| Turtle Lake Monster | |
| Sub Grouping: | Lake monster |
| Country: | Canada |
| Region: | Turtle Lake, Saskatchewan |
| Habitat: | Water |
In Canadian folklore, the Turtle Lake Monster is an entity purportedly inhabiting Turtle Lake, in West Central Saskatchewan, Canada. The monster is usually described as a creature 3–9 metres long, scaly or smooth, with no dorsal fin and a head resembling a dog, a seahorse, or a pig. Natives are said to be nervous about the attention the Monster might bring and say its simply a massive Sturgeon that left his home and lives in Turtle Lake. About once a year someone claims to have had an encounter with the beast.[1]
Reports date back to pre-settlement days when the local Cree had a legend about people who ventured into the Turtle Lake Monster's territory vanishing without a trace.[1] There is speculation that the monster sightings may be attributed to sightings of an unusually large lake sturgeon, or a relict population of prehistoric plesiosaurs.[1]
There was also a report[1] of man seeing the creature while on the Lake with his grandson and daughter. They say they saw the monster about away, saying "Its head came up, its back came up and it sort of rolled over we never saw the tail and its head looked like a seahorse."
Gord Sedgewick, a fisheries biologist and the Ministry of Environment in Saskatchewan wrote: