#1May 31st, 2010
TED RATH, QMI Agency
TORONTO - Photos of a strange creature pulled from a northern Ontario creek have become a worldwide sensation, even though the body has since washed away.
But the tiny First Nations community at the centre of the water monster story is apparently not willing to give up the attention, as residents conducted a second search in as many days for evidence of the elusive beast they call "omagimaakos" - or "the ugly one." On Friday, boaters took to area waterways around the tiny community of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, near the shores of Hudson Bay, hoping to catch one.
Photos of the hairy, foot-long creature - with a bald face and paws, glazed eyes, warthog-like mouth, and a rat's tail - were posted on the community's website and quickly went viral.
According to the website, a dog that was walking with its owners - a pair of nurses who work for the federal government - pulled the animal from a creek earlier this month.
Darryl Sainnawap, a local band councillor, said the body of the creature is no longer at the side of the creek where it was left after the photos were taken.
"It was already dead a while when those photos were taken, so it was just left there," Sainnawap said. "I guess the dogs or seagulls got at it. Or it just washed away." The nurse who took the photos wouldn't talk to media. He said he's a government employee and not allowed to discuss it.
The animal is being linked to mythological creatures like the Loch Ness Monster and Ogopogo, though many observers have already guessed it's more likely a waterlogged bear cub or otter.
According to the residents of the community, this isn't the first sighting of the legendary omagimaakos.
Sainnawap says his great-uncle came across a similar animal in the 1950s.
"It's very rare. It lives in creeks and swampy areas and is said to feed on beavers," Sainnawap said.
The boaters haven't found an omagimaakos this week, but that might be for the best.
"My great-uncle was told by his grandfather that a sighting of the omagimaakos is an omen that bad things will happen," Sainnawap said.
"So we'll have to see about that."
ugly one
