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Lair of the Beasts: The Creature of the Canal
What Lurks Below? By Nick Redfern
February 20, 2010
Nick Redfern, seeker of monsters, author of MEMOIRS OF A MONSTER HUNTER
© Nick Redfern
Within the controversial field of cryptozoology and monster-hunting, there are some stories and tales that become near-legendary in nature. Some of them even take on mythical status, and become known far and wide. Others, meanwhile, remain very much localized - albeit certainly no less legendary.
And, a mysterious beast of huge proportions that most definitely falls into this latter category is one that I refer to as "The Great Eel of Birmingham."
For non-British readers, Birmingham is a city that is located in central England and situated only around seven miles from where I grew up. It's very much an industrialized area, and hardly the sort of place that would normally be considered home to a marauding monster.
But sometimes, as they say, truth really is stranger than fiction, and amazing legends are duly born as a result.
Back in the mid-to-late 1980s, as I very well recall, rumors began to circulate among local seekers of the unknown of sightings of a huge, predatory and menacing eel that was seen lurking in the dark waters of the winding canals that both surround and cut through Birmingham itself.
Altogether, somewhere in the region of 7 or 8 reports reached me. And, of course, this begs a very important question: how many more witnesses were there who decided to remain silent, for fear of ridicule or of being labeled a nut or a liar?
One particularly memorable account, that most definitely seems to play a central role in this weird affair, originated with a truck-driver who vividly recalled such a sighting somewhere in Birmingham in the latter part of the 1980s; and that "shook the staff rigid" at a store that overlooked the particular stretch of canal in question.
In this case, the wild animal was described as being dark brown in color and was said to be no less than an astonishing fifteen feet in length. Supposedly, it had been briefly seen by a fork-lift driver, who had sat, not surprisingly mesmerized, watching it ominously "circling" one particular area of the canal that was frequented by a large number of semi-tame ducks that the staff at the store would regularly feed with bread during their daily lunch-hour.
Several other such stories of a distinctly similar nature caught my attention during that sadly-long-gone era; all of which collectively suggested that the tales of the mighty animal were far more than mere myths and hoaxes. Interestingly, all of the sightings brought to my attention occurred on hot, summer days, when it seems that the creature was at its most active.
And, today, and upon reflection, I'm actually in very little doubt at all that something truly monstrous had indeed made the canals of Birmingham its home - albeit perhaps for a relatively brief period of time, and presumably before moving on to new waters.
Although, in 2010, the eel appears to be long gone, the legend of its actions and activities still lives on. Indeed, in 2003, the story was given an added injection of controversy when nothing less than the body of a huge, dead python was found floating in the canals of Birmingham, and which sent the local media into a frenzy, as they happily and sensationally reported on the monster in their midst.
Undoubtedly an exotic pet that its owner could no longer handle or control, and which had probably been dumped in the water under cover of darkness late one night, the beast was prime evidence that there really are strange and out-of-place animals lurking in, and slithering amid, the dark waters of my old haunts and stomping grounds.
Then, in 2008, rumors circulated of another large snake – or perhaps even an ancient, huge eel - having been found dead within the Birmingham canal-system; but one that was hastily disposed of by the local police, in an effort to prevent public and media over-reaction. And, no doubt: to prevent and deter people such as myself from rampaging around the winding canals at every given opportunity.
Of course, such actions don’t deter me in the slightest; and on my regular trips back home, I always make it a point to check out those old canals. After all, who knows what might still be hiding there?
Nick Redfern is the author of many books on unknown animals and strange creatures, including: There’s Something in the Woods and Memoirs of a Monster Hunter. His latest book is Contactees: A History of Alien-Human Interaction.
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Curious why you didnt mention how the eels get so large sometimes.
The way it works is that eels are hard coded genetically to goto a particular place at a particular time and age, mate and then die. Problem is these huge eels are mutants, the genes to tell them to breed and die do not kick in. The eels have no method of growing old, essentially they dont grow old, they just keep growing indefinately.
Eels have been caught over 150 years old.