Water Bulls in northern Neuquen

 
Another post on Water Bulls, this time in northern Neuquen Province.

They are taken from local stories told to Argentine folklorist Berta Vidal de Battini in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and published in 1984, both are very similar to others that I have included in previous posts on "lake bulls" (see my Everything you ever wanted to know about...Lake Bulls or Water Bulls).

Bull at Tres Chorros.

At Tres Chorros, Ñorquin, in the Argentine province of Neuquen, the locals reported in 1952, a "Water bull".
The story is told by Berta Vidal de Battini, [1], as follows:

They say that in the lagoon close to this place, lives a black bull. Many neighbors have seen it in the middle of the lake and walking in the fields that surround it.
Sometimes it gets together with other animals [...] They say that in several lakes in the region there are bulls that take care of them. Also other animals like horses, cows and pigs come out [of the lakes].
Many people have seen them but they can never be lassoed.[1]

Bull at Los Miches.

At Los Miches (37°14'S,70°52'W), in Neuquen, another story compiled in 1949 mentions the "Bull with the golden horns at Guanaco Lagoon":

'I have 'eard that in that lagoon there are bad things sir. [my uncle] told me as we passed by the lagoon that in it lived a bull, muddy, hairless, terribly fierece and almost without the shape of an animal.
That when a cow went in to the lake to drink water, it always came out pregnant by this bull and that when the cow was to give birth, it always died.
He said that he had seen it once, when the bull went into the lake and that it got lost in the water'.[1]

Comments.

These two lakes are in the area just by the foot of the Andes and very close to another lake with strange creatures (Lake Caviahue). Both are on the Atlantic side of the continental divide and in an area with a stron influence of the Mapuche culture.
Tres Chorros flows into the Truquico River and from there into the Neuquen River.

They are also relatively close to the northern basin of the Colorado River, home to a strange aquatic creature.

The interesting creature is the "Los Miches" being, a bald dirty monster that does not even resemble a bull. Which may indicate that the animal is not a bull (perhaps some variety of tapir -hence the lack of hair?). Muddy seems to imply a creature that likes to roll about in the mud (notice the "pigs" mentioned at Los Guanacos; pigs are barrel shaped stout creatures, just like tapirs.). This may indicate some tapir - lake monster connection, as I have suggested in previous posts (Patagonian Tapir).

Map of both locations: Tres Chorros and Los Miches.

Bibliography.

[1] Berta Vidal de Battini (1984). Cuentos y Leyendas Populares de la Argentina. Buenos Aires: Ed. Culturales Argentinas Vol VII. pp. 1366 and 1367.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

Lake Tar monsters

 
This weekend I read an interesting article [1] on an aquatic monster at Lake Tar, which I had not heard about before and which may throw some light on an incident reported by Clemente Onelli during his 1922 Plesiosaur expedition. Lets take a look at this "sighting":

Lake Tar

This lake (49° 15' S; 72° 0' W) is located on the Patagonian steppe, in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz. It drains west into Lake San Martin and from there into the Pacific Ocean. It is set at 218 m above sea level (714 ft. ) and it has a surface area of 53 km² (20 sq.mi.). Its name, in the native Tehuelche language, means "dirty" due to the murky color of its waters. [2]

The article, from which I will quote extensively as I have not been able to find the original publication.

Argentine historian Manuel Llarás Samitier wrote this story in the now defunct magazine "Argentina Austral" about 50 years ago [*]:

A mysterious halo floated over the region of Lake Tar since before the days of the colonization of the wide mountainous region formed by the Santa Cruz lakes. It is known that the natives entered the neighborhood reluctantly and they did not hide this feeling. They said that they did not like to hunt in the fields close to those lakes because in their waters monstrous animals lived [...] the blurred versions mentioned a very large animal and the local Indians compared it to a big bellied horse that had a long neck without a mane that used to come out [of the lake] to graze on the grassy shores on the nights on which the moon shined" [1]

Llarás Samitier wrote about a very strange incident which happened in 1913, which, is coincidential with an alleged sighting mentioned by Clement Onelli during the plesiosaur expedition of 1922. As usual, it seems that Onelli, mixed up the names and forgot the place. Though he got the date right.

The incident is the following (Llar&aacut;as Samitier's story is in italics and taken from [1]):

The foreman of a sheep ranch close to lake tar asked two of his men, who were from the Argentine province of Corrientes (a sub-tropical province in northeastern Argentina, along the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers) to go with a local native Indian guide to search for some lost animals.
They followed the tracks and finally arrived at Lake Tar. As it was a cold and windy afternoon, and the weather was getting worse, they camped behind some shrubs about 100 m (300 ft.) from the lake's shore.
Before dawn, a strange noise woke them up:

despite the whistling of the wind they clearly heard as if one or several animals were splashing in the mud by the [lake's] shore. The moon was shining in the sky so they did not take long to see two gigantic shadows that passed in front of them, and they observed that as they walked, they entertained themselves by biting at the grass, lifting and turning their long necks [...] some times the monsters would lift their heads simultaneously, as if to capture some strange noise, and then they would keep on grazing calmly."

One of the men, named Florencio Almada wanted to get closer to see the better, but his companions did not let him do so. The native said that they were the famous giant horses of Lake Tar.

Almada was not satisfied, and at dawn, when the noises had quieted down, he went to look at the tracks by the shore, and found, well printed in the mud, the foot steps of animals that he later described as similar to those of gigantic yacarés.

Yacaré (Caiman yacare); is a species of caiman -crocodile- native to South America, and which is also found in Corrientes, the place where Almada was born and bred.

He had hunted them in the past and he now wanted to hunt the "monsters" with the help of his companions, they did not do so.

Back at the ranch, Almada became obsessed with the beasts and the other ranch hands did not believe his story. This was worsened by the silence of his two companions, who did not want to talk about the sighting. As the situation worsened, the foreman gave him permission to go back to the lake to hunt his monsters. He left for the lake:

with a pair of lassos, boleadoras [a local weapon], knife and revolver [...] before leaving he threatened his colleagues : if he could not bring the monster back alive, he would have the pleasure of inviting those who had mocked him, to eat the grilled ribs of a giant crocodile

After a couple of days, the foreman became worried when Almada did not return, so he went out to search for him with the Indian and another man:

When the arrived, they found nothing [...] night fell without any news. Before dawn they lit a bonfire to show their position to the missing man. Nothing. With the first lights of sunrise they saw some caranchos [carrion eating birds] flying over the lake's shore. When they got closer they saw Almada's horse floating in the water. The animal seemed to have been dragged more than 100 m [300 ft.] in the mud. On its saddle they found a piece of lasso. But of Almada, not even a miserable "Moon" brand Alpargata [cheap kind of shoe]. They also found the revolver with the six used bullets, evidence that he had shot before using the lasso. [1]

It does not surprise me to notice that the animals are not carnivores, but herbivores, something that I have mentioned before (when addressing the sustainability -i.e. survival- issue): the lake monsters are grass eaters. By the way, Tar was a place where the natives camped, as it had good pasture for their horses [3].

Futhermore, a similar event was reported in 1957 at Lake Viedma which is 42 km (27 mi.) south of Lake Tar. Viedma flows east towards the Atlantic Ocean and is separated from Tar by the continental divide which rises to about 750 m (2.460 ft.) above sea level.


[*] Comments:

I have not been able to find the full article, but Google books has allowed me to identify the original source: Argentina Austral, v. 38, n.os 429-434 - 1967. As the following image shows:



Source: Online, Google Books.

I believe that the article by Samitier is "Realidad y leyenda del mylodon" and it is on page 68 of the above mentioned magazine. Should anyone come across it, please let me know. Thank you.

Bibliography.
[1] Mendoza, Roberto. 2009. Buscando al Plesiosaurio hecho en la Patagonia. Nucleo. Producción y Desarrollo Sustentable. Año 1, N° 6. June 2009. pp. 37+
[2] Gaea. (1946). Geografía de la República Argentina. Vol. 7, No. 2. By Sociedad Argentina de Estudios Geográficos Gaea. Coni. Ed. pp. 588.
[3] Moreno, F., (2007). Exploración de la Patagonia Sur II: el lago Argentino y los Andes meridionales. 1877. B. Aires: Continente.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

Water Creature at Aucapan

 

At Aucapan (39°38’ S, 71°17’ W) just 32 km (20 mi.) northwest of the Argentine town of Junín de los Andes, a strange creature is said to live in a tiny lake, the “Huaca Mamül”.

This is a cow-like creature, whose name (“Huaca Mamül”)in Mapudungun (the language of the Mapuche natives) means “cow stick” (“huaca” = cow and “mamül” = stick).

In this map, Aucapan is located above the Malleo River, which is the outlet of Lake Tromen. It is roughly where the "M" of Malleo appears on the map. Notice that the range of hills south of Malleo, between Aucapan and Lake Huechulafquen (home to the lake monster "Huechulito"), are named Mamuil Malal or "hills of sticks" perhaps alluding to them as home to the "living stick".

Malleo River. Lanín volcano can be seen in the background.From [2]

Living Stick a "water cow" (lake bull)

The beast is said to bellow like a cow with a sharp and explosive “Aaaa…”; it is described as a “live stick” (palo vivo in Spanish) which is found “in the middle of the forests between Aucapan and Chile, in a tiny hidden lake”.[1]

The living stick is not some kind of magic piece of wood or log, it is named so in a metaphorical manner because it buoys in the lakes just like a drifting log, but it is alive, and stands upright moving at will and it destroys all that come near it.

Close by, at Aucapan Creek, there is a pool, which the locals avoid because “cow heads” are seen surfacing in it.[1] Perhaps both creatures are the same one.

Aucapan Creek is a stream which flows into the Aluminé River (see the map) between the Malleo and Quillén rivers (Quillén is home to a "Cuero uñudo").

Bibliography.

[1] Fernández, C., (1995). Cuentan Los Mapuches. B. Aires: Ediciones Nuevo Siglo. pp. 75+
[2] Photograph: Río Malleo - San Martin de los Andes - Argentina by efedigital


Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

Patagonian tapir. Part 1

 

Father Falkner's book on Patagonia (1774).

Perhaps the key to the mystery of “lake bulls”, calimayo and Patagonian hippopotamus was revealed over two centuries ago by Jesuit father Thomas Falkner.

Falkner wrote a very interesting book Description Of Patagonia in 1774 reporting his first hand experience with Tehuelche natives in the Pampas just north of Patagonia. He described the geography, rivers, animals, fish and natives of Patagonia and, regarding the wildlife, he wrote that:

there are also many anta […] of the stag kind, but without horns. Its body is as big as that of a large ass; its head very long and tapering, ending in a small snout; its body very strong, and broad at the shoulders and haunches; its legs and flanks are long, and stronger than those of a stag; its feet cloven like those of a stag, but something larger; its tail short, like that of a deer.[1]

“Anta” was the Spanish and Portuguese word for Tapir. These animals are a relict species that managed to survive the megafauna of the Late Pleistocene era. They belong to the mammalian order of Perissodactyla together with horses, asses, zebras and rhinoceroses. Tapirs are large creatures about the size of a donkey that have a barrel shaped body with a tapering front and rounded rear; designed for moving about the forests quickly. They have long flexible snouts, short stubby tails and four toes on their front feet and three on their rear ones.

Of the four known species of tapir, one lives in Asia, and the other three thrive in the warm South American jungles. Falkner may have seen them in Paraguay, which he visited or in the Pampas and Patagonia.

Lowland Tapir, wild, Brazil. Photo by Richard Bodmer. From [2]

Patagonia is too dry and cold for tapirs

There is only one problem with the tapir hypothesis: there are no known tapirs in Patagonia and the current southernmost range of their habitat is about 1,200 km (750 mi.) to the north of Patagonia in Argentina’s tropical and subtropical jungles (click on this external map to see the global distribution of tapirs).

The drier open “monte” region that stretches between these lush jungles and Patagonia would have been an insurmountable obstacle in their migration to the verdant Andean forests. Tapir are fond of water and this transitional region lacks water; moreover its arid environment could not even provide enough vegetation to feed them.

But Falkner insisted

Yet Falkner explicitly noted that the Tehuelche sold tapir hides to the Mapuche so that these could make body armor from them.

For those who think that he was mistaken, in the same passage that he mentions the anta, he also mentions the guanaco, so he was not misguided about the animal; Falkner was adamant about the existence of tapirs in Patagonia.

Patagonia’s arid steppe, lacking vegetation and water could not be home for tapirs, and Falkner correctly places them to the west of the steppe, in humid grasslands at the foot of the Andes.[1] The damp mountain forests could have offered them a safe habitat.

Tapir must be the Patagonian "lake bull"

The tapir with its large size, bulky shape and fondness for water could easily be the lake monster that we have been seeking. See the following photograph of a swimming tapir. It definitively looks "horse-like" (a Calimayo perhaps?).

Adult Lowland tapir swimming. Parque Nacional Brasilia, Brazil.
Copyright © 2006 Paulo Andre Lima Borqes. From [2].

To be Continued...

But, can we confirm its existence in Patagonia? We will continue in our next post.

See the final (Part 3) post here.

Also, my Feb. 2010 post on Patagonian tapirs - more evidence.

Bibliography.

[1] Falkner, T. Op Cit. pp. 106+
[2] Tapir Specialist Group Tapirs of the World


Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

"Onagers" (wild ass) in Southern Patagonia

 

After my post on pre-Hispanic horses and their resemblance to donkeys, which continued a previous post on the possible survival of supposedly extinct megafaunal horses, I decided to check if any other explorer or chronicler between 1520 and 1900 had seen “strange horse-like animals” in southern Patagonia.

I was lucky. I found a reference. It was published in a book on Magellan’s first circumnavigation of the World,[2] which includes "A letter from Maximilianus Transylvanus...", written in 1522. Transylvanus (which is said to have been born in Transylvania, home to Dracula (others say he was Flemish), interviewed the surviving members of Magellan’s expedition and hastily wrote this letter which was published in 1523 as "De Moluccis Insulis" and became the first written account printed about Patagonia.

In the part in which he describes the Patagonians, he says that the Spanish captured three of them, but that “two escaped of them upon the march, on the pretext of pursuing an onager, which they saw feeding at a distance upon a mountain”[2] (emphasis in bold mine).

I also found a Spanish language version by Francisco López de Gómara (dated 1552), which tells the same story but slightly differently: “y con achaque de ir a matar una fiera que pacia cerca del camino, huyeron los dos”[3] (emphasis in bold mine). The English translation of this is “and with the pretext of going to kill a fierce animal that was grazing close to the path, two esaped”.

The Official Spanish Language Dictionary of the “Real Academia Española” defines the word “Fiera” as follows:
fiera. (Del lat. fera).
1. f. carnívoro ( mamífero unguiculado). Carnivore (mammal with claws –unguiculated means that)
2. f. Bruto indómito, cruel y carnicero. Tameless brute, cruel and butcher.
3. f. Persona cruel o de carácter malo y violento. Cruel person or of a bad and violent character

Colloquial Spanish uses the word when refering to a wild fierce animal.

The question is why would de Gómara have a fierce wild animal grazing! Herbivores are not “wild” or “fierce”. His source is surely Transylvanus which he must have translated back into Spanish from the original (Latin?) version just like the English version is also a translation.

Which is the correct one?

Onagers, wild Asian Ass

Onagers (Equus hemionus) or Wild Asian Ass, are equids that resemble donkeys. They weigh about 300 kg (660 lb.) and are about 2 m (6.6 ft) long. They can be found from the Middle East to India, Tibet and Southern Central Asia.

They blend horse and donkey features though their legs are quite short in comparison to those of horses.

Could the Spanish have mistaken guanacos for onagers? Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) are of more or less the same brown color and also have a shaggy coat. Yet they are smaller: 1 - 1,2 m (3 to 4 ft.) tall and about 90 kg (200 lb.) weight). Below is a photograph of an onager and a guanaco.

Turkmenian Kulan (Equus hemionus kulan) at Korkeasaari Zoo. From [1]

Guanaco at Talampaya National Park. Copyright © 2007 by Austin Whittall

Guanaco is more slender, long-necked and long-legged; it definitively does not look like a donkey. It is reasonable to assume that Magellan's crew saw a "donkey-like" beast that they clearly identified as an onager.

As onagers do not live in America (being Asian beasts), could they be the remains of the now extinct hippidion or native American horse?

English explorer George Musters (1870) mentioned that at San Julián (where the incident described by Transylvanus took place), "there are numbers of wild ponies, about the size and make of a shelty, which the children play with”.[4]

Shetland ponies or shelties, are short sturdy horses, they have thick, heavy chocolate colored coats. The resemblance with a onager is remarkable, (photograph here). Did Musters see native "Patagonian horses"?

Bibliography.

[1] Kallerna. Turkmenian Kulan (Equus hemionus kulan) at Korkeasaari Zoo
[2] The first voyage round the wold, by Magellan: Translated, with notes and an Introduction by Lord Stanley of Alderley. (2001). Adamant Media Corp. pp. 191. Which is a reproducton of Hakluyt Society’s 1874 edition.
[3] Rivadeneryra, M., (1858). Historiadores Primitivos de Indias. Madrid. pp. 214. Citing Francisco López de Gómara (1552) Historia General de las Indias.
[4] Musters, C., Op.Cit. pp. 130+

Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Feral cattle – wild bulls & lake creatures

 

Cows and horses[*] were unknown to the native Americans until the Spaniards introduced them during the conquest; they had never been seen by the natives before and the fear or surprise that these beasts caused could have deeply impressed them, inspiring the many myths involving bulls and magic Calimayo horses.

[*] See our post on the possible survival of supposedly extinct pre-Hispanic horses.

Cattle frequently ran wild because they escaped from their enclosures and returned to their natural untamed ways in the Andean forests. Their mythical charm may have been heightened by their ferocious character: wild cattle are bad, mean and dangerous beasts.

Patagonian Creole Bull. "The father of the Herd". From [2].

English explorer Musters (in 1869/70) had a nasty experience in what is now Chubut province, at the fork where Huemul and Carrenleufu rivers merge. He took part of an ill fated wild cattle hunt in which a bull killed a horse, dismounted its Indian rider and trampled Musters breaking two of his ribs.[1]

The wide range of “bull-like” creatures reported at several Patagonian lakes (see our posts on these Lake Bulls, could actually be a real bull or cow inside a lake.

Feral (i.e. wild) cattle have often been seen in Patagonia close to the water, frolicking in the lakes; Prichard at Lake Argentino (1901) saw an “old yellow bull knee-deep in the lake, drinking”.[2]


How did these wild European cows get into Patagonia?

There were no cows in America when the Spaniards arrived, all were brought from Spain. The first cattle were introduced into Argentina in 1549, they reached the Pampas in the 1580s and found a very favorable habitat for expansion. They moved southwards towards Patagonia where natural selection and tough environmental constraints shaped them into a new variety, the “Creole” breed.

Cattle was taken into Patagonia in 1781 to the town of Floridablanca, at San Julián (49°18’ S, 67°42’ W), which was soon abandoned.[3]

Cattle was also taken to a Spanish settlement at Valdés Peninsula (42°28’ S, 64°28’ W), from where they moved westwards towards the Andes after the Tehuelche and Mapuche raided and destroyed the colony in 1810.[4]

The Spanish towns in Chile’s Arauco region, razed in the first wars with the Mapuche (1598-1641) and the abandoned Jesuit Missions in northern Patagonia also had cattle which ran wild in the Andean forests.

All of these stray cows and bulls were the founders of the Patagonian breed of Creole cattle that still survives in some isolated spots of Patagonia in a wild state.

Amazing wild Patagonian cows

One of these spots where wild Creole cows can be found is the “Los Glaciares” National Park in southwestern Santa Cruz Province where they live in the mountains between Lake Argentino’s fjords and the Southern Continental Ice Field.

This population of wild cows is unique because it has adapted extremely well to the tough cold climate by the glaciers where it freezes to below -10°C in winter (14°F). They are the only group of cows in the world with this ability to resist the cold.

However, being exotic animals, Creole cows harm the environment; they trample and eat the saplings and young sprouts of the local trees and feed on the lichens that grow on the rocks. They also compete against the huemul and guanaco displacing them in their foraging activities.

They have been studied by a team from an Argentine University (Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora) who noted that in less than a century, the short tough hair of the Argentine Creole cattle evolved into a thick fur that can measure up to 10 cm (4 in.) in winter, shortening to 2 cm (0.8 in.) in summer.[5] This shaggy coat gives them a yak-like look and protects them from the cold.

Patagonian Creole Bull. Online source unknown

Prichard, who hunted wild cows in this same area, said that the “As a rule, wild cattle avoid open ground” seeking the protection of the woods.[4] It is in the forests that they can be formidable and dangerous opponents; they are fearsome creatures whose long horns are similar to those of the ancient European uro.

Bagual cattle

Though they were hunted to extinction in Chile they still exist in northern Chilean Patagonian folk tales; at Osorno, there is a Laguna del Toro (Bull’s Lagoon), with the legend of a “bagual” bull that threw himself into its waters preferring suicide to death at the hands of its hunters.

Bagual is a word used in Chile and Argentina referring to wild Patagonian cows and horses. They were also known as “animales lobos” or “wolf animals”, an intriguing name as, “officially” there are no wolves in the whole of South America; however, at our post on Patagonian wolves, there may have been wolves in Patagonia. And these could have inspired the name. Alternatively, there is a strange wolfish bovine, the lobo-toro or wolf-bull, which we will mention in our next post.

Bibliography

[1] Musters, G. Op. Cit. pp. 146 - 148.
[2] Prichard, H. Op. Cit. pp. 239. Plate facing pp. 230.
[3] Martínez, R., et al., (2000). El ganado bovino criollo en Argentina. Archivos de zootecnia v. 49, N° 187:354. 09-2000.
[4] Prichard, H. Op. Cit. pp. 233 and 244.
[5] Bavera, G., (2006). El pelaje del bovino y su importancia en la producción. Chap VII:8.

Check out Prichard's book online! our quotes can be found on pp. 229 and 234:





Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Lake Viedma - lake of the week

 

Calimayo is a word of Quechua origin meaning “river creature” (“cali”, man and “mayuj”, river), Calimayos are mentioned in native myths as lake creatures from Bolivia and northern Argentina to Patagonia.

They are supernatural horses, lake horses. I have mentioned them (and posted an image) in a previous post on Lake Caviahue.

In Southern Santa Cruz province, Argentina is Lake Viedma (49°41’ S, 72°00’ W). It is a large -1.088 km² (420 sq.mi)- body of water, slightly smaller than Lake Argentino into which it flows, and from there into the Atlantic via Santa Cruz River.

It is located next to the Southern Ice Field and Viedma Glacier flows into the lake.

It was by the tip of this lake according to an article of Buenos Aires daily La Razón (1957) that a geographer named Perry Cook had a strange experience:

I heard a long and vigorous galloping close by. They were hoofs that strode on the fine sand of the water’s edge […] I looked out and had the strange impression that it was a black horse of enormous height, it tallness was abnormal […] he sharply twisted his way and ran into the waters, disappearing in the darkness.[2]

Lake Viedma. From [1].

In the photograph above, Mount FitzRoy (3,405 m - 11,164 ft.) can be seen in the background on the western tip of the lake. At the foot of this imposing mountain is the small village of El Chaltén, "Trekking capital of Argentina".
The photograph was taken from the southern side of the lake, in the steppe. In the foreground are some buildings of a Patagonian "estancia" (ranch).

Bibliography.

[1] El Guanaco Volador. 2005 Alla por el Viedma Patagonia. 25.09.08.
[2] Nuñez, O., L., (2006). Extrañas Marcas en el Cuerpo de una Mujer. Online. Citing: La Razón, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 17.05.1957.

Further reading:

More photographs of Lake Viedma. Views of the Viedma Glacier.



Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Creatures at the Reloncavi Fjord area

 

Reloncavi is not a lake, but a deep arm of the South Pacific Ocean 60 km long [37 mi.] that winds among the Andes (41°41’ S, 72°26’ W) and receives the flow of several mountain rivers born on its western flanks such as the Manso and Puelo rivers.

Apparently local folk, Tito Bahamonde and his wife Amandina Velázquez that live by Lake Vidal Gormaz(41°29’ S, 71°56’ W) have seen a “‘monster’ that supposedly lives in the lake”.[1]

Close by, at Lake de Las Rocas (42°02’ S, 71°05’ W), there have also been reports about a lake creature but no description has been given.[2]

Map of the Reloncavi Area. Lakes mentioned in this post are marked with a red arrow.

In 1995 there was a sighting at Lake Tagua-Tagua (41°41’ S, 72°07’ W), into which flows Puelo River and is downstream from the famous plesiosaur “Black Lake”. A local, Carlos Pinto traveling in a motor boat upstream, came across an animal swimming in the same direction, that had “the head of a little foal, with a shiny hide and a short rigid mane” he moved aside to let it by because its wake nearly overturned his boat; swimming fast, it soon left him behind.[2]

There was yet another sighting by Pinto’s aunt, who lives by Tagua-Tagua. She had a pregnant mare that one day seemed to have given birth; she began “to neigh, and an animal like a small foal appeared which had feet like those of a duck […] and it walked like a duck”.

This ‘colt’ began to “molt its fur like through a wounding its back [it then] went towards the river that goes into the lake and disappeared” the mare neighed as if calling the foal.[2]

The woman took this strange animal to be the foal, but it could be likely that it was a predator that had captured the foal and taken it to the lake to eat it.[2]

Bibliography.

[1] De Giácomo, A., Personal communication, May 15, 2008. Also see his blog entry dated 08.03.2007.
[2] Online Here

Author's comment: My apologies to any Jewish readers for my inclusion of this last site ([2]) as a reference. This source belongs to a Chilean neo-nazi "political party" which promotes antisemitism, which I repudiate. Neo-nazism is repugnant and offensive and event though they disguise their perverted ideas, they promote intolerance and hate, which is against my moral values. I have only included it because of the information on the Tagua Tagua creature.

Just remember what hate did to mankind between 1933 and 1945. All the millions of innocent people murdered due to insane ideas.

For those who due to ignorance deny the Holocaust or Shoah, or those really interested in learning more about this tragic event: The Nizcor Project and also: Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.

Nice logo (Online)

Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Patagonian Lakes and Rivers with monsters

 

Map with some Northern Patagonia Lakes. Copyright © 2008 by Austin Whittall

Map with some Southern Patagonia Lakes. Copyright © 2009 by Austin Whittall

In this post I will try to give you some bearings regarding the location of some Patagonian lakes and rivers that are home to strange aquatic creatures.

The list below shows only some of these lakes and rivers, as more appear, I will extend the list.

Some of them have appeared as our "Lake of the week" if so, they are linked to their respective posts. Other lakes have already been posted and their "creatures" described, in those cases there is a link to the post.

Patagonian lakes and rivers with "lake monsters"
Lake Vichuquen - (34°50' S, 72°05' W)
Lake Caviahue - (37°52' S, 71°02' W)
Lake Quillen - (39º25'S, 71º19'W)
Bio Bio River at Santa Bárbara (37°39' S, 72°01' W). Creature
Toltén River - (39°11' S, 73°12' W). Creature
Lake Villarrica - (39°15' S, 72°06' W). Creature
Aluminé River at Pilo Lil - (39°35' S, 70°57' W)
Polcahue - (39° 04' S, 71° 07' W). Culebrón
Aucapan [Huaca Mamul] - (39°38’ S, 71°17' W). Creature
Lake Huechulafquen - (39°46' S, 71°23' W). More on Huechulito
Lake Paimun - (39°43' S, 71°35 W)
Lake Lolog - (40°01' S, 71° 26' W)
Lake Lacar - (40°10' S, 71°25' W)
Lake Nonthue - (40°09' S, 71°37' W). Creature Here.
Lake Maihue - (40°16'S, 72°13' W)
Lake Ranco - (40°11' S, 72°22' W)
Lake Carrilaufquen - (41°08'S, 69°27'W). Cuero
Lake Nahuel Huapi - (40°58' S, 71°20' W). Several posts on Nahuelito
Lake Llanquihue - (41°09' S, 72°47' W)
Lake Todos Los Santos - (41°06'S, 72°13' W). Lake creatures
Reloncavi Fjord area - (41°41' S, 72°26' W). Water cryptids
Lake Vidal Gormaz - (41°29' S, 71°56' W). Creature Here
Lake de Las Rocas - (42°02' S, 71°05' W). Creature Here
Lake Tagua-Tagua - (41°41' S, 72°07' W). Creature Here
Chiloé Island – various locations (42°34' S, 73°57'W)
Lake Plesiosaurio - (42°09' S, 71°24' W)
Lake Futalaufquen (42°50' S, 71°38'W)
Lake Esquel - (42°53' S, 71°04' W). Creature Here
Lake Rosario - (43°16' S, 71°20' W)
Lake Vintter / Palena (ex-General Paz) - (43°56' S, 71°31' W). Creature Here
Lake La Plata - (44°52' S, 71°48' W)
Senguer River (45°49' S, 69°40' W)
Lake Colhue Huapi - (45°30' S, 68°50' W). Creature Here
Lake el Toro - (45°31' S, 71°51' W). Creature Here
Lake Foitzick - (45°38' S, 72°05' W). Creature Here
Lake Blanco - (45°53' S, 71°13' W)
Lake Buenos Aires / General Carrera - (46°28' S, 71°34' W). Creature Here
Tamango or Chacabuco River - (47°04' S, 72°10' W)
Deseado River - (47°53' S, 65°56'W to 46°31' S, 70° 51' W)
Lake Pueyrredón / Cochrane - (47°18' S, 71°55' W)
Lake Cisnes - (48°25' S, 72°39' W). Creature Here
Lake Tar - (49°15' S; 72°00' W). Creature Here
Lake Viedma - (49°41' S, 72°00' W)
Lake Argentino - (49°58' S, 71°58' W). Creature Here
Santa Cruz River - (49°58' S). Creature Here
Strait of Magellan (Sea) - (53°7' S, 70°40' W). Creature Here
Lake Fagnano - (54°34' S, 68°00' W) (not shown in map is on Tierra del Fuego Island). Creature Here

Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Lake Caviahue – lake of the week

 

Small “Dark people similar to African blacks”[1] have been mentioned mentioned in northwestern Neuquén, at Lake Caviahue (37°52’ S, 71°02’ W), this week's Lake of the week.

This small horse-shoe shaped lake, with a surface area of only 10 km² (4 sq. mi.) is set at the foot of 2.900 m (9,500 ft.) high Copahue volcano. It was a sacred place for the Mapuche natives.

Here, according to Argentine folklorist Gregorio Alvarez, a native named Tranavil once saw “black men bathing; they came out to the sandy shore and lay there for a while to rest”.[2]

These “Negros del Agua” (water blacks) are described as being slightly smaller than men; their aquatic nature is confirmed by their webbed hands and feet. They are evil, and swim in groups looking for canoes to overturn and drown their occupants.

We have mentioned in a previous post that the Patagonians feared “dark” man-like creatures. However those were “wild men”, man-sized beings. These, at Caviahue, are smaller dwarfish creatures.

Other strange creatures live in the lake:

animals that should not have been there, like threatening bulls and horses […] and a female entity associated to these waters named “la sirena” [the mermaid] who is mentioned many times in the stories of the elderly locals.[2]

As you can see,even though it is a very tiny lake, it has the full repertoire of Patagonian monsters from bulls and calimayos to dwarves and mermaids.

Below a stamp that I designed for our lake of the week.

Stamp with "Calimayo" image at Lake Caviahue. Copyright © 2009 by Austin Whittall

Caviahue is also well known for its ski resort and is only 17 km (11 mi.) from Copahue’s thermal spas.

Click on the following links for official tourist info: on Caviahue and both Copahue and Caviahue.

Bibliography.

[1] Fernández, C. and López, H. El valle secreto de los Mapuches. Año Cero 126. 07.11.2000. Ed. America Iberica. 11-2000. Online.
[2] Alvarez, G., (1968). El Tronco de Oro. Neuquen: Pehuén. pp. 116 -7.



Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters