Montauk Monster Has Hideous, Equally Baffling Canadian Cousin

A mysterious animal has washed up in a reservoir near the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Band reserve in northern Ontario, but no one can decide exactly what it is. Sound familiar?

According to some members of the reserve, the creature hasn't been seen for over 40 years. The elders have a word for it: omajinaakoos, which translates to "the ugly one" in a vastly less interesting language. Members of the band are confused as to whether the beast is an otter-beaver hybrid or some strange abomination that feasts on otters and beavers. Oh, and it might be a portent of doom. Terrific.

(Conspiracy theorists will be happy to know that the two nurses who discovered the creature are under a federal gag order, so there's that too.)

Cryptomundo's Loren Coleman offers a few disappointingly grounded theories:

But more realistic considerations have talked about it being a known species, such as a bear cub (Ursus americanus) or other animals. Even the mundane looks strange without hair.

However, with the structure of the head, the description of a "rat-like" tail, and the 11-inch-length, one suggestion is that it might be a semi-aquatic rodent, the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus). [...]

The other top candidate is that of the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis). Yes, it could simply be a dead river otter.

I prefer the otter- and beaver-eating otter-beaver hybrid of doom, but I guess a plain old river otter seems plausible, too.

Update: 'The ugly one' monster mystery [Toronto Star] The Bald Beast of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug [Cryptomundo]