My earliest encounter with the concept of cryptozoology occurred during the summers I spent in Vermont. Stories of Bigfoot ran through the newspapers as often as I was convinced Sasquatch ran through the woods behind our log cabin. I've never seen a Bigfoot, not yet. However, I did once see a strange creature in lake Champlain.

I was fishing off the rocky shore when an orange, two foot creature swam past. Best way to describe it is to compare it too a stingray. I dropped my line in front of the creature in hopes of hooking it. They creature was not interested in the bait and increased it speed and disappeared into the depth of the lake.

Was it a baby Champ, Vermont's answer to the Loch Ness Monster? Perhaps it was a never before discovered fresh water stingray. Or maybe it was only a mutant soft-shelled turtle (though I tend to rule this out due to my fascination with turtles, I believe I would have identified it as such at the time).

Newimals is my own study of more recent encounters with strange creatures.

Wog captured on film. Other Newimals: Pigrates Roxopods Wogs