News of a possible pint-sized sea monster in the pond at Lakeside Park hasn’t prompted a don’t-go-near-the-water panic, but it has brought a lot of reader feedback offering up possible explanations about what this creature might be.

We first wrote about “Lakeside Nessie” last month when a reader sent us a photo of a creature with a snake-like body and no visible fins. We also talked to someone who saw the strange creature from 6 feet away, writhing in the water like a snake.

So far, all the evidence and suggestions have brought to the conclusion that we don’t have the faintest idea what this is – or was – but here are some possibilities.

Lisa Kaake e-mailed us that it must be an arowana fish, which is found in Asia and considered to be lucky, which is what the fish would have to be. It likes soft acidic water between 75 and 85 degrees, meaning the weather here is perfect – until October or so. If it is an arowana fish, it would be bad luck for the ducks that live at the pond because they will eat ducks, we’re told.

Someone named Stan suggested the monster is just a dogfish. He said his brother-in-law caught one in Noble County. Another reader said it is possibly a bowfin or snakehead. Snakeheads are native to China and are regarded as aggressive fish.

A man named Louis Cook, who identified himself as president of Carp Anglers Group, the largest carp fishing club in North America, said he could verify that the creature in the photo was either a grass carp or a common carp. Common carp were introduced as fish food in the late 1800s, he said. Grass carp are newer and were introduced, usually after being sterilized, to eat weeds in ponds.

Cook said his group has many members in Indiana, and some would probably be interested in catching the beast.

Then a man named Kevin Kirby, an attorney and consultant in California, was pretty sure it was a Burmese python. People buy them as pets and when they get too big, they let them loose and they do quite well. Then again, it could be Nessie, he said.

Regardless, there have been no further reports of monster sightings in the Lakeside pond, but summer isn’t over yet.

Still time to vote

If Fort Wayne can’t make a name for itself as the home of a mysterious sea monster, it’s still in the running for the best public bathroom.

The sprawling restrooms at the Embassy Theatre were nominated, along with those at nine other locales, for the title the best public restrooms in America. It’s part of an annual contest sponsored by Cintas, a company that supplies materials to businesses.

So far, the Embassy is in fourth place in the voting, trailing restrooms in the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, The Fountain on Locust in St. Louis, and Bryant Park, a public park in New York City.

Salt Lake City, St. Louis and New York are all a lot bigger than Fort Wayne, so it’s quite an accomplishment that the Fort Wayne landmark’s bathrooms are running neck and neck.

The fun part about the selection process is that there’s nothing fair about it. People can vote for their favorite by going to www.bestrestroom.com and voting over and over again.

That’s really Fort Wayne’s best shot at winning this competition – if everyone in town votes about 10 times, and that’s not against the rules of this contest

People have until the end of August to vote. Even if you’re not that impressed with the Embassy’s restrooms, they deserve a vote on principle, just so we can beat out Las Vegas and restrooms with electronic seat covers, whatever they are.