Off Topic Friday: Vermont’s Liberal Lake Monster?

Big news from the Green Mountain State this week: a sighting of Champ, the legendary beast said to live in Lake Champlain. Champ is sort of like the Loch Ness monster, but not as spooky. Most artist renditions of Champ usually have him smiling, swimming, chilling out—he’s definitely more granola than gruesome, more Puff the Magic Dragon than a frightening killer Jaws-type. A fitting mascot for a state with the country’s only socialist senator(Bernie Sanders) and a city(Burlington) with an ultra-progressive mayor. I bet, if he registered in time, the lake monster would have voted for Obama, along with 70 percent of the state.

(Caveat: Lake Champlain borders New York, too, but I’ve always associated Champ with Vermont. The state needs to take credit for what it can…Phish, Ben&Jerry’s, maple syrup, weed, etc…)

So what is Champ? The always excellent Sam Hemingway at the Burlington Free Press has the latest report here. Speculation about this video, shot on a cell phone camera, has suggested that the creature might be a moose, or some other kind of animal. What seems to be agreed upon is that it’s some kind of beastie swimming out there. And remember, Lake Champlain, ten thousand years ago or so, was a salt water sea. Maybe Champ is some ancient creature who didn’t get the memo to head towards the Atlantic? A cryptoid? Cthulu? A plesiosaur? A yeti? I’ll be near the lake this summer, so I will let you all know if I see anything…

(Update: Wikipedia says I’m wrong about the sea part, but I’m sticking to my half baked theory!)