The Beaver Lake Monster

Have you ever heard of the Beaver Lake Monster? Those that lived in Kearney certainly did. Not just the locals either as newspapers in Toronto had sent their reporters to try and find it. Get a picture of the monster if they were lucky enough, but they were not.

The story goes, that from 1942 to 1945 it was not safe to swim in Beaver Lake. Many locals had experiences with the monster that ruled over those waters. Stories of chasing a man rowing a boat, to bullets bouncing off its skin and snapping line meant to hook and catch it. Luckily there were no deaths or injuries reported, but many boaters have had close calls.

So what was it? Most people seem to think it was an alligator, but with no confirmed identification, pictures or videos, no one knows for sure. It could have been an alligator but that raises questions on its own. Questions such as how did it arrive at Beaver Lake and how did it survive the brutal Canadian winters? Many think that there is no way it could have been an alligator. So again, what was it? We may never know…

Just as weird and sudden as its arrival, reports of it suddenly stopped in 1945 and no one has seen or heard of anything like it since. I would still be a little careful though. If it appeared in 1942, who is to say it can’t come back OR something like it. Who knows, all those snagged fishing lures may not have been a snag at all. Maybe the Beaver Lake monster was looking for a snack.

So if you want to take a boat out on Beaver Lake, you better keep your eyes out. You just never know what might be swimming under the surface. Just because you can’t see it, does not mean it is not watching you. Watching and waiting for the perfect time for it to make its return…

You can read more about the local’s interactions with the Beaver Lake monster here:
https://townofkearney.ca/our-community/mysteries-in-kearney/