Comments on: Giant Snakes of Utah?

By: JMonkey

JMonkey — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:33:42 +0000

Well I am all for large snakes in Utah. Especially, since I live in Oklahoma. Long as they stay over there with the mormons, and leave us alone, I am good. Maybe the reason that noone has eve found them is because the (reptile?) has consumed them. These giant cave dwelling snakes have found a way to kill and not be found. They live inside a cave walled with gold and filled with snake scat, since they do not obviously defecate outside of the cave, and keep themselves fed on beef and peyote. You gotta worry about omnivorous, drug addicted snakes who use the restroom where they live.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:42:15 +0000

The Great Basin, up until a few thousand years ago, was a region of lakes and forests which supported some very large animals such as mammoths, giant ground sloths, giant tortoises and others which are now extinct. As ancient Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville dried and drained due to a variety of factors, and human cultures persisted, the animals vanished as well. Within the geology of the Basin and Range there are a number of cave systems, some of which are not well explored and presumably some which are still unknown. If a large snake or other subterranean reptile persisted, and due to its size was not as dependent on basking in the sun in order to thermo-regulate, it might go un-noticed except when it might make a brief appearance to take sustenance or migrate from one portion of a cave system to another. Animals that are adapted to the cool dark conditions of caves are known for their longevity.
I’ve worked in the Great Basin and have taken some time to learn about its fascinating natural history both past and present and have never heard of large creatures such as being attributed to the legend in the article, but considering how remote and sparsely populated some of the places are there, it’s tantalizing to imagine some large long-lived species that is not dependent on the surface except for brief appearances which could elude our modern human knowledge being there.

By: Tegan

Tegan — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:15:17 +0000

coelacanth1938,

Short answer: Yes.
Long answer, Google it, but here’s one page.

Gold is a logical choice to write on if you want something to last, as it’s soft.

By: coelacanth1938

coelacanth1938 — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:13:54 +0000

Lots of questions for me to ask here, but the one that’s foremost in my mind is whether or not anyone in history actually wrote anything down on a gold tablet?

By: Mibs

Mibs — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:59:48 +0000

Sounds like the type of “tall tale” you’d find in ANY part of the world.

By: sschaper

sschaper — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:57:28 +0000

Any indication in Paiute culture or oral traditions of such a religious element?

Otherwise, the closest I can think of (apart from a hoax or 19th century SciFi like the BoM) would be contact with the Anasazi.

By: norman-uk

norman-uk — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:14:13 +0000

dhestand

Does peyote=mescaline?

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:40:01 +0000

Tales of Underground Cities in the Southwest are absolutely nothing new. Especially tales including large amounts of Gold and Treasure. The Tale of the Dutchman’s Mine comes to mind. Also tales of hideous creatures guarding Gold/Treasure are also part of the tales. Think of European Dragons and their “cache.”

By: dhestand

dhestand — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:48:12 +0000

I’ve lived in Utah for 35 years…worked in Law Enforcement all that time….am very familiar with the Henry Mountains….and have never heard of these “giant snakes”. I DO know that we have an abundance of Peyote.

By: Tegan

Tegan — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:17:41 +0000

Please take the following with a large grain of salt, as I may have my “facts”, such as they are, incorrect.

A long time ago, a cousin on mine who grew up in Utah mentioned a piece of Mormon lore. In the Book of Mormon, the civilization falls apart, and a number of secret societies develop that are akin to mafia. The lore I heard said that one of those groups was centered in what is now Utah, where they established some sort of base.

What gets me about this tidbit of myth is that the Mormon religion holds that history is written in those societies on gold tablets. Which pretty much agrees with the Piute story.

I offer no opinion on the religion, but I do find the coincidence/sychronicity of the “history written on golden tablets” thing to be intriguing in a lot of ways. Full disclosure: I was raised Mormon, but am no longer an active member.

As for the snake part of the story, which is what is really interesting to us reading here… I got nothing. I’d love to find out what they are, though.