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In late May 2010, news media worldwide carried stories of an extraordinary-looking creature that had allegedly been discovered dead in Big Trout Lake, at the heart of a remote Oji-Cree Native American community south of Hudson Bay in northern Ontario, Canada. The animal had been found by two nurses walking by the lake earlier in May who photographed it but then left it on the lake’s rocky shoreline; when searched for a few days later, it had vanished. Based upon eyewitness descriptions and the photos, the creature was roughly 30cm long with brown fur and a rat-like tail, but its facial skin had been entirely eroded away, leaving only white flesh behind, and the same had happ­ened to its right forefoot.

According to the community, it is a rare local beast of ill omen known as the omajinaakoos or ‘the ugly one’, seen only very occasionally, with the last previous sighting made around 50 years ago. Suggestions as to its zoological identity have varied dramatically, from a muskrat, beaver, mink, or otter, to an opossum, bear cub, chupacabra, or even a wholly unknown species. Based upon the photo­graphic evidence, which clearly shows the presence of canine teeth (thereby eliminating a rodent identity), this animal was most likely either a young otter or an American mink (though in the photos it seemed too sturdy to be the latter).

(Toronto) Globe and Mail, 21 May 2010.