Page 109 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Mysterious Creatures 89

likely that the bones of the mammoth, the ed in the Scottish lake where it had been sighted Dennis Quaid (right) in
woolly rhinoceros, and the giant cave bear since the fifteenth century. With that brief film- the 1996 movie
were not that uncommon in early Europe. The strip, Nessie mania had been brought into the “Dragonheart.” (THE
tusk of the mammoth was often called for in twentieth century and has never subsided, seem- KOBAL COLLECTION)
the recipes of medieval love potions. ingly growing stronger each year. And in spite of
In the marketplace of the Austrian city of Irvine’s intentions, his cinematic record of the
Klagenfurt, there is a statue of a giant killing a Loch Ness Monster did not put an end to the
dragon. The dragon’s head has quite obviously controversy over the creature’s existence.
been modeled on the skull of a woolly rhinoc-
eros. The connection can be proven by the
fact that old records note the discovery of a
“dragon’s skull” in Klagenfurt in the sixteenth NEARLY two million tourists visit Scotland to
century, 30 years before the statue was con-
structed. The skull has been preserved all see if they might obtain a glimpse and a photograph of
these years by the city fathers and can be iden- the Loch Ness Monster.
tified today as that of the Ice Age rhinoceros.

M Delving Deeper
Sightings of Nessie, most often described as
Carrington, Richard. Mermaids and Mastodons. Lon-
a long-necked monster resembling a prehis-
don: Arrow Books, 1960.
toric brontosaurus, have been seen in and near
Heuvelmans, Bernard. On the Track of Unknown Ani-
Loch Ness since St. Columba made the first
mals. New York: Hill and Wang, 1958.
recorded sighting in 565, and nearly two mil-
Mackal, Roy P. A Living Dinosaur? In Search of Mokele-
lion tourists each year come to Scotland to see
Mbembe. New York: E. J. Brill, 1987.
if they might obtain a glimpse and a photo-
graph of the elusive water beast. For the past
Loch Ness and Other Lake Monsters several decades, volunteer Nessie spotters work
in relays from mid-May to mid-October. Each
In 1936, Glasgow filmmaker Malcolm Irvine
filmed a dark blob, approximately 30 feet in volunteer is equipped with log pads, field glass-
length, moving slowly across Loch Ness and es, and video cameras with telephoto lenses.
offered what he believed to be proof that the Could a prehistoric creature actually be
most famous monster in the world actually exist- living in a lake in Scotland? Loch Ness is cer-

The Gale Enc y clopedia of the Unusu al and Unexplained