all scaly (with) a point sticking out of its head (and) great big ears." [4]
[edit] Case Solved and Closed
On 26 August 1972, police received a call from a man claiming to have lost a pet Teju lizard in the area the previous year. [5] The carnivorous Teju (also called Tegu) lizard, indigenous to South America, can grow up to three feet in length and are commonly kept as pets though they are considered aggressive[6] (though the pointed crest may refer to an iguana). The Colombian Tegu can grow to nearly four feet in length. Teju lizards are also prized for their hide, which is used to make a range of goods such as boots and wallets. The investigating police believed the lizard matched the description the creature and the case was closed.[6]
Despite the fact that Thetis Lake is relatively small and is used heavily as a recreational area, and the fact that no other sightings have been reported since, many individuals and websites still promote the Thetis Lake monster as a genuine cryptid, some even describing it as a species of reptilian alien.
[edit] Similar Sightings
Teju lizards have been reported to startle and scare individuals in unsuspecting locations. Such an example was reported in Bergen, Norway on 03 Nov 2005. According to the newspaper "Bergensavisen", a woman raised a toilet seat for her toddler son only to find a 1.5 kg Teju lizard.[7]
The Loveland Frog has a very similar description to the Thetis Lake monster. It was described as lizard or frog-like in appearance, 3-4 feet long, and were all seen at night. Many lizards have the ability to stand and/or run on their hind legs [8]. This bipedal behaviour in a large reptilian animal not native to an area seen late at night (or anytime it suddenly appears with aggressive behaviour) could easily startle and confuse anyone who saw it. Though the initial incident in 1955 reported one of the creatures holding up a "wand" that emitted sparks, the fact that it was observed on a country road at 3:30 am is not lost. It is most likely that the Loveland Frog is an out-of-place lizard, such as an iguana, Teju lizard, or other reptile that has likely escaped it's owners.
Interestingly, the latter sightings of the Loveland Frog by two police officers occurred in the same year as the Thetis Lake creature, 1972.
[edit] References
The Victoria Daily Times [9] 22 August 1972
Thetis Lake Conservation Area [10]
The Gill Man of Thetis Lake [11]
The Province Newspaper [12] 26 August 1972
Carnivorous lizard in toilet, Aftenposten newspaper, Norway [13]
Presch, W. (1973), A review of the tejus lizard genus Tupinambis (Sauria: Teiidae) from South America.; Copeia 1973 (4), pp. 740-746
Irschick, D.J.; Jayne, B.C.(1999), Comparative three-dimensional kinematics of the hindlimb for high-speed bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion of lizards, Journal of Experimental Biology, 202, pp. 1047-1065.
Irschick, D.J.; Jayne, B.C. (1999), A field study of effects of incline on the escape locomotion of a bipedal lizard, Callisaurus draconoides, Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 72, pp. 44-56
