I have a bit of brain fog from an ongoing cold. I thought I’d publish this quick post before the end of the month.
I live in Downeast Maine where I’m within a 30-minute drive to one of the lakes mentioned in this post.
In fact, I did pass by areas near Pocomoonshine and Boyden Lake on my recent autumn local road trip. I will share some terrain type photos from that, in the near future.
Passing through these remote areas reminded me of how serpent lore flows through Maine’s terrain, echoing the Indigenous stories I shared earlier and even the dragon overlays in Pete’s Dragon.
By the way, some of these lakes are tricky to access without a boat or cabin base.
Hence I have done a bit of armchair travelling for this post by curating and crediting online photos or references 🗺️
Pocomoonshine Lake Monster
The Pocomoonshine Lake Monster is a cryptid from Maine folklore. It’s described as a large serpent, sometimes up to 60 feet long, that lives in Pocomoonshine Lake (Princeton, Maine).
According to legend, it can swim in the water and also travel on land, and sightings have been reported since the 1880s. Some reports mention it has a serpentine body and leaves 3-foot-wide trails on land.
The legend has roots in Algonquin legends, with European documentation of the creature beginning around 1882.
References: Chowdaheadz, TumbleweedsTripod, The 3 Spine Chilling Legends of Maine
Boyden Lake Monster
The “Boyden Lake Monster” is a legend stemming from a Micmac tale about a water monster named Wilwilimecq that was slain by a shaman named Neptune. Since then, the lake has been roily and acquired the Indian name of Nesayik, meaning “muddy lake.” (Source: The Lakes of Maine / PDF)
This story is a part of the folklore of the region and is associated with Boyden Lake, or Boyden’s Lake, in Washington County, Maine.
It’s an example of Native American folklore that has been preserved over time, as mentioned in historical accounts like the Journal of American Folk-Lore.
Sysladobsis Lake Monster
According to Charles M. Skinner’s old folklore compendium, Myths and Legends of Our Own Land (1896), Sysladobsis Lake is home to a lake monster:
Sysladobosis (sic) Lake, in Maine, has a snake with a head like a dog’s, but it is hardly worth mentioning because it is only eight feet long—hardly longer than the name of the lake.
Reference: Strange Maine
The Great Sea Serpent of Casco Bay
Then there is the mysterious existence of the Casco Bay sea serpent (nicknamed “Cassie” in recent years), an elusive monster roaming the cold Atlantic waters off the coast of southern Maine.
This sea serpent is one of many displays in The International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine, alongside more familiar cryptids like Bigfoot, and more obscure ones like the Dover Demon.
Source: Emergence Magazine
Mount Desert Sea Serpent
Mount Desert Island (MDI) is the largest island off the coast of Maine and is home to most of Acadia National Park, which covers about half of the island.
The following is a first-hand account from 1793 by a sea captain sailing off the shores of northern Maine.
“On the 20th of June last, being on my passage from the West Indies, in the morning, having just made Mount Desert Island, distant nearly ten leagues, I suddenly got sight of a serpent of an enormous size, swimming on the surface of the ocean, its head elevated about six or eight feet out of the water, rather prone forward.
That part of the body which was out of the water, I judged to be about the size of a barrel in circumference, but the head larger, having some resemblance of a horse’s. According to the most accurate computation which I made in my mind, of his length, I think it could not be less than 55 to 60 feet, and perhaps longer.
Many reports were made by credible witnesses.
Whether folklore or misidentified whales, these serpents keep Maine’s waters charged with legend and mystery.
Source: Strange Boston
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