FT257

The Waikato area of New Zealand was gripped by monster fever between late 1886 and early 1888.

Despite the fact that there is scarcely a lizard as much as a foot long in the entire country, the 12- and 14-year-old sons of a Mr Castleton reported being chased by a large crocodile- or alligator-type reptile with the girth of a calf. [1]

“They scout [reject] the notion of it being a pig, scornfully demanding to know whether they, seeing members of the porcine species daily, could be deceived by a pig… Both boys are bright and intelligent, and there is nothing in their manner or appearance to justify a suspic­ion that they have made up a yarn… They describe the animal as having a body about 2ft long, with a thick tail about the same length, short thick legs, and a long pointed head and long jaws armed with terrible-looking teeth. Its motion when chasing them was a sort of amble, which one of the lads, going down on all fours, simulated.” [2]

The creature was “covered with light brown scales the same as a schnapper [a type of fish], only that the scales seemed to be each as big as a penny [about 2.5–3cm across]… The creek is about 150 yards [137m] from the house, and the distance the second boy was chased was 100 yards [90m].” [3]

Mrs Castleton added the detail that her son who first saw the creature and was chased by it was so frightened he almost fainted when he got to the house. [4]

Almost a month after the first sighting, there was evidence that the mystery saurian had an appetite. At the slaughter yards near Frankton junction on 15 October 1886, “[T]he carcase of a sheep was found to have been taken from a hook and devoured, the bones being clean picked were found near the place with tracks of feet unlike those of any known animal. Men are on watch with guns and revolvers.” [5]

There were no further raids on the slaughterhouse, but the saur­ian would not have gone hungry as “there are more than 100 pigs roaming around the open land beyond the slaughteryards… a large number of young pigs have been missed, sows returning home with one of two fewer each time.” [6]

As often happens with monster scares, earlier witnesses were encouraged to come forward with older reports.

Fifteen years before, a man had been at the creek one mile outside Hamilton, near the junction with the Waikato river, when he saw a dead bull­ock. “Fastened on its head was an immense eel. I can assure you that the eel shook the bullock as a terrier would a rat. I was riding at the time, and watched for a few minutes. To get a nearer view, I moved my horse on to the bridge. The noise of the horse’s hoofs on the bridge frightened the eel, and it gave a swirl and disappeared.” [7]

Judge Gillies and Mr Percy Smith told the Hamilton corre­spondent of the New Zealand Herald that they had received accounts from Maoris who had seen monster reptiles in different areas of the North Island over the previous 20 years. [8]

A dramatic description of an encounter an unspecified number of years earlier was provided by Mr James Benshaw. He and a friend had been pig-hunting at the junction of the Awaito and Parikau creeks near Napier. Their dogs were three “regular old veterans, whose skins bore the marks of many a hard-fought battle with the lords of the porcine herds”. The dogs corn­ered and held a large pig that weighed 150–200lb (70–90kg). Just after its throat was cut with a sheath knife, the men heard a loud splashing in the creek a few yards away from where they stood.

“The creature came straight towards us. The dogs were by this time growling in chorus, but I noticed that every hair on their bodies seemed to be standing on end… they scrambled up to the top of the bank, and we very quickly followed… As it was nearly dark, we could not see enough to make out very distinctly what kind of an animal it was; but we could see that it had a long, flat head and two fore feet or paws, I cannot say which. Fearing an attack, we did not wait for it to get right out of the water. We tried to set the dogs on it, but they would have nothing to do with it, so we beat a retreat.”

When they were not pursued, the men cautiously returned and listened to it devouring the pig carcase. Mr Benshaw’s companion struck a match and for an instant they saw the creature as it “raised its head, and we saw two great glaring eyes, like balls of fire, and a great gaping mouth, with rows of saw-like teeth”.

The men ran for their lives. The next morning, they returned, this time armed with rifles. “On reaching the spot we found that the boar’s carcase had disapp­eared, and we could see the tracks of the monster in the sand, and see where the carcase had been dragged into the water. As the sand was loose, the tracks were not clear enough to enable us to form any idea of the shape of its feet or paws.” [9]

Late in November 1886, the mystery was (temporarily) solved. The Press Association reported “there was much excitement at the Paeroa river this week, on account of a reported ‘Saurian’ monster being seen in the river. The animal has been captured, and proves to be an enormous grey seal, 7ft 6in long, and weighing 3cwt [150kg]. Another is believed to be still at large.” [10]

All was quiet for five months, and then the situation became confused with a report of a poss­ible tiger. The daughter of a sett­ler saw an animal that “was not a dog or pig or anything she had ever seen before, but very much resembled a tiger, a picture of which animal she had seen in one of her schoolbooks”. She ran home and told her father. By the time the family retired to bed, the incident was almost forgotten, no doubt dismissed as a case of imagination run wild. “However, in the middle of the night the whole household were startled by a great noise, between a howl and a roar, which lasted for some time; and on comparing notes next morning, it was found that the noises had been heard at the same time by settlers some two or three miles off.” [11]

In mid-May 1887, a Mr Paton was looking for a lost draught horse. Then he found it. Some of it. The horse had been partially eaten and some of the large bones were crunched. The follow­ing evening, his dogs barked furiously then hid under the house. Paton found tracks like “the impression of a large pad with three claws in front”. Some local children ran home saying they had seen the monster. [12]

Rather unhelpfully, there was no description of the monster and the prints are ambiguous. Was it a saurian or a felid?

Another report surfaced in May. About six weeks earlier [approximately the beginning of April 1887], Mr Russell’s two sons, William and James, were hunting eels in the Waitakaruru Creek in Scotchman’s Valley (about 30km / 19 miles east of Hamilton). They heard something large crashing through the bush. It did not make any noises like a pig. They returned with their father, armed with lanterns, pitchforks, and their dogs. They followed the creature’s tracks until they entered the scrub, but the dogs were cowed and refused to follow the trail any further.

“Its footmarks were about a foot apart, showing it had short legs. Its foot has a pad and three claws in front and two smaller ones behind. From front to back of the foot would be at least four inches. My son thinks the animal had a shuffling gait and was very heavy,” said Mr Russell. [13]

Five months passed without incident; then a local Maori shot and killed a slumbering sea leopard at Raglan harbour (about 10km / six miles west of Hamilton). It was described as being “12ft long, and 6ft in girth, with two large screw-like propellers in lieu of a tail.” [14]

One or the other (or both) of the shot ‘saurians’ then toured the country. When on display in Auckland on 7 December, a lamp fell on the saurian and burnt it, but the fire was put out before the building was damaged. [15]

Despite the fact that it had supposedly been shot and killed (twice), there was one final saur­ian sighting at the beginn­ing of February 1888. Two men were crossing the Waikato River and their canoe was capsized when a monster surfaced right next to them. They described it as “of immense size, with large jaws, showing a formidable array of jagged teeth. Its body was covered with long, shaggy, black hair, resembling that of a dog”. [16]

This sounds suspiciously like a ‘shaggy dog’ story, but as the term first appeared in print in 1937, perhaps it was a real experience.

The exhibit (or exhibits) had also mutated in appearance: “The animal is well worth seeing, being of a most peculiar descript­ion, a sort of large walrus minus the tusks, and with a tiger-like head.” [17]

Theories abounded as to the origin of the alligator or crocodile. It was claimed that some Maoris had brought alligator eggs from Australia and placed them near the Waikato River. [18]

A seal, sea-lion, or leopard seal would not have left tracks as described. Also, it is doubtful that horse or wild boar would be their choice of food. Over 20 years later, it was claimed the prints had been created with a wooden instrument and that the whole affair was a hoax. [19]

There is one photo of the Waikato saurian/tiger (above right). It surfaced many years later, with no details of its origins and shows a suspiciously glassy-eyed tiger. [20]

Whatever the true answer, they were certainly more exciting times when giant eels, crocodiles, alligators, and tigers roamed the New Zealand countryside.

Notes (all newspaper sources are from New Zealand publications)
1 “The Latest Sensation – A Saurian Reptile In The Waikato”, Waikato Times, 30 Sept 1886, p2.
2 “Crocodile – Or What?”, Waikato Times, 2 Oct 1886, p2.
3 “An alligator at Hamilton – Two Boys Chased By The Reptile”, Poverty Bay Herald, 2 Oct 1886, p2.
4 “The Hamilton Alligator – Further Particulars”, Taranaki Herald, 5 Oct 1886, p2.
5 “The Waikato Monster Again – Its Footprints Found”, Poverty Bay Herald, 26 Oct 1886, p2.
6 “The Waikato Alligator”, Taranaki Herald, 6 Nov 1886, p2.
7 Waikato Times, 13 Nov 1886, p2 (letter reprinted from the Oamaru Mail).
8 “The Waikato Mystery”, Southland Times, 16 Nov 1886, p2.
9 Ibid.
10 “The Saurian Monster – Capture Of an Enormous Seal”, Star (Auckland), 26 Nov 1886, p2.
11 “What Was it?”, Ashburton Guardian, 29 Apr 1887, p3.
12 “The Waikato Saurian Again”, Bay Of Plenty Times, 10 May 1887, p3.
13 “The Waikato Saurian – Is It A Taniwha?”, Te Aroha News, 14 May 1887, p5.
14 “Capture Of the Saurian Monster – Found At Last – The Monster Shot Dead – A Raglan Sensation”, Taranaki Herald, 3 Nov 1887, p4.
15 “The Last Of The Saurian – Seal Exhibit Burnt”, Star, 8 Dec 1887, p3.
16 “The Saurian Monster Re-Appears”, Star, 3 Feb 1888, p2.
17 Wanganui Chronicle, 19 Mar 1888, p2.
18 “More About The Allig­ator”, Star, 27 Oct 1888, p3.
19 Observer (Auckland), 2 Jan 1909, p4.
20 “Waikato Tiger – Which was at large for some time”, Otago Witness, 10 Aug 1904, p46.