20 foot serpent in Madison lakes?!

Did you know that a giant sea serpent was reported to rear it’s curious head in Lake Monona & Lake Mendota from the 1860’s to the 1940’s?

Serpent sightings became so common that the Wisconsin State Journal reported the serpent as if it’s existence was indisputable, writing, in 1897: “The Monona sea serpent has made its appearance about two months earlier than usual this season, according to several people people in the vicinity of east Madison, who [said] that they saw the monster that evening.”

Evidence supporting the creature’s existence was discovered in 1917, when a UW student found an enormous fish scale on the north shore of Picnic Point. The student took this discovery to his professor, who identified it as being from the body of a sea serpent.

Read more about serpent sightings here.