Swamp Creature Spotted in Austin’s Town Lake
By Editor | August 18, 2007
Reader Warning: This story contains partially verified accounts of a creature that may frighten children. We advise sending your children to a more kid-friendly website, such as Perez Hilton.
Austin, TX — As the first light of day painted the trees lining Zilker Park with golden hues on Friday morning, something much darker lurked in the waters of Town Lake. It then revealed itself to Marjorie Wiley-Westheimer as she finished the final stretch of her morning walk along the quiet shoreline.
“I was power walking like I do every morning, pumping my arms to Flock of Seagulls and really getting my heart rate up … and that’s when I saw it.”
What Marjorie saw, or claims to have seen, was a bipedal creature with shiny, dark-green skin and a bald head. According to Marjorie, the creature stood about seven feet tall and made a clicking sound with its throat, as if communicating with another creature elsewhere.
Image: Police sketch artist’s rendering of creature women described
“It was like something out of a bad science fiction movie,” said Marjorie. “A regular swamp thing if you ask me. I’ll never forget it in all my days. Just a big, slimy, mysterious swamp creature. And it smelled like stewed cabbage … I’ll never forget that either. Just a godawful cabbage stench.”
Image: Closeup of police sketch featuring Town Lake swamp creature
Other than Marjorie, the only witness of the event was Darryl “Claymine” Stevens, a homeless man temporarily residing in the woods outside Zilker Park.
“Sure I seen it,” said Stevens. “See it about once a week too. But it don’t bother nobody. Hell, it ain’t no worse than the chips we all got in our brains, so what’s the big deal? I say live and let live … swamp creature or not.”
According to Marjorie Wiley-Westheimer, the creature climbed the muddy bank from the waterline and then headed southeast toward Town Lake Park, staying close to the water as if to allow for a quick escape.
The proximity of the reported creature to the park has some officials worried, given the frequent presence of children within the popular Austin park. Though the authorities remain tight-lipped about the creature for now, one unnamed source did mention that “traps and tranqs” were not being ruled out, referring to efforts to trap and tranquilize the swamp creature in order to capture it.
Sound Off, Austin
If you have any information about the “Swamp Creature of Town Lake,” please contact our staff or leave a comment below. We recommend that you do NOT contact the Austin authorities at this time, as they seem to be in a state of denial — not uncommon in cases of subhuman creature existence.
Topics: Austin News |