Pt 4. Never Have I Ever? Hold my Coffee!

Did you grow up in a town where there was a local legend or story similar to the Loch Ness Monster? I'm sure a lot of us did. We had a few growing up. Nellie Vaughn is one of the most well-known. If you lived in R.I., you probably knew. If you are from Coventry, R.I., you definitely knew. One not so well known, but well known in my neighborhood, is that of "George"? The giant snapping turtle of Tiogue Lake.

When I was first introduced to stories of "George," he was the size of a large coffee table. He could snap a three-inch tree limb in half with a single bite. By the time I was a teenager, "George had grown to the size of a VW Bug.

You might ask, how could a giant turtle go unnoticed in a lake for that long without someone catching sight and snapping a picture? That is a good question, and I asked the same one years ago. The answer was simple: he was old and wise. He was unseen because he wanted it that way. He had lived so long in the lake that he was skilled at evading human contact.

Naturally, this piqued the interest of some in the neighborhood. Two in particular made it their mission to find and catch "George." One was my older brother, and another neighbor, a bit older than us, in his mid-twenties. They would go out countless evenings and early mornings before sunrise to catch the beast. They were armed with chicken heads and feet, fishing poles, and a motorboat. They would set out tirelessly, always to come home empty-handed. But we would always get a story of a sighting.

We named everything on that lake: Stump Cove, the sand bar, the rock pile, and Bellybutton Rock. Often, we would hear how they saw "George" at Stump Cove, but he would dive under a fallen tree into the murky water in a narrow escape. He would be sunning himself on Bellybutton Rock but would sense their approach and narrowly escape capture. He would almost always steal the chicken heads and feet right from the poles as they fished. But they always remained hopeful and optimistic.

Over the years, the stories died down. We all grew up and had families of our own. I find myself returning to that time and wondering what ever happened to "George." Do their kids or grandchildren know about him? Have they gone on the hunt? Has anyone had a sighting?

I'm not sure any of us knew if "George" was real, a story, or something in between. What I do know is that it entertained the minds of a generation of neighborhood kids. It kept some teenagers engaged and out of trouble. It made for some great memories and stories. I think if you asked any of us, we all want to believe he was real. That he is real, still eluding the people of the neighborhood and passing on stories to his turtle family about how he avoided capture for decades.