Remember the Hudson River, New York sightings of a manatee named Tappie?
Well, incredibly, near Memphis, the above pictured manatee has appeared in the city’s Mud Island Harbor.
For more than four hours Monday [October 23, 2006], Memphis Police Harbor Patrol and officials with the Tennessee State Wildlife Resources Agency tracked the 6- to 8-foot-long, 1,000-pound mammal after they received a call about a strange creature in the harbor.
"These old fishermen spotted it two days ago and called the zoo to report that they had seen a prehistoric animal, a Loch Ness monster or something," said Lt. Ed Vidulich with the Memphis Police Harbor Patrol. "When we got the call about it Monday I said it couldn’t be a manatee — a body maybe, but not a manatee."
But a manatee, indeed, it was.
Being from Florida, it seems funny that someone would mistake one of these for a “loch ness monster”, but I’ll admit that on first seeing one in the wild, it scared the living daylights out of me. They’re probably the most docile animals on earth, but if you’re not expecting to see one, they’ll give you a start. Ones with propeller injuries may very well look like they’ve been around since prehistoric times.
Wow. I hope the manatee doesn’t end up on the menu at the Rendevous, or maybe they could put it in the fountain with the Peabody ducks.
Anyway, if a manatee can swim all the way to Memphis, do you think a Bigfoot could wander down to Wartburg, Tennessee that is ???