The Utah-Idaho Border’s, Giant Pale Skinned Crocodilian
Along the border of Idaho and Utah lies Bear Lake. A giant, turquoise, body of water some call the “Caribbean of the Rockies” at 109 square miles it’s more than large enough to hide a beast or two!
As with most of our beasts, our story starts with the native people and their centuries of experience. They saw the beast, simply noted it’s existence, avoided it, called it the “water devil” and made it part of their legends. Jump ahead a few centuries and you find the region hopping with Brigham Young and his Mormon brethren. Who get themselves all riled up over a fictional account of a sighting in a local paper. Search parties were formed, plans of capture amassed (my favorite involving a giant hook, a goat, a tree, a floating buoy and like 1000 ft of rope), and entertainingly… Brigham Young himself sent a “strong” rope to the site of the search just in case.
Now to my knowledge, none of these plans came to fruition, and the monster was never captured, but word has it, to this day, you won’t find many locals who doubt it’s existence… So with that I offer you descriptors!
- Upwards of 30 feet long, some say as long as 60
- Has a long serpentine body on short little legs, some describe as crocodilian
- Accounts of it’s coloring vary, but my favorite is “flesh colored”
- It’s long head is rumored to look somewhere between that of a horse, an otter, a lizard and a tuskless walrus
- I’ve seen accounts where it’s back is lined with spikes like an aquatic dino and some with it smooth like an eel, the important part is that it undulates!
- surrounded by mormons to the south and potatoes, bison and fracking to the north
That’s what you’ve got! All I ask is you don’t try too hard and have fun! We’ll now close off submissions for judgement midnight of Friday the 14th … As always, We’ll gather the judges council and pick one to win a shirt, so get your asses doodling!
The Judge’s Council has convened and verdict given! Here’s how it played out!
First came Judge Ken with the outlier vote: I vote #2. Something about that diamond pattern and the mummy vibe that i find cool. also, sweet color palette and crop job! (pictured below)
And all the rest of us including me, fell in line with this thing that’s maybe happy that it’s sad, or sad that it’s happy, or hell, i don’t know anything anymore… It’s got little legs and I’m transfixed!
Mona Said: My vote goes to Sean! I love it, I just do. I wish that it had sound to go with the illustration, because I half expect it to sound like a balloon deflating as it undulates its way thru the water. And those wonky eyes…come on!
Cody Said: Lil dude looks too lovable too ignore. I feel like, in a way, I’m seeing into Sean’s soul here.
And Judge Sarah (aka seans wife) Said: Sean gets my vote this week. Does anyone else remember Dudley the dinosaur? He told kids in the 90’s to brush their teeth during sat morning cartoons, and Sean’s beast reminds me a lot of him. I loved that dinosaur.
Disagree if you must but know that judgement is law and to the winner a shirt will go…. Thanks to drawers and judges alike. And even though the contest is done we’ll always welcome new Bear Lake Monster drawings for the archives! So draw on, and remember, 25 beasts drawn earns you a shirt!
