Could Ohio get a state cryptid?

TIFFIN — Ohio has an official state bird (the cardinal), an official insect (the ladybug), an official tree (the buckeye, of course) and even an official fossil fish (Dunkleosteus Terrelli, a.k.a., "the Dunk"). There's more — if you love tomato juice, you are imbibing the state beverage — but you get the idea. What Ohio lacks is an official state cryptid, but a bill in the Ohio House seeks to fill that apparent oversight. House Bill 821, introduced last month by state representatives Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood, and Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, would make the Loveland Frog Ohio's official state cryptid. As the Ohio House currently lacks a cryptids committee, the measure has been assigned to the House's Government Oversight Committee. According to legend... A cryptid, if you aren't familiar with the term, is an alleged animal whose existence is disputed. Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster are familiar examples of cryptids. The Loveland Frog, also known as the Loveland Frogman, is a humanoid frog, reportedly seen in the Loveland area, in southern Ohio. It stands about four feet tall. The Loveland Frog might or might not exist, but it richly deserves the honor that state lawmakers are considering, said Kevin Moore, curator of artifacts at the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums and the co-author, with Kristina Smith, of the book "Unnatural Ohio: A History of Buckeye Cryptids, Legends and Other Mysteries." "I was excited when I heard they picked the Loveland Frog," Moore said. The frog is a uniquely Ohio cryptid, he explained, in contrast to other cryptids in Ohio. "Bigfoot is all over the country. Dogman is very popular throughout the whole Great Lakes region," Moore said. As for whether the Loveland Frog exists, Moore says there have been three reported sightings over the years, in 1955, 1972 and 2016. The 1955 creature is a repurposed "little green man," a UFO alien appropriated into the legend, and the 2016 incident is clearly a hoax, so that leaves the 1972 encounters reported by two local police officers. It's been speculated that the 1972 creature was an iguana without a tail, but Moore doubts an iguana could survive Ohio's March weather. The Hayes Library hosted a cryptid exhibit in 2020 and 2021. There's been a growing interest in cryptids in popular culture. City fond of its frog Loveland, Ohio, a city with a population of about 13,000 in metropolitan Cincinnati, has embraced its green legendary creature. A person wearing a bright green Loveland Frog costume shows up for all of the city's main events, including the city's 150th anniversary celebration earlier this month. As with other superheroes, the actual identity of the frog is a closely-guarded secret, although Loveland's city manager, Dave Kennedy, let slip that the frog actually is a woman who works at City Hall. "We don't pay her or anything to be our frog," Kennedy said. She is a "very, very nice lady," he said. Kennedy said Loveland's anchor is its downtown, which boasts good restaurants, a nice park and the popular Little Miami Scenic Trail. The city has found an artist who specializes in bronze frog sculptures and is trying to come up with funding to put a sculpture in the downtown park, figuring that tourists would want to pose for photos with it. The frog has also been honored in other ways in the area, including the Loveland Frogman Race, a bluegrass musical, "Hot Damn! It's the Loveland Frog," and the Loveland Frog Festival, a cryptid conference which, one year, featured Moore and Smith as guest speakers.