I live in Vermont and cannot speak much for Maine, but considering the proximity of these two states I might be able to add a bit to the discussion.

As has been already touched upon, mountain lions (cougars, pumas, etc.) are a reality in Northern New England. Every fifth local has had an up-close experience with one. Wolves are often sighted, as well as the enigmatic “coydogs” here in Southern Vermont. These are well known to everyone in my area, but their identity is hotly debated. Larger than coyotes, slightly smaller than wolves, and roaming wild, they have been contended to be either coyote-domestic dog hybrids (hence, “coydog”), or coyote-wolf crosses. They are a fairly common sight around here.

A very interesting event occurred at the beginning of the 20th century in the far north-eastern corner of Vermont. A beast known as “old slipperyfoot” terrorized the isolated families in that region of the state. I have not been able to find any information on his appearance, identity, or individual accounts, but I did find out that the monster warranted a hunting expedition by Theodore Roosevelt.

There is, as alway the occasional account of a hairy primate, but these are fairly generic, so I will spare any descriptions, except to say there are Native American stories in the Northeast of men and hairy, upright creatures producing offspring.

I don’t know if this helps, or if anyone is even following this post anymore, but here is what I know.

Obviously I live in Maine!

I have for all of my 23 years except one winter when I was young. These woods are full of fabulous creatures and we all know it. I think mostly of creatures in the woods and only as a secondary thought do I think of sea creatures here, that is because of my own experience.

I posted it on the article about “The Awful”. One night, I was driving a friend home in a small town on the coast in Mid-Maine. All of a sudden a large “creature” flew in front of our car. It was brown or grey from what I could tell. The closest thing that I could think of was a pre-historic bird. It looked leathery, not feathered. It was quite large (maybe 4 feet long) and very quick. It made all the tingles go up and down my neck as they sometimes do when you are in the Maine woods at night. (Maybe you know the feeling- that there is something else in the woods with you..?)

Also, as for disputable animal residence of Maine, My family has seen mountain lions several times as well as wolves.

Keep up the great work and thanks for representing our state so well!

I haven’t heard much about Main in regards to crytozoology’s bad boys, but I have heard a bit about wolves, coyotes (which are apparently Canadian wolf/SouthWest coyote hybrids and are on Cape Cod now), fishers, and big cats. There is the white Moose which you covered here a few weeks ago. That was a fun read. And there was that strange dog you were called in to investigate. One could say that Maine is quite far from the cryptid center of the Universe, but I’m afraid Utah occupies that spot for this century. Not even a faith promoting story of Cain as Bigfoot to follow up on. (I hope to get to Bear Lake this summer, though. I hear there were some lake monster sightings there. Might be a fun trip)

Born in Maine and now residing in NH, I have spent many a fall day in the Maine woods hunting.

Never have seen or heard anything out of the ordinary.

I have heard stories of giant squid off shore and large cats sulking through the timbers.

Never have seen the squid, but the cat is different.

My sighting of a mountain lion took place in the early 80’s on the ME/NH border.

There was no doubt what I had seen, it took place within 15-20 feet of me.

In 2000 the population of Maine was just under 1.3 million spread over some 31,000 square miles. 3500 miles of coastline, 17 million acres of forest. The US census bureau projection is around 1.4 million people by 2025, or 42nd in the nation for population.

My grandparents lived outside of Houlton, Maine (where I-95 ends at the Canadian border, past Bangor) for over 50 years. My mother, and her brothers / sisters grew up in the area, as well as bordering New Brunswick. We have had family cabins in areas around August (Three Mile Pond) and currently in Weston, Maine on East Grand Lake (and international lake, half-and-half in the USA and Canada).

The waterways host a variety of fish, and fishing from docks and boats usually garners a good day (though not as good now as in the 1980’s). Attraction wise the area is more “wilderness” drawn, but there are some nice family attractions that are fun. The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunk, York Animal Park in York, Desert of Maine in Freeport, or the outlet stores in Freeport and Kennebunk (to name but a few).

Having lived in New England off / on since 1980, both in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, I’ve spent many a summer in Maine (and winter). Both with family, in the woods and exploring its scenic areas. I also travel occasionally to different areas on business, though this is primarily in the Portland, Kennebunk or Bangor areas (sometimes Presque Isle).

Maine has a history of cryptid sightings, or enigmatic mystery animals worth reviewing. It is a sampling of similarities that cross into other areas of New England, especially New Hampshire and Vermont who share similar population densities and wilderness isolations over Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Hairy Hominds:

Bigfoot style reports have floated through Maine . See Chad Arment’s “The Historical Bigfoot”, Janet and Colin Bord’s “Bigfoot Casebook” for examples of published accounts (to name but a couple sources).

Sea Creatures

The Maine coastal region has had its fare share of aquatic reports of “Sea Serpents”. See Loren Coleman / Patrick Huyghe’s “Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents…..” , Bernard Heuvelmans “In the Wake of the Sea Serpent” for examples of published accounts (to name but a couple sources). Most recently Loren Coleman touched on Casco Bay in his article in “TAPS.”

Lake Creatures

While lesser know, Maine does have its cryptic lake creature or “lake monsters”. Not often researched or well documented, and some are the onesy-twosy style accounts:

Boyden Lake, Chain of Lakes, Machias Lake, Moosehead Lake, Rangely Lake, Sysladobsis Lake, Gardner Lake. See Loren Coleman / Patrick Huyghe’s “Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents…..” , John Kirk’s “In the Domain of the Lake Monster” for examples of published accounts (to name but a couple sources).

Land Mysteries

There are of course the enigmatic creatures of the land. From “fortean” stylized accounts of the Spectre Moose (see Loren Colemans’s entry at Cryptomundo, and also in “TAPS” as well as Craig Heinselman’s King Moose, to oversized otters in Maine, see Chad Arment’s Historical Record of a Giant Otter in Maine.

Additionally, there are the Eastern Cougar reports from Maine, including “Black Panthers” ( see Loren Coleman’s “Mysteries America” ).

Wolf reports from Maine appear from time to time, and the state has treatments in place to protect these animals (see the state of Maine’s government website). Same for cougars and lynx. Or the “Maine” mutant areas.

While these may seem mundane in totality, the land mysteries are highly interesting. They mix folkloric icons with hunter’s tales. Popularized media portrayals with wildlife analysis. A hunt for the unknown can take place in ones backyard.

Maine is still full of open land and mountainous terrain. Worth a look and review of its mysteries (perhaps then we can move onto to New Hampshire and Vermont, all under scrutinized but having their own less famous creatures, like Lake, Land and Air cryptids).

As for references, see those noted above. A wide variety are lesser published and appear in the regional newspapers, odd magazine articles and so forth.

Craig Heinselman
Peterborough, NH

2) When I think of cryptids in Maine, I think of sea serpents. However, it seems that I vaguely recall some Indian legends concerning strange creatures there, but I don’t recall details.

3) I’m not near my reference books presently so I can’t give specific accounts, sorry.

As I eventually will get to Maine, since my wife definitely wants to go again, I would love to get a copy when you finish it to have with me. Best of luck on it!