Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

Significant sightings: In 1910, George Garrett
and his son had a brief look at an animal 15–20
feet long as they were sailing along a narrow
inlet of Nahuel Huapí.
Sra. Rumboll saw the long neck of an animal
leaving a wake on February 16, 1978.
Jessica Campbell and others observed an animal
with multiple humps swimming in the lake
on January 1, 1994. Two years later, Campbell
saw the animal twice in one afternoon, once
when it swam directly toward her as she sat on
some rocks.
Sources: “Local Man Lays Claim to Having
Caught Sight of Gigantic Plesiosaur,” Toronto
(Ont.) Globe, April 6, 1922; Hans Krieg, Als
Zoologe in Steppen und Wäldern Patagoniens
(Munich, Germany: J. F. Lehmann, 1940);
Jean-Jacques Barloy, Les survivants de l’ombre
(Paris: Arthaud, 1985); “Nahuelito: Creature
Story Makes Waves,” New Orleans (La.) Times-
Picayune, March 28, 1989; Ulrich Magin,
“Duck! It’s a Plesiosaur,” Fortean Times, no. 92
(November 1996): 28–30; John Kirk, In the
Domain of Lake Monsters (Toronto, Canada:
Key Porter Books, 1998), pp. 250–253.
Naitaka
FRESHWATER MONSTERS of Canada, including
OGOPOGO.
Etymology: Okanagan (Salishan), “lake
demon.”
Variant names: Na-ha-ha-itkh, Na-ha-haitque
(“snake in the water”), N’ha-a-itk, N’haha-itq,
N’hahtik, N’haw-hetq.
Behavior: Churns the water into a fury.
Distribution: British Columbia; Saskatchewan;
Manitoba.
Possible explanations: The legend may be partially
based on fossil bones. In the 1930s, a huge
Naitaka bone was found on the shore of Lake
Winnipegosis, Manitoba, by Oscar Frederickson.
Though the original was lost in a fire, a
wooden model of it had been made, and this
model was examined in 1960 by zoologist James
A. McLeod. He concluded the bone was most
likely the vertebra from some large reptile.
Sources: Primrose Upton, The History of
Okanagan Mission (Okanagan Mission, B.C.,
366 NAITAKA
Canada: Okanagan Mission Centennial
Committee, 1958); Susan Allison, A Pioneer
Gentlewoman in British Columbia (Vancouver,
Canada: University of British Columbia Press,
1976), pp. 22, 41, 159; Mary Moon, Ogopogo
(Vancouver, Canada: J. J. Douglas, 1977), pp.
8–26.
Nakani
CANNIBAL GIANT of northwestern North
America.
Etymology: Chipewyan, Gwich’in, and Slavey
(Na-Dené), “bush man” or “bad Indian.”
Variant names: Arulataq (Central Yupik/
Eskimo-Aleut, “bellowing man”), Brush man
(Western Canada Gwich’in/Na-Dené), Bushman,
Enemy (Dogrib/Na-Dené), Hairy man,
Mahoni (in Peel River area, Yukon), Na’in,
Nakentlia (Koyukon/Na-Dené, “sneaker”),
Nant’ina (Tanaina/Na-Dené), Neginla-eh (Pacific
Gulf Yupik/Eskimo-Aleut, “wood man”),
Nik’inla’eena, Nuk-luk, Tinjih-rui (“black
man”), Woodsman.
Physical description: Tall. Covered with short
hair. Black face. Red or yellow eyes. Bearded.
Long arms. Clawed nails.
Behavior: Usually nocturnal. Swift runner.
Only active in summer or fall. Lives underground
or in a den in the winter. Call is a highpitched
whistle or laughing sound. Nauseating
odor. Steals dried salmon from smokehouses.
Said to wear hard-soled shoes and a head scarf.
Makes signal fires. Said to have a hypnotic
power. Throws rocks and sticks as weapons.
Kidnaps women and children.
Tracks: Humanlike but longer and narrower.
Sometimes, shoe prints are found.
Distribution: British Columbia; Canadian
Northwest and Yukon Territories; southern
Alaska; around the Yukon and Koyukuk Rivers
in central Alaska.
Significant sightings: Paul Peters watched a
Bushman along the Yukon River near Ruby,
Alaska, in the fall of 1960. It was walking along
the rocky beach toward his dogs, which were
whining and acting strangely. The Bushman
was very muscular, covered in black hair, and
about 6 feet 6 inches tall.