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Memphré

Memphré is the name of a lake monster inhabiting the 110 square km 300 ft deep lake Memphrémagog on the Quebec/Vermont border. It is described as being 30 ft long, with a long swan-like neck and a horse-like head, with a large seal-like body. In 1842, when Europeans arrived in lake Memprémagog, the local Abenaki warned them not to swim in the lake because of the Gitaskog, an enormous lake monster said to eat humans. The Abenaki believe it lived in a flooded cave with a large air pocket near Owl’s Head Mountain. Since 1847, 215 sightings have occurred, with about eight sightings a year on average.

In 1961, two fishermen, heading for Newport observed for about forty seconds a black creature, about 20 feet long, swimming partially submerged. According to them, the creature that was about 200 feet from their boat, had a round back and a “bizarre horse-like” head. In 1994, four people in two different boats saw something making a large wake, about 30-40 ft long with what appeared to be three humps. When it passed under one boat, they could see its smooth black skin. On May 10th, 2003, a woman named Barbara Malloy claimed to have seen a swan-like neck rise out of the water with a strange head next to horseneck island.

An official Canadian minted coin depicting memphré

An official Canadian minted coin depicting memphré

Lake Memphrémagog

Lake Memphrémagog

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