Northwest Maine is said to be one of the most remote places in the United States.
Around 90 percent of Maine is forested, the highest percentage of any state. This includes an estimated 12 million acres in the northern part of Maine where very few people live. These desolate forests include a variety of outdoor wildlife including moose, white tailed deer and black bears.
In these forests though a massive white Moose is said to room, with significant sightings in the late 19th and early 20th century. This creature is known as the Specter Moose.
Generally speaking, The Specter Moose is described as having a white or light gray color and is said to stand 10 to 15 feet tall, weighing nearly 2,500 pounds. The antlers are considered extremely large, being between 10-12 feet across. Some reports say the moose glows faintly and has the ability to vanish without trace. Other report the creature can walk through solid objects. Many of the Hunters who spotted the creature said they had extreme difficulty getting near the beast. The few that managed to it, never seemed to wound the animal. Some say seeing the moose was a warning sign, an omen of something bad was about to happen.
In the late 19 century and early 20th century, there were multiple sightings of this creature, and the first occurred in 1891.
Clarence Duffy, a resident of Oldtown Maine was working nearby Lobster Lake when suddenly he spotted a massive white beast. It was white and looked like a moose, but was it? Terrified, he shot at the animal with his rifle but was too far away to get a good shot. After the event Duffy told fellow residents but was ridiculed.
After some time though, that would all change.
Several months later, John Ross, a lumberjack, was out at Lobster Lake and he spotted the creature.
With this second sighting, people around the community stopped ridiculing and started to entertain the idea something could be in those woods.
That same year, a hunter from New York would spot the animal and shoot several rounds at the creature. However, rather than hurt the animal it only infuriated it. The beast ran after the hunter and the hunter only survived by running in a bear cave which the creature was too large to get into. After some time, the beast wandered away.
It would be four years until the creature was spotted again. During that time, hunters searched for the beast but were not able to find it. In 1895, Granville Gray, a taxidermist would see the beast from a distance.
Four years would pass again when Gilman Brown encountered the beast on the Roach River in Westbury Massachusetts. Brown counted 22 antlers on the beast. Brown would fire 5 rounds at the beast, but again the moose was unharmed and vanished into the woods.
That same year, in 1899, the story of the massive white moose would gain national attention when the New York times covered it.
More sightings would come the following years and then in 1906 a frightening encounter happened with the creature.
(What is the Beast of Bladenboro- read here)
George Kneeland, was bicycling between Sherman and Macwahoc in Maine when he spotted a large white animal. At first, he thought it was a horse, but upon further inspection, he was shocked to see it was a massive white moose. Out of nowhere, the creature charged at him, and Kneeland had to escape by climbing a tree. After some time, the beast vanished into the forest.
One bazaar account though comes from a hunter named Houston. He alleges to have gotten a terrific view of the animal. One day 16 moose were grazing, and, in this group, there were 3 males. One of the moose was massive though and was a white, glowing color. Houston turned his back and when he turned around, the white moose had vanished with no trace.
If this story is true, it reveals some fascinating info. The specter moose socializes with the other moose and even according to this story, protects them.
Perhaps the following account is the strangest encounter of all.
Allegedly, a group of hunters east-central Maine killed a large white moose. After, they slit its throat and hung it from a tree overnight so they could skin and dress it the next day. Shockingly the next morning, the carcass was gone. That night things would get stranger. That same moose with its throat slit slowly walked into their camp and by the fire. Its throat was still cut. Panicked, the hunters shot at it, but nothing happened. It simply walked away and vanished into the forest.
Moose are said to be majestic animals. An average male moose is said to weigh around 900 pounds standing 6 feet fall with antlers around 4–6 feet across. These animals typically have around 8-10 antlers. A sighting in the wild is considered by many to be a once in a lifetime experience. The state of Maine, with an estimated population of 76,000, houses the second largest number of moose in the US behind only Alaska.
There are various theories as to what the specter moose could be.
One is that it is an Albino Moose. These types of Moose are extremely rare, but it could be the case one of these existed and was spotted. One problem with this theory though is the specter moose is said to have brown eyes, while albino moose have pink eyes.
Another theory states that the moose has a condition known as piebald. It comes from a recessive gene that causes the animal to grow white fur with specks of brown. These moose have been seen in Canada and Alaska.
One other theory holds that the specter moose is A “Ghost Moose”. A ghost moose is infected with tics and has white skin.
In general, people who support the scientific theories will say that the moose size was just exaggerated by the hinters. It’s not unheard of for hunters, like fisherman, to exaggerate size.
One final theory concerns the supernatural element. It says that the specter moose is supernatural in nature. Some speculate that crosses from another parallel universe. Others say that it moves through time and is from the past.
While there’s many theories around this cryptid, not one seems to dominate. This could have just been hunters exaggerating their prey or perhaps somewhere in the remote woods of Maine, a small family of giant moose exist.
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