Beast of Busco

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The Beast of Busco is the subject of a legend in Churubusco, Indiana, about an enormous [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_snapping_turtle snapping turtle] which citizens claimed to have seen in 1949. Despite a month long hunt that briefly gained national attention, the "Beast of Busco" was never found.

 History 
The Beast of Busco (or affectionately known as Oscar from the first discoverer) resides in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churubusco,_Indiana Churubusco, Indiana], where it is supposedly a giant snapping turtle. Legend has it that the story starts in 1898, when a farmer named Oscar Fulk supposedly saw a giant turtle living in the seven-acre lake on his farm near Churubusco. He told others about it, but eventually he decided to leave it alone.

A half century later, in July 1948, two Churubusco citizens, Ora Blue and Charley Wilson, also reported seeing a huge [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_snapping_turtle alligator snapping turtle] (weighing an estimated 500 pounds) while fishing on the same lake, which had come to be known as Fulk Lake. A farmer named Gale Harris owned the land at that time. Harris and others also reported seeing the creature. Word spread, and many expeditions were held to try and get the big beast out of the lake, including draining and motor boating the lake. Not much else is known about the Beast of Busco. Some say it is just hibernating and waiting for food to come to it. Some say the Beast never existed and it was just Oscar's way of making the sleepy town feel alive.

 Turtle Days Festival 
Oscar is honored in the turtle days festival each June. It includes a parade, carnival and turtle races. A turtle shell labeled "Beast of Busco" hangs in the Two Brothers Restaurant in Decatur, Indiana.

A small concrete statue of a turtle sits on the sidewalk at the main intersection in the center of Churubusco.

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