Mythic America

Ever wanted to run a game in a fantastical America, but not know what creatures to have?

Worry no more, because I put together a list!

Will-am-alone
>The Will-am-alone is a quick little animal, like a squirrel, that rolls in its fingers in poison-lichens into balls and drops them into the ears and on the eyelids of sleeping men in the camp, causing them to have strange dreams and headaches and to see unusual objects in the snow. It is the hardest drinkers in the camp who are said to be most easily and most often affected by the poison. Can be fatal when mixed with those liquors made in prohibition states

Side-hill winder
>More odd than this animal is the side-hill winder, a rabbit-like creature so called because he winds about the steep hills in only one direction; and in order that his back may be kept level, the down-hill legs are longer than the uphill pair. He is seldom caught; but the way to kill him is to head him off with dogs when he is corkscrewing up a mountain. As the winder turns, his long legs come up on the uphill side and tip him over, an easy prey. His fat is the cure for diseases caused by will-am-alone, but to eat its flesh is to die a hard and sudden death.

Ding-ball
>much to be dreaded is the ding-ball, a panther whose last tail-joint is ball shaped and bare of flesh. With this weapon it cracks its victim's skull. There is no record of a survival from the blow of a ding-ball. In older traditions it sang with the voice of a human, thus luring the incautious from their cabins to have their sconces broken in the dark. It is fond of human flesh, and will sing all night for a meal of Indians.

Hibou blanc
>where the French Canucks are employed at chopping, you must look to see them all quit work if a white owl flies from any tree they are felling; and they must not look back nor speak to it, for it is a ghost and will trouble them unless they leave that part of the wood for fully thirty days.

Windigo
>But the worst of all is the windigo, that ranges from labrador to moosehead lake, preferring the least populous and thickest wooded districts. A Canadian Indian known as Sole-o'-your-foot is the only man who ever saw one and lived-- for merely to look upon the windigo is doom, and to cross his track is deadly peril. There is no need to cross the track, for it is plain enough. His footprints are twenty-four inches long, and in the middle of each impress is a red spot, showing where his blood oozed through the hole in his mocassin; for the windigo, dark and huge and shadowy as he seems, has yet a human shape and many human attributes. That belief in this monster is so genuine that lumbermen have secured a monopoly of certain jobs by scaring competitors out of the neighborhood through simple device of tramping past their camp in fur covered snow shows and dropping a bead of beef blood in each footprint. The stealthy stride of the monster makes every lumberman's blood run cold as the Androscoggin under its ice roof, and its voice is like the moaning of the pines.

Gazerium and Snydae
>From Maine comes news of two extinct creatures, the Gazerium and the Snydae. Both, according to Richard G. Kendall, a specialist in unearthly zoology highly esteemed in that state, were found only along the Kennebec river, and were favorite delicacies of the Kennebec Indians and had but two legs forward and only one aft, and that it fed chiefly upon the Snydae, which were minute forms of marine life. The Snydae, in turn, fed upon the eggs of the Gazerium, so the two species gradually exterminated themselves. He adds: "The Kennebec usually cooked the Gazerium in deep fat. It tasted something like French-Fried potato, with just a hint of flavor of cocktail sauce imparted to it by its died of Snydae.

Come-at-a-Body
>Reported by Mr. B. B. Bickford of Gorham, the N. H. Not found outside the white mountains. A short, stubby, rather small animal, resembling a woodchuck but having very soft, velvety, kitten-like fur. Harmless, but surprising. Has the terrifying habit of suddenly rushing directly at you from the brush, then stopping only a few inches away and spitting like a cat. A strong mink like scent is thrown, and the Come-at-a-Body rushes away.

Tote-road Shagamaw
>From Rangeley Lakes to Allegash and across in New Brunswick loggers tell of an animal which puzzled many a man, even those who were not strangers in the woods. Frequently the report is circulated that the tracks of a bear have been seen near camp, but a little later this is denied and moose tracks are reported instead. Heated arguments among the men, sometimes resulting in fist fights, are likely to follow. It is rightly considered an insult to a woodsman to accuse him of not being able to distinguish the track of either of these animals.To only a few of the old timber cruisers and rivermen is the explanation of these changing tracks is known. Gus Demo, of Oldtown, Maine, who has hunted and trapped and logged in Maine woods for 40 years, once came upon what he recognized as the tracks of a moose. After following it for about 80 rods it changed to moose tracks. It was soon observed by Mr. Demo that these changes took place precisely every quarter mile, and that these whatever made these tracks followed a tote road or a blazed line through the woods. Coming within sight of the animal, Gus saw a 20-foot-tall creature with the fore-legs of a bear, and the hind legs that of a moose. He observed it marching carefully with its long legs, stepping precisely at a yard a step, then stopping on a pivot, and switching to from its fore to its hind legs. He concluded that Tote-Road Shagamaw must have been originally a very imitative creature, developing to fool hunters. He reasoned that the Shagamaw can only count to 440; therefore it must invert itself every quarter a mile

Whapperknocker
>The Whapperknocker is somewhat larger than a weasel, and of beautiful brown colour. He lives in the woods on worms and birds; is so wild that no one can tame him, and, as he never quits his harbour in the day-time, is only to be taken by traps at night. Of the skins of these animals-- which are covered with an exceedingly fine fur-- are made muffs, at the price of thirty or forty guineas apeice; so that it is not without reason the ladies pride themselves on the possession of this small appurtenance of female habiliment.

Cuba
>The Cuba I suppose to be a peculiar to New England. The male is of the size of a large cat; has four long tushes sharp as a razor; he is very active in defending himself, and, if he has the first blow, will spoil a dog before he yields. His lady is peaceable and harmless, and depends for protection on her spouse, and, as he has more courage than prudence, always attends to moderate his temper. She sees danger, and he fears it not. She chatters at him while he is busy preparing for battle, and, if she thinks the danger is too great, she runs to him and clings about his neck, screaming her extreme distress; his wrath abates; and by her advice, they fly to their caves. In like manner, when he is chained and irritated into the greatest rage by an impertinent dog, his lady, who is never chained, will fly about his neck and kiss him, and in half a minute restore his calmness. he is very tender of his family, and never forsakes them till death dissolves their union. What further shows the magnanimity of this little animal, he never manifests the least anger toward his lady, though they are impertinent to him. I more readily suppose the Cuba to be peculiar to New England, not only from my never having yet seen the creature described, but also on account of its perverse observance of carnival and neglect of careme.

>Will-I-Am is alone

Whippoorwill
>The Whippoorwill has so named itself by its nocturnal songs. It is also called the Pope, by reason of its darting with great swiftness from the clouds to the ground and bawling out Pope, which alarms young people and the fanatics very much, especially as they know it to be an ominous bird. However, it has hitherto proved friendly, always giving travelers and others notice of approaching storm by saluting them every minute by Pope! Pope! It flies only a little before sunset, unless for this purpose of giving notice of a storm. It never deceives the people with false news,. If the tempest is to continue long, the augurs appear in flocks, and nothing can be heard but Pope! pope! The Whippoorwill is about the size of a cuckoo, has a short beak, long and narrow wings, a large head, and mouth enormous, yet not a bird of prey. Under its throat is a pocket, which it fills with air at pleasure, whereby it sounds forth the fatal word Pope in the day, and Whip-her-I-will in the night. The superstitious inhabitants would have exorcised this harmless bird long ago, as an emissary from Rome and an an enemy to the American Vine, had they not found out that it frequents New England only in the summer, and prefers the wilderness to a palace. Nevertheless, many cannot but believe it a spy from some foreign court, an agent of the antichrist, a lover of persecution, and an enemy of the Protestants, because it sings of whipping and the Pope, which they think portends misery and a change of religion

Tree-frog
>The tree-frog cannot be called an insect, a reptile, or one of the winged host; he has four legs, the two foremost shit, with claws as sharp as those of a squirrel; the hind legs five inches long, and folding by three joints. His body is about as big as the first joint of a man's thumb. Under his throat is a wind bag, which assist him in singing the word I-sa-ac all the night. When it rains, and is very dark, he sings the loudest. His voice is not so pleasing as that of a nightingale; but this would be a venial imperfection, if he would but keep silence on Saturdays nights, and not forever prefer I-sa-ac to Abraham and Jacob. He has more elasticity than any other creature in known existence. By this means that he can leap over 6 yards up a tree, and can hop successfully from tree to tree. It is by its singing that the Americans have acquired the name of little Isaac.

Caldera Dick
>Caldera Dick was a monstrous old bull sperm whale. There were others big and tough and mean, but Caldera Dick was bigger, tougher, and meaner-- even smarter-- than any other whale that ever lived. The ocean for a circuit of several hundred miles about the caldera was his dooryard, though he didn't always stay at home. At times he'd get around Cape Horn into the Atlantic, or he'd turn up in the Japan Sea, or you might hear of ships running afoul of him almost anywhere that boats were lowered for whales. But mostly he ranged off Caldera. The difficulty was not in striking him and getting fast. He seemed to invite that. He'd lie still and calm as you please while a boat was put on to him, but once the dart was made and the harpoon fairly settled his tough old hide, there was the devil to pay and no pitch hot. He seemed to have a fancy for collecting harpoons. Leastwise, he took all that came his way and never gave any back, until last of all, when he was finally bested, he was so stubbed with iron, it was a wonder he could float. And nobody ever thrust a lance into him, either, but the one that finished him. He was too smart for that. ("There were other such notoriously great and savage whales, whose reputations larged wherever whalemen got together for a gam Mocha Dick, Galera Dick, and Moby Dick, all described as being heavily scared and pale. Whaler types would often insist that the creatures were worshiped by the primitives of South America's coasts and those of the Islanders of the Pacific and Japan.)

Abbagoochie
>The abbagoochie (pronounced abba-GOO-cheez) is a fierce little creature resembling a cross between an owl, a fox, and a deer. It is indigenous to Costa Rica, where people refer to it as a "dryland piranha" because it will eat anything, including creatures far larger than itself such as horses and cows. If cornered, an abbagoochie will consume itself "in a devilish whirlwind" rather than allow itself to be captured. They mate only once every 6 ½ years.

Hoop Snakes
>A very poisonous reptile. It could put its tail in its mouth and roll with lightning-like rapidity after its prey. The only way to avoid it was to quickly jump through its hoop as it approached. This so confused the large serpent that it rolled by and could not get back. If you should not manage to leap through the hoop snake’s hoop, the last defense left save a scrap is to run as fast as you can and hope to find a fence to leap over. The hoop snake will have to uncoil to get through the fence, thereby slowing it down. Its sting was in its tail. A hoop snake once stung a peavy handle. This swelled to such a great size that Paul Bunyan cut one thousand cords of wood out of it.

Tripodero
>The Tripodero lives in areas of dense brush and undergrowth, hunting for birds and other small animals that are its main source of food. When it sees some prey, the tripodero slowly extends its legs, just as the legs of a photographer's tripod can be extended, thereby raising its body above the brush. When it has a clear line of sight, the tripodero then shoots a mud pellet (a supply of which it stores in its left cheek) out of its blowgun-like snout. It rarely misses. Once the prey is stunned, the tripodero can consume it at its leisure. The tripodero is usually reported as having two legs, rather like a bird, and a kangaroo-like tail that it uses to balance itself while aiming. However, four-legged varieties of the Tripodero have also been seen. These lack the long tail. When its legs are not extended, the Tripodero can move quite rapidly through the brush.

Tailypo
>Tailypo is a frightening ravenous cat-like creature of North American folklore, particularly in Appalachia. The Tailypo is usually described as being the size of a dog, with yellow or red eyes, pointed ears and a long tail. In some versions of the folktale, it has tufted ears like a bobcat. It is covered in black or dark brown fur to camouflage its nocturnal activities. Its claws are its main weapon. The Tailypo can speak like a man, and demands the return of its tail (the actual phrase varies between versions, but is always repeated, usually three times): "Taily-po, Taily-po...who has my Taily-po..."

The Black Hodag
>The Black Hodag was discovered by E. S. “Gene” Shepard, a former well known timber cruiser of Rhinelander, Wisconsin. It haunts were in the dense swamps of that region. According to its discoverer, this fearful beast fed on mud turtles, water snakes and muskrats, but it did not disdain human flesh. Mr. Shepard found a cave where one of this hodags lived. With the aid of a few lumberjacks he blocked the entrance with large rocks. Through a small hole left in the barricade he inserted a long pole on the end of which he fastened a sponge soaked in chloroform. The hodag, thus rendered unconscious, was then prepared for it. It was exhibited at Oneida County fair. An admission fee was charged and a quite large sum of earned. Later Mr. Shepard captured a female hodag with her thirteen eggs. All of these hatched. He taught the young hodags a series of tricks, hoping to exhibit the animals for profit.
>This ferocious beat had horns on its head, large bulging eyes, terrible horns and claws. A line of sharp spikes ran down the ridge of its back and long tail. Colored photographs of it can be obtained at Rhinelander. The hodag never laid down. It slept leaning against the trunks of trees. It could only be captured by cutting deeply into the trunks of its favorite trees.

The Hodag
>This animal has been variously described by woodsmen from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Opinions differ greatly as to the appearance of the beast, some claiming it to be covered with horns and spines and having a maniacal disposition. The description which seems most authentic and from which the sketch of the animal has been made is as follows: size about that of a rhinoceros and somewhat resembling that animal in general makeup. The creature is slow in motion, deliberate, and, unlike the rhinoceros, very intelligent. Its hairless body is mottled, striped, and checked in a striking manner, suggestive of the origin of the patterns upon Mackinaw clothing, now used in the lumber woods. On the hodag's nose, instead of a horn there is a large spade-shaped bony growth, with peculiar phalanges, extending up in front of the eye, so that he can see only straight up. This probably accounts for the deliberate disposition of the animal, which wanders through the spruce woods looking for suitable food. About the only living creature which the hodag can catch is the porcupine;indeed, it would appear that the porcupine is its natural food. Upon sighting one rolled up in the branches of a spruce the hodag begins to blink his eyes, lick his chops, and spade around the roots and over goes the tree, knocking the breath out of the porcupine in its fall. The hodag then straddles the fallen tree, front feet crush the helpless porcupine, and then deliberately swallows him head first.
>In the autumn the hodag strips the bark off a number of spruce or pine trees and covers himself all over with pitch. He then searches out a patch of hardwood timber where dead leaves lie thick on the ground. Here he rolls about until completely encased in a thick, warm mantle of leaves, in which condition he spends the winter.

Gowrow
>Fred W. Allsopp, who edited the Gazette at the time, recounted the circumstances that led to Smithee’s story. William Miller, a Little Rock businessman who had been traveling in the Ozarks of northwest Arkansas, told Smithee of a “horrible monster” known as the gowrow. Its name came from the noise it made during its nocturnal depredations. The creature had been slaughtering livestock and pets near Blanco (Searcy County) in Calf Creek Township. Miller formed a posse that tracked the gowrow to its lair, a cave littered with animal skeletons and even some human remains. As they waited to ambush the monster, they heard it emerge from a nearby lake, causing the earth to tremble as it made its way toward them. The gowrow perished after several volleys from the posse. Before its death, it ripped up several trees and tore off the leg of one of the posse members. An examination of the remains revealed a creature twenty feet in length with two tusks, large webbed feet ending in claws, a row of short horns along its back, and a long thin tail with a blade on the end. Randolph’s sources suggested that the gowrow was a species of creature rather than an individual monstrosity. The young hatched from soft-shelled eggs as large as beer kegs, and the mother carried newly hatched infants in a pouch. Randolph related a story about an encounter with a gowrow by a spelunker exploring Devil’s Hole in Boone County. He also told of someone from Mena (Polk County) who claimed to have captured a gowrow by inducing the creature to eat so many dried apples that it swelled to a size that prevented its escaping into its burrow.

Joint Snake
>The Joint Snake was reported all along the southern states of the United States. Supposedly, the snake can break itself (or be cut) into pieces and will reassemble itself. It is said that if a piece of the snake is taken and the pocket knife used to cut the snake is set down in the place of the snake's piece, the knife will join up with the whole of the snake.

Tree Octopus
>You will find the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus high in the trees of Washington State's Olympic National Forest. They spend their early lives in the water of Puget Sound, but as they mature they move upwards, adopting an arboreal existence. They use their eight arms to swing from branch to branch, as well as to grab small prey such as insects and frogs. During their mating season they return to the water, but soon after resume their life in the forest. The tree octopus population is under great pressure from the encroachments of the modern world: logging, roads, pollution, and overhunting by trappers eager to sell the octopuses as ornamental decorations for hats.

Wampus Cat
>It smells awful, like skunk spray and wet dog. It has glowing yellow eyes and fangs. It kills animals, kidnaps kids and terrifies all it meets. Creepiest of all, it's half-cat, half-woman. This terrifying creature is the Wampus Cat. Generally on the prowl in northeastern Tennessee, the creature has also been spotted in eastern Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and, intriguingly, at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Some claim it lives in Knoxville's fetid sewers. Despite innumerable reported sightings, no photos of the creature exist. There are several stories about how the Wampus Cat came to be. Here are two. One says a Cherokee wife hid beneath the skin of a mountain lion to spy on her husband and his buddies while they were hunting. They discovered her and, as punishment, the tribe's medicine man said she had to wear the lion's skin forevermore, turning her into a cat-woman. Anguished, she roams around bemoaning her fate. Another tale says a Cherokee warrior went on the hunt for a beast that was terrorizing his tribe. When he tracked it down, it looked him straight in the eye, causing the warrior to go insane. The warrior's wife wasn't happy about this, so she hid under the skin of a mountain lion and stalked the beast to exact revenge. When she found it, the beast took one look at her and fled, petrified. To this day, the woman's spirit still wanders the area, dressed as a mountain lion.

Old Al, the River King
>On certain late afternoons, say the negro roustabouts, when the sun is sinking towards the horizon, and the water becomes a mysterious purple, there will rise up before a steamboat a glistening alligator of a vastness beyond description, carrying in one of its scaly paws a great pipe of tobacco, and bearing on his enormous head a shiny golden crown. For a moment this bizarre creature will remain before the vessel, surveying the river and the sandbars and the cypress swamps beyond, then will flap his tail lazily, and disappears beneath the surface, to sink back into the mud of the bottom from which he arose. And the roustabouts aboard the steamboat will shudder, and touch their good luck charms, or if the churchly Negroes, will breath a prayer; for they have seen Old Al, the River King. At another time, in the cotton season, when the negroes have been toiling without ceasing as the vessel moves from plantation to plantation, picking up at each landing a new mountain of cotton bales, the chance traveler will see a negro furtively drop some tobacco over the railing into the yellow water. The Negro is not wasting his tobacco; this is a ritual of sacrifice, to induce Old Al, the monarch, to smoke the kingly pipe he is always carrying. For when Old Al smokes his pipe there comes a thick fog as the fumes rise through the water; the boat can no longer travel, and the roustabout may rest.

The Gumberoo
>In the foggy region along the Pacific Coast from Grays Harbor to Humboldt Bay there ranges a kind of creature that has caused much annoyance in the lumber woods. This is the gumberoo, which, luckily, is so rare that only once in a great while is one seen. It is believed to remain in hiding most of the time in the base of enormous, burned-out cedar trees, from where it sallies forth occasionally on frightful marauding expeditions. During these periods of activity the beast is always hungry and devours anything it can find that looks like food. A whole horse may be eaten at one sitting, distending the gumberoo out of all proportions, but failing to appease its hunger or cause it the slightest discomfort.
>The specimens seen are reported to have been coal black, but that may have been due to their being smirched with the charred wood. In size the beast corresponds closely to a black bear, for which it might be mistaken only for the fact that the gumberoo is almost hairless. To be sure, it has prominent eyebrows and some long, bristly hairs on its chin, but the body is smooth, tough, and shiny and bears not even a wrinkle. The animal is a tireless traveler when looking for food, but is not swift in its movements or annoyed in the slightest degree by the presence of enemies. The latter characteristic is easily accounted for by the fact that no other animal within its range has ever found a successful method of attacking a gumberoo or a vulnerable spot in one's anatomy. Whatever strikes the beast bounds off with the same force. Its elastic hide hurls back with equal ease the charging elk and the wrathy hornet. A rock or peavey thrown at the creature bounds back at whoever threw it, and a bullet shot against its hide is sure to strike the hunter between the eyes.

(CONT)
>It is believed that the scarcity of gumberoos is due to their combustible character and the prevalence of forest fires. The animal burns like celluloid, with explosive force. Frequently during and after a forest fire in the heavy cedar near Coos Bay woodmen have insisted that they heard loud reports quite unlike the sound of falling trees, and detected the smell of burning rubber in the air.

The Hyampom Hog Bear
>Ranging from mouth of the Columbia River southward to the Klamath, woodsmen report the existence of a bear known as the Hyampom hog bear. This is a small, sharp-nosed, curly-haired variety of the black and brown bear of the Coast Ranges, but must not be confused with the Peaked-heel cinnamon.
>To appreciate the importance of this animal one must remember that hog ranches are common in northwestern California. The Country there is peculiarly adapted to hog raising, and the industry would be attractive and highly profitable were it not for the existence of the hog bear. The mountain slopes are covered with scrubby and creeping oaks, which bear prodigious crops of sweet and very nutritious acorns. These naturally ripen earliest upon the lower slopes, where the young hogs begin to feed. As the acorns higher up the slopes begin to ripen, the hogs ascend the mountain, each week finding them a few hundred feet higher and many pounds fatter. About Christmas time the last of the acorns are reached on the upper slopes, and the hogs have by that time become so fat that their legs scarcely reach the ground, and the slightest jar is all that the hog bear gets in his destructive work. He "mooches" along the base of the mountain before the rancher has time to rustle his pork, and finding hogs so plentiful and so helplessly fat he takes just one bite out of the back of each, leaving the porker squealing with agony and the rancher swearing with rage.

Whirling Whimpus
>Occasionally it happens that inexperienced hunters and others wandering in the woods disappear completely. Guides are unable to locate them, and all kinds of theories are offered to explain the disappearances.
>From the hardwood forests of the Cumberland Mountains, Tennessee, comes the rumor of an animal called the whirling whimpus, the existence of which may throw some light upon the fate of those who fail to come back to camp. According to woodsmen who have been “looking” timber in eastern Tennessee, the whimpus is a blood-thirsty creature of no mean proportions. It has a gorilla-shaped head and body and enormous front feet. Its unique method of obtaining food is to station itself upon a trail, generally at a bend in the trail, where it stands on its diminutive hind legs and whirls. The speed is increased until the animal is invisible, and the motion produces a strange droning sound, seeming to come from trees overhead. Any creature coming along the trail and not recognizing the sound is almost certain to walk into the danger zone and become instantly deposited in the form of syrup or varnish upon the huge paws of the whimpus.

The Bildad
>If you have ever paddled around Boundary Pond, in north- west Maine, at night you have probably heard from out the black depths of a cove a spat like a paddle striking the water. It may have been a paddle, but the chances are ten to one that it was a billdad fishing. This animal occurs only on this one pond, in Hurricane Township. It is about the size of a beaver, but has long, kangaroo-like hind legs, short front legs, webbed feet, and a heavy, hawk-like bill. Its mode of fishing is to crouch on a grassy point overlooking the water, and when a trout rises for a bug, to leap with amazing swiftness just past the fish, bringing its heavy, flat tail down with a resounding smack over him. This stuns the fish, which is immediately picked up and eaten by the billdad. It has been reported that sixty yards is an average jump for an adult male.
>Up to three years ago the opinion was current among lumberjacks that the billdad was fine eating, but since the beasts are exceedingly shy and hard to catch no one was able to remember having tasted the meat. That fall one was killed on Boundary Pond and brought into the Great Northern Paper Company's camp on Hurricane Lake, where the cook made a most savory slumgullion of it. The first (and only) man to taste it was Bill Murphy, a tote-road swamper from Ambegegis. After the first mouthful his body stiffened, his eyes glazed, and his hands clutched the table edge. With a wild yell he rushed out of the cook-house, down to the lake, and leaped clear out fifty yards, coming down in a sitting posture—exactly like a billdad catching a fish. Of course, he sank like a stone. Since then not a lumberjack in Maine will touch billdad meat, not even with a pike pole.

Central American Whintosser
>In the spring of 1906 there appeared suddenly in the Coast Ranges of California an uncanny animal from the region of the Isthmus. It is not a large beast, but what it lacks in size it makes up in meanness of disposition. None of the lumberjacks who have met a whintosser on trail or tote road care to have the experience repeated. The Central American whin- tosser is always looking for trouble or making it. In fact the beast seems to be constructed for the purpose of passing through unusual experiences. Its head is fastened to its body by a swivel neck ; so is its short, tampering tail ; and both can be spun around at the rate of a hundred revolutions a minute. The body is long and triangular, with three complete sets of legs ; this is a great convenience in an earthquake country, since the animal is not disturbed by any convulsions of the earth. If the floor suddenly becomes the ceiling it does not matter, for the whintosser is always there with the legs. Its hair is bristly, and all slants forward at a sharp angle. It has been found that a cat's nine lives are as nothing to the one possessed by a whintosser. This animal may be shot, clubbed, or strung on a pike pole without stopping the wriggling, whirling motions or the screams of rage. The only successful way of killing the beast is to poke it into a flume pipe so that all its feet strike the surface, when it Immediately starts to walk in three different directions at once and tears itself apart. John Gray, of Anadar, Trinity County, California, knows where a pair of whintossers live in some broken-up country along Mad River.

Leprocauns
>During the early days of Upper Canada, before it became the Providence of Ontario, there were brought into a logging camp on the Madawaska River several young leprocauns from the north of Ireland. This animal was even then rare and has since become extinct in its native land. It is said that during the last famine hungry Irishmen killed and ate the few remaining specimens of this queer beast.
>On its native bogs the leprocaun was a harmless creature, celebrated for its playfulness and laughable antics. It would hop across the bogs, turn somersaults, and leap over hillocks with wondrous agility. A favorite trick was to bore into a pile of drying peat and then, with a sudden spring, send the clods of peat high in the air till the commotion looked like a young cyclone. These antics were all right enough in Ireland, but when the animal was brought to Canada its disposition changed at once. The pets on the Madawaska escape into nearby tamarack swamps, increasing and spreading until an occasional one was seen on the upper Ottawa and even over in northern Michigan. Sneaking through the tamarack and cedar , or leaping across the muskegs after whatever appealed to it as food, the leprocaun became a creature to be feared and avoided. Teamsters toting supplies across swamp roads have been attacked by the animal, which would bound clear over the load, snapping its teeth at the driver and reaching for him with its villainous claws. Hasty flight to thick timber, leaving the team to its fate, was the only choice of the driver, who thanked his stars that in running through tangled tamarack even the leprocaun is no match for a frightened man.

The Funeral Mountain Terrashot
>This animal explains the origin of the name of the Funeral Range, California. The creature has a casket-like body, six to eight feet long, with a shell running the whole length of its back. Its four legs are long and wobbly, causing the terrashot to sway uncertainly from side to side and forward and backward as it travels along.
>The strange beast was first reported by some Mormon emigrants, who observed a peculiar procession entering the desert from a certain mountain range, afterward named the Funeral Mountains. They also witnessed the tragic fate of the creatures. One of the Mormons, aroused by his curiosity, made an investigation which resulted in finding out about all that is known of the terrashot. It seems that the animal lives in the little meadows and parks in the higher portions of the range, where it gradually increases in numbers, until by a strange impulse it is seized by a desire to emigrate. They then form long processions and march down into the desert, with the evident intention of crossing to other ranges that can be seen in the distance, but none of them ever gets across. As they encounter the hot sands they rapidly distend with the heat, and one after another they blow up with resounding reports, leaving deep, grave-shaped holes in the sand.

The Splinter Cat
>A widely distributed and frightfully destructive animal is the splinter cat. It is found from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, but in the Rocky Mountains has been reported from only a few localities. Apparently the splinter cat inhabits that part of the country in which wild bees and raccoons abound. These are its natural food, and the animal puts in every dark and stormy night shattering trees in search of coons or honey. It doesn't use any judgement in selecting coon trees or bee trees, but just smashes one tree after another until a hollow one containing food is found. The method used by this animal in its destructive work is simple but effective. It climbs one tree, and from the uppermost branches bounds down and across toward the tree it wishes to destroy. Striking squarely with its hard face, the splinter cat passes right on, leaving the tree broken and shattered as though struck by lightning or snapped off by the wind. Appalling destruction has been wrought by this animal in the Gulf States, where its work in the shape of a wrecked forest is often ascribed to windstorms.

The Argopelter
>Leading a vengeful existence, resenting the intrusion of the logger, the agropelter deals misery to the lumber jack from Maine to Oregon. Ill fares the man who attempts to pass a hollow tree in which one of these creatures has taken up its temporary abode. The unfortunate is usually found smashed or pinned by a dead branch and reported as having been killed by a falling limb. So unerring is the aim of the argropelter that despite diligent search I have been unable to locate more than one man who has been the target for one of their missiles and yet survived to describe the beast. This is Big Ole Kittleson, who, upon a certain occasion, when cruising timber on the upper St. Croix, was knocked down by a partly rotten limb thrown by an argropelter. This limb was so punky that it shattered on Ole's head, and he had time to observe the rascally beast before it bounded from the tree and whisked itself off through the woods.
>According to Ole, the animal has a slender, wiry body, the villainous face of an ape, and arms like muscular whiplashes, with which it can snap off dead branches and hurl them through the air like shells from a six-inch gun. It is supposed to feed upon hoot owls and woodpeckers, the scarcity of which will always prevent the argropelter from becoming numerous in any locality.

The Snow Wasset
>On the most northern logging camps of Canada we hear of the snow wasset. This is surely an animal of the Boreal Zone. It is a migratory animal, wintering in the lumbering region between the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay and spending its summers far north in Labrador and the Barren Grounds. Unlike most wild creatures of the North, the wasset is said to hibernate during only the warmest weather, when its hair turns green and it curls up in a cranberry marsh. During the summer it has rudimentary legs, which enable it to creep slowly around and remain in the shade.
>After the first snowstorm the wasset sheds its legs and starts south , dipping about in the snow. It soon attains remarkable skill in this method of travel, which enables it to surprise skulking varmints of many kinds. Later in the winter, when food becomes scarce and more difficult to obtain, even wolves are snowdrifts. According to woodsmen, the tragedies of the far North are more numerous beneath the crusted snow than above it. There is no telling how many creatures are pulled down and eaten by the wasset, for this animal has a voracious appetite, comparable only to that of the wolverine, but since it is four times as big and forty times as active as the wolverine it must eat correspondingly more.
>The only specimen of this beast ever examined by white men was an imperfect one on James Bay, where a party of surveyors found an Indian in a peculiar canoe, which was shown to be made from one wasset hide greatly stretched. There being no leg holes in the white winter pelt, it is peculiarly adapted to the making of shapely one-man canoes, which are said to be used also as sleds by the Indians. A whole battery of dead-falls are believed to be used in trapping a wasset, since it is impossible to tell in what direction the animal's body may extend. The trigger is set so that a dozen logs fall in from all sides toward the bait, pinning the animal under the snow wherever he may be.

Wapaloosie
>In the damp forests of the Pacific coast and eastward as far as the St. Joe River, in north Idaho, ranges a quaint little beast, known among loggers as the wapaloosie. It is about the size of a sausage dog, but is not even distantly related to the canine family. The wapaloosie, according to lumberjacks, lives upon shelf fungus or conchs exclusively, and he is able to get them with ease, no matter if they are growing on the tip top of a hundred-foot dead tree. It is a pleasure for one of these animals to climb, for he has feet and toes like those of a woodpecker, and he humps himself along like a measuring worm. Even his tail is spiked at the tip and aids him as he mounts the lofty firs in quest of food.
>One of the most peculiar features of the animal was discovered only recently. A lumberjack in one of the camps on the Humptulips River, Washington, shot a wapaloosie, and upon examining its velvety coat decided that it would make an attractive and serviceable pair of mittens, which he proceeded to make. The hide was tanned thoroughly and the mittens made with care, fur side out, and as the lumber jack went to work he exhibited them with pride. Imagine his surprise upon talking hold of an ax to find that the mittens immediately worked their way up and off the handle. It was the same with whatever he took hold of, and, finding that he could not use the mittens, they were left in a skid road, and were last seen working their way over logs and litter across the slashing.

The Snoligoster
>In the cypress swamps of the South, and particularly in the region about Lake Okechobee, Florida, woodmen tell of a strange and dangerous animal known as the snoligoster. This creature is of enormous proportions and is credited with a voracious appetite. Worst of all, its appetite is only appeased by the eating of human beings. In form the snoligoster resembles a huge crocodile, but it is covered with long, glossy fur and has no legs or fins, except one long spike on its back. A person wonders how an animal can manage to travel through the water and mud of the swamp region where it lives, but nature has provided it with a means for driving itself along. On the end of its tail are three bony plates much resembling the propeller on a steamboat. These revolve at a terrific rate, driving the animal like a torpedo boat through mud. They serve other purposes as well, for when a snoligoster catches an unfortunate pickaninny, or even a fullgrown negro, which it delights to feed, it tosses the victim up and backward so as to impale him upon the spike fin, where several may be carried until sufficient for a meal have been collected. The snoligoster's tail is then driven into the mud and revolved until a hole is scooped out and the victims scraped off the spike and tossed in, whereupon the snoligoster beats them into batter with its rapidly revolving propeller and inhales them.

The Roperite
>In the foothills of the Sierras, where the Digger pine grows, dwells one of the most peculiarly specialized animals to be found anywhere on the American continent. No one knows its life-history, even approximately, and many a discussion has been based upon the question as to whether the beast is born, hatched from eggs, or comes into existence spontaneously from some mountain cavern. The Digger Indians say that roperites are the spirits of early Spanish ranchers, and blood-curdling are the tales they tell of hapless creatures pursued by the beast, snared with its marvelous rope-like beak, and dragged to death through thorny chaparral. No man or animal can hope to outrun it. It steps upon road-runners or kicks them out of the way, and no obstacle appears sufficient to stop its progress or even slacken its speed, as it seemingly half flies, half bounds across the rugged country which it inhabits. Its leathery skin is impervious to thorn and its flipper-legs uninjured by the sharpest rocks. According to A. B. Patterson, of Hot Springs, California, who saw the last roperite authentically reported, the animal has a large set of rattles on its tail, which it vibrates when in pursuit of game, thus producing a whirling sound like that of giant rattler. The effect of this upon an animal closely pursued may be imagined. Lumbermen operating in the region between Pitt River and the southern end of the Sierras are urgently requesting to make every effort to secure a living specimen of the roperite.

The Squonk
>The range of the squonk is very limited. Few people outside of Pennsylvania have ever heard of the quaint beast, which is said to be fairly common in the hemlock forests of that State. The squonk is of a very retiring disposition, generally traveling about at twilight and dusk. Because of its misfitting skin, which is covered with warts and moles, it is always unhappy ; in fact it is said, by people who are best able to judge, to be the most morbid of beast. Hunters who are good at tracking are able to follow a squonk by its tear-stained trail, for the animal weeps constantly. When cornered and escape seems impossible, or when surprised and frightened, it may even dissolve itself in tears. Squonk hunters are most successful on frosty moonlight nights, when tears are shed slowly and the animal dislikes moving about ; it may then be heard weeping under the boughs of dark hemlock trees. Mr. J. P. Wentling, formerly of Pennsylvania, but now at St. Anthony Park, Minnesota, had a disappointing experience with a squonk near Mont Alto. He made a clever capture by mimicking the squonk and inducing it to hop into a sack, in which he was carrying it home, when suddenly the burden lightened and the weeping ceased. Wentling unslung the sack and looked in. There was nothing but tears and bubbles.

The Cactus Cat
>How many people have heard of the cactus cat? Thousands of people spend their winters in the great Southwest—the land of desert and mountain, of fruitful valleys, of flat-topped mesas, of Pueblos, Navajos, and Apaches, of sunshine, and the ruins of ancient Cliff-dwellers. It is doubtful, however, if one in a hundred of these people ever heard of a cactus cat, to say nothing of seeing one sporting about among the cholla and palo verde. Only the old-timers know of the beast and its queer habits.
>The cactus cat, as its name signifies, lives in the great cactus districts, and is particularly abundant between Prescott and Tucson. It has been reported, also, from the valley of the lower Yaqui, in Old Mexico, and the cholla-covered hills of Yucatan. The cactus cat has thorny hair, the thorns being especially long and rigid on its ears. Its tail is branched, and upon the forearms above its front feet are sharp, knifelike blades of bone. With these blades it slashes the base of giant cactus trees, causing the sap to exude. This is done systematically, many trees being slashed in the course of several nights as the cat makes a big circuit. By the time it is back to the place of beginning the sap of the first cactus has fermented into a kind of mescal, sweet and very intoxicating. This is greedily lapped up by the thirsty beast, which soon becomes fiddling drunk, and goes waltzing off in the moonlight, rasping its bony forearms across each other and screaming with delight.

Axehandle Hound
>like a dachshund in general appearance, with a hatchet-shaped head, a short handle-shaped body and short, stumpy legs. It prowled about the lumber camps at night looking for axe or peavy handles, this being the only kind of food it was known to touch. Whole cords of axe handles were eaten by these troublesome wild hounds

Camp Chipmunk
>Originally small animals, they ate tons of prune stones discarded from paul Bunyan’s camp cook shanty and grew so big and fierce that they killed all of the bears and catamounts in the neighborhood. Later Paul and his men shot some for tigers.

Flittericks
>The variety of flying squirrels which frequented the vicinity of lumber camps were very dangerous because of the great rapidity of their flight. It was impossible to dodge them. One struck an ox between the eyes with such force as to kill the animal.

Gyascutus
>Also called the stone-eating Gyascutus. The sordid beat has been described as “about the size of a white-tailed deer. Has ears like a rabbit and teeth like a mountain lion. It has telescopic legs which enable it to easily graze on hills. It has a long tail which wraps around rocks when its legs feel to telescope together. It feeds on rocks and lichens, the rocks enabling it to digest the tough leathery lichens. It is never seen except after the case of a snake-bite.”

Hangdown
>Its latin name is unknown. This utterly foolish animal lives in big woods “where it hangs down from the limbs of trees, either with its fore or hind paws, either head down or head on, either way making no difference to digestion. It climbs along the bottom of a limb after the manner of a sloth. Its skin brings a high price. It is more easily hunted at night when a tub must be placed over it. It is then killed with an axe.”

Hidebehind
>A very dangerous animal which undoubtedly accounted for many missing lumberjacks. It was always hiding behind something, generally a tree trunk. Whichever way a man turned it was always behind him. From this position it sprang upon its human prey, dragged or carried the body into its lair and there feasted on it in solid comfort. Because of its elusive habits no satisfactory description of it has ever been obtained. Early accounts describe hidebehinds as large, powerful animals, despite the fact that no one was able to see them.

Luferlang
>A curious animal with dark blue stripe running down the length of its back. Its brushy tail was in the middle of its back. Its legs were triple jointed and it could run equally fast in any direction. It attacked its prey with provocation and its bite was certain death. “It bites but once a year, so if one met one that had already bitten someone, you had not fear for instant death.”

Rumtifuself
>A very ferocious animal of large size and strength. When at rest it wraps its thing body about the trunk of a tree, a clever stratagem for securing is prey. A lumberjack mistakes it for a fur robe, approaches it and is thereafter missing. In luring a victim within its reach, this animal employs one of the oldest strategic devices known—that of playing on the cupidity of its prey. Being a rather slow-gaited beast, it has to resort to some form of low cunning. The Rumtifusel is large, strong, and ferocious. The pelt is fine, long, and thick with a rich color like a mink. The body is oddly flattened—somewhat the way old Hank McGinnis looked after he’d rolled off the porch roof following the annual firemen’s dinner, and sort of spread himself out so fiat we just slid him edgeways between a couple of shed doors for a cofin. This shape makes it possible for the Rumtifusel to drape himself closely over a stump, or about the butt of a tree standing near a tote-road, in such adroit fashion that he may be mistaken for a fine-fired fabric or coat that was mistakenly discarded. Naturally, the passer-by, comes over to have a closer look. With a lightning-fast flick of its blanket-like body the Rumtifusel completely envelops its victim. The numerous minute, sucking pores lining the inner ventral surface are promptly brought into action, and in no time at all the bones are sucked clean.

Sliver Cat
>This fierce denizen of the pineries was a huge car with tasseled ears. Its fiery red eyes were in vertical instead of horizontal eye slits. It had a very long tail with a ball-shaped knob at its end. The lower side of this knob was bare and hard, on its upper side were sharp spikes. The big cat would sit on a limb waiting for a victim. When one passed beneath it would knock him down with the hard side then pick him up with the spikes. Paul Bunyan’s crews suffered continual losses from depredations of these big cats.

Teakettler
>A small animal which obtains its name from the noise which it made, resembling that of a boiling teakettle. Clouds of vapor issued from its nostrils. It would often retreat backwards, enveloping himself and his surroundings in a thick fog. The hot steam it bellows can also be used as a weapon, scalding those that come after it. But few woodsmen have ever seen one.

The Treesqueak
>Like the argopelter, the treesqueak is a master of arboreal camouflage. As one might guess from the name, these shy creatures are heard but not seen. Their preferred nesting areas and singing spots are where the branches of two trees cross, and they are particularly vocal when the wind is blowing. Owing to the difficulty of catching a treesqueak, it was a logical object for the 'snipe hunts' that credulous green loggers were sent on - competing with the snipe itself, which varies widely (variously reported as feathered, furred, or both, on two, three, or four legs) but is universally uncatchable and rarely resembles the shorebird of the same name.

Goofus Bird
>One of the peculiar birds nesting near Paul Bunyan’s old time camp on the Big Onion River. It was the opposite of most other birds-it always flew backwards instead of forwards. His curious habit an old lumberjack explained: “It doesn’t give a darn where it’s going, its only wants to know where it’s been.” It also built its nest upside down.

Gillygaloo
>This hillside plover nested on the slopes of Bunyan’s famous Pyramid Forty. Living in such a locality it laid its square eggs so that they could not roll down the steep incline. The lumberjacks hardboiled these eggs and used them as dice.

Pinnacle Grouse
>This bird has only one wing. This enabled it to fly in only one direction about the top of conical hill. The color of its plumage changed with the seasons and with the condition of the observers.

Phillyloo Bird
>It had a long beak like a stork and long legs. It had no feathers to spare. It flew upside down the better to keep warm and avoid rheumatism in its long limbs. It laid Grade D eggs.

Moskittos
>The naturalist in Paul Bunyan’s camp classified these as birds. When Paul was logging the Chippewa River region the mosquitos were particularly troublesome. They were so big that they could straddle the stream and pick the passing lumberjacks off the log drive. Sometimes a logging crew would find one of this position, quickly tie his legs to convenient trees and use him for a bridge across the river. Paul imported from Texas a drove of fighting bumblebees to combat the mosquitoes. They fought for a while, then made peace and intermarried. The result of this crossing made the situation worse than ever before for the loggers. The offspring had stingers on both ends.

Snow Snake
>These reptiles came from over Siberia by frozen Bering Strait during the very cold year of the two winters. Being pure white in color they were always more plentiful during the winter time. They were very poisonous and savage. Tanglefoot oil was the only remedy for their bite.

Cougar Fish
>This savage fish, armed with sharp claws, lived in the Big Onion River. It was the cause of the disappearance and death of many river divers, whom it clawed off the logs and beneath the water. Paul Bunyan offered a big reward for their capture and extermination, but the fish heard of it and stayed away. None were taken.

Giddy Fish
>They were small and very elastic, like India rubber. They were caught through holes in the ice during the winter. The method pursued were caught through holes in the ice during the winter. The method pursued was to hit one on the head with a paddle. This fish would bounce up and down. Taking the cue from him the other fish would bounce also. Presently all would bounce themselves out of the water onto the ice. There they were easily gathered up.

Goofang
>This curious fish always swam backward instead of forward. This was to keep the water out its eyes. It was described as “about the size of a sunish, only larger.”

Wampahoofus
>A Vermont variation of the sidehill winder is known as the Wampahoofus. It was reported that farmers crossbreed them with their cows so they could graze easily on mountain sides.

The Whimpering
>The whinging or whimpering is a miserable beggar who sobs so pathetically that once he knocked down a whole population of wolves who died of pure grief upon hearing it.

Log Gar
>These big fish had a snout so well armed with large saw teeth that they could saw right through a log to get at a juicy lumberjack. Once in the water they made mince meat of him.

Upland Trout
>These very adroit fish built their nests in the trees and were very difficult to take. They flew well but never entered the water. They were fine panfish. Tenderfeet were sent out into the woods to catch them.

Whirligig Fish
>Related to the Goddy Fish. They always swam in circles. They were taken in the winter months through holes in the ice like their relatives. The loggers smeared the edges of the holes with ham or bacon rind. Smelling this fish would swim around the rims of the holes, faster and faster, until they whirled themselves out on the Ice. Thousands were thus taken.

Whiffenpoof
>A tasty fish, found only in perfectly round lakes. Hence quite rare. To catch him, row to the exact center of the lake, using the hogyoke to determine position, and bore a square hole in the water. Bait the edge of this hole with a bit of cheese, preferably Brie, Stilton, Liederkranz, or best of all; Limburger. The Whiffenpoof will quickly scent the bait and come for it. When he emerges, spit tobacco-juice in his eye. This will make him so swell with rage that he won’t be able to withdraw into the hole, and you can easily net him.

The Horn Snake
>It was in one of Uncle Davy Lane’s tall tales, where he “...cum right up plum upon one uv the curiousest snakes I uver seen in all my borned days.” He finds the serpent on a cliffside when out deer hunting, describing it as “...at full length, ten foot long, its tail strait out, right up the presserpis, head as big as a sasser, right toards me, eyes red as forked lightnin’, lickin’ his forked tounge…” “...when I seen the stinger in his tail, six inches long and sharp as a needle, stickin’ out like a cock’s spur, I thought I’d drapped in my tracks.” His account says the snake is so fast that, after jumping “forty foot down the mounting” and escaping to a tree, the snake impaled its stinger on the side opposite of where he hid, just as he rounded the bend. He tells of the noise it makes, saying “Of all the hissin’ and blowin’ that uver you hearn sense you seen day-light, it tuck the lead. Ef there’d a bin forty-nine forges all a-blowin’ at once, it couldn’t abeat it.” The snake then spewed bile at Uncle Davy Lane. “...(it) spread its mouf and grinned at me orful, puked and spit quarts an’ quarts of green pisen at me, an’ made the ar stink with his nasty breath.” When he tried to shoot the snake, “he kep’ sich a movin’ about and sich a plutteration that I (Lane) couldn’t git a bead at his head, for I know’d it warn’t wuth while to shoot him any whar else.”

The Hugag
>The hugag is a huge animal of the Lake States. Its range includes western Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, and a territory extending indefinitely northward in the Canadian wilds toward Hudson Bay. In size the hugag may be compared to the moose, and in form it somewhat resembles that animal. Very noticeable, however, are its jointless legs, which compel the animal to remain on its feet, and its long upper lip, which prevents it from grazing. If it tried that method of feeding it would simply tramp its upper lip into the dirt. Its head and neck are leathery and hairless ; its strangely corrugated ears flop downward; its four-toed feet, long bushy tail, shaggy coat and general make-up give the beast an unmistakably prehistoric appearance. The hugag has a perfect mania for traveling, and few hunters who have taken up its trail ever came up with the beast or back to camp. It is reported to keep going all day long, browsing on twigs, flopping its lip around trees, and stripping bark as occasion offers, and at night, since it cannot lie down, it leans against a tree, bracing its hind legs and marking time with its front ones. The most successful hugag hunters have adopted the practice of notching trees so that they are almost ready to fall, and when the hugag leans up against one both the tree and the animal come down. In its helpless condition it is then easily dispatched. The last one killed, so far as known, was on Turtle River, in northern Minnesota, where a young one, weighing 1,800 pounds, was found stuck in the mud. It was knocked in the head by Mike Flynn, of Cass Lake.

The Dungavenhooter
>Formerly quite common from Maine to Michigan. Today only occasionally met with on the Upper Peninsula of the latter state. A marsh-dweller, dangerous to human beings. Shaped a good deal like an alligator, but curious as to equipment in that he has no mouth. The nostrils are abnormally large, the legs short and the tail thick and powerful. The only cry is a loud snort. Concealing itself with Satanic cunning behind a whiffle bush, the Dungavenhooter awaits the passing logger. On coming within reach of the dreadful tail, the victim is knocked senseless and then pounded steadily until he becomes entirely gaseous, whereat he is greedily inhaled through the wide nostrils. Rum-sodden prey is sought with especial eagerness.

The Santer
>One of the few marauding varmints reported below the Mason and Dixon line. Common in western North Carolina. Rarely dangerous to mankind, but a frequent predator on livestock. His body is long, covered with reddish long hair, his head is large, round, and bald. His legs and feet are long, and his eyes are small with a mean look. His tail is almost as long as his body, and has eight hard knots in it. Looks like a string of beads. He can swing this flail with plenty of power and skill—enough to knock out a cow or a hog with one slap. And obviously this tail can be effectively used in combat. But he can travel so fast he seldom has to put up a scrap. Lives mostly in wooded swamps in the neighborhood of small villages where cattle and hogs are kept. A remarkably fast animal, but rarely seen. Its cry is a piercing, baby-like wail. Dogs will seldom run one. A calf known to have been killed by one of these varmints near Statesville, showed eight distinct bruises, seven on the body and one on the broken foreleg. The hair about each bruise was severely singed.

The Swamp Auger
>This boy, often mistaken for an old snag, is found in fresh-water lakes. He carries a swivelled proboscis especially adapted to boring three-inch holes in the bottoms of boats, and will do so unless stopped. But his work can be easily halted either by tickling his snout or by sprinkling it with cayenne pepper. Either procedure will make the Auger sneeze violently, which he hugely enjoys, and he will then hold his expectant nose tight in the hole until the boat can be beached.

The Whiffle-Pooffle
>”But they ain’t near as shy as the whiffle-poofle. Why, them things so bashful they don’t feel comfortable unless they’re hid in the bottom of a bottomless lake,” says Joe.
>“Are they a fish?” asked Lanky.
>”Not exactly a fish,” explained Joe, “a sort of cross, I reckon, between an eel and a gila monster.”
>”Are there any ariund here?” asked Lanky.
>”Well, maybe,” replied Joe; “maybe a few. Still I doubt it. You see right around here the lakes go dry sometimes in the dry season, and the whiffle-poofle wants water, and plenty of it, mucha agua. Still there may be a few. They have teeth that’ll tear through buffalo hide like it were nothing at all, and crawl up on shore when one of them fellars gets too close to the waterin’ hole. Thing is, they won’t ever strike unless they’re certain that there ain’t nobody else around

The Club-tailed Gylptodont
>“In that particular, they ain’t a-tall like the club-tailed glyptodont,” said Red, “which is a very ferocious and vicious beast. I’ll tell you, Lanky, when you’re ridin’ around in the canyons and meet one of them fellers, you’d better not git into any disputes with him about your highway rights. Just gve him the whole road and don’t argue with him. And be careful you don’t hang around under the rim-rock when them critters is around.”
>“I take it they are animals,” said Lanky.
>”Yeah, I guess they belong to the kingdom of beasts.,” replied Red. “Some people call them wang-doodles, but they ain’t real wang-doodles, bein’ a ways more bigger and more ferocious. They’re perty scarce now, but when we work the canyon tomorrow, I can show you places where they have been, Yes, sir, I can show the very spot where one of them fellars took off one of the very best friends I ever had in this world.”
>”Mountain Lions, I suppose”, said Lanky.
>”Some of them babies would make a mountain lion look like a kitten. Besides, they don’t belong to the feline species nohow, bein’ more like a kangaroo in build, and about sixteen hands high when on all fours, though most of the time they walk along on their hind legs and tail and keep their forepaws ready to biff anything that gits in their way. However, that ain’t their main method of combat, not the way they took off my dear friend Jack. The Glyptodant has got a big flat tail made out of stuff like cow’s horn, except there ain’t no bone in it. This tail bein’ springy is great aid and help in more ways than one. He can jump along with it and clear the brush, and he can land on it when he wants to jump off a cliff, and he don’t feel no bad effects from the jar.”

The Gwinter
>“They’re vicious brutes,” agreed Joe, “but they ain’t got nothing on the gwinter.”
>“I never heard of the Gwinter,” said Lanky, “and what sort of beat is he, then?”
>“Well, he’s a grass-eatin’ quadruped,” and Joe,”something like a cross between a buffalo and a mountain-goat, only he’s a lot more ferocious. The peculiar thing about the gwinter is his legs. Instead of havin’ four legs of equal length like a critter ought to have, or two short legs in the front and too long ones in the back, these brutes have two long legs on one side and two short ones on the uphill side. This is mighty convenient for ‘em, since they don’t live on level ground nohow. Some of ‘em has their right legs long, some of ‘em has their right legs short, dependin’ on which way they graze around the mountains. This Chisos and the Davis and the Guadalupe mountains used to be full of ‘em. Up there, critters was thicker than the buffalo or the antelope on the plains, but they’re gittin’ mighty scerce now. Still, they took off many a cow-hand in the early days, and sometimes yet a tenderfoot gits in the way of one of ‘em and don’t come back to chuck wagon at night.
>“If one of them critters ever starts towards you, Lanky, don’t for any-thing let him know you’re scered. If you try to run, he’ll git you shore. Jest stand there and look him right in the eye like you was glad to see him. He’ll be comin’ right toward you with his head down like a bat shot out of a cannon. Jist let the Gwinter alone till he gits two steps to you, then take a couple steps down the hill. Ten to one he’ll be so mad about it that he’ll try to foller you, anyway, and when he gits his short legs down the hill, he’s a goner. Just step back and watch that critter roll down the hill and break his fool neck. That’s why they’re so scerce, cowpolk learned that trick.”

The Monster Mosquito
>They have some pretty big mosquitoes in New Jersey and on Long Island, but if report of ancestry is true, they have degenerated in size and voracity; for the grandfather of all mosquitoes used to live in the neighborhood of Fort Onondaga, New York, and sallying out whenever he was hungry, would eat an Indian or two and pick his teeth with their ribs. The red men had no arms that could prevail against it, but the Holder of Heavens, hearing their cry for aid, came down and attacked the insect. Finding that it had met its match, the mosquito had flown away so rapidly that its assailants could hardly keep it in sight. It flew around the great lake, then turned eastward again. It sought help vainly of the witches that brooded in the sink-holes, or Green Lakes near Janesville, New York, and had reached the salt lake of Onondaga when its pursuer came up and killed it, the creature piling the sand into hills in its dying struggle.
>As its blood poured upon the earth it became small mosquitoes, that gathered about the holder of the Heavens and stung him so sorely that he half repented the service he had done to men. The tuscaroras say that this was one of two monsters that stood on opposite banks of the seneca river and slew all men that passed. Hiawatha killed the other one. On their reservation is a stone marked by the form of the Sky Holder, that shows where he rested during the chase, while his tracks were until lately seen south of Syracuse, alternating with footprints of the mosquito, which were shaped like those a bird, and twenty inches long. At Brighton, New York, where these marks appeared, they were reverentially renewed by the Indians for many years

The Seven Headed Dragon
>Another tale displays many of the Juan Oso stories’ motifs, and although it was collected down in the state of Chihuahua, it demonstrates the spread and variety of the story from the borderlands. It is the tale of Catorce, a man who ate fourteen of everything-indeed, he lived his life by fourteens. He was a terrific worker, but one of his meals would wipe out his employer’s provisions-and livestock as well. His prowess earned him fame, until a king sent for him to kill a seven-headed dragon-serpent that was destroying cattle and people in the kingdom. Catorce wasn’t interested in the prize the hand of the king’s daughter, since food was his only interest. But Catorce went to the sierra, killed the vile dragon by cutting off its seven heads; then removed the twin fangs of each head and pocketed the, skinned the dragon and stretched it over some trees to make a shelter. When someone else claimed the reward, bringing in the seven heads that Catorce had left behind, Catorce went to the fiesta, and asked if the serpent heads had fangs-and produced them when the time came. He didn’t want to marry a princess who came up only to his knee, but had to obey the king. “So Catorce married. He killed other serpents and dragons and had to marry other princesses, and he had his rations every fourteen days as long as he lived.”

“The Serpent”
>About twenty-five feet long, with a tail which tapers until within about five feet of the end, where it broadens out to look much like a whale. Its head is approximately four feet long and triangular in shape. Its mouth is very long and was armed with two rows of triangular white teeth as sharp as those of a shark, but in shape more like those of a sperm whale. Its body is covered with a horny substance which is as much like the carapace of a terrapin which is brown in color and of a greenish tinge. Its eyes are round like those of a fish.

The Gaasyendietha
>According to Seneca mythology, the Gaasyendietha is a meteor dragon that dwells in the deep areas of rivers and lakes of Canada, especially Lake Ontario. Not only did the Gaasyendietha spew fire, it could also cross the heavens on a trail of fire. The name Gaasyendietha was offered by native people to French explorer Jacques Cartier when he inquired about a creature briefly sighted by him and his crew in the St. Lawrence River. They described the creature as a blue giant finned snake that moved like a caterpillar. Some argue that Gaasyendietha is the product of meteors, while others claim that this is a meteor fire dragon.

White River Monster
>Some believe the White river monster may have affected the Civil War. The river was used for transportation, and the monster was supposedly responsible for overturning a boat. Several accounts have been recorded, describing it “as wide as a car and three cars long," and having "the skin of an elephant, four or five feet wide by twelve feet long, with the face of a catfish, . . . lolling on the surface of the water," and "It looked as if the thing was peeling all over, but it was a smooth type of skin or flesh," said one, and it made strange noises that sounded like a combination of a "cow's moo and a horse's neigh." Other accounts of the White River Monster described three-toed tracks, 14 inches in length.

The Bear Lake Monster
>The Bear Lake Monster is reported to resemble a brown serpent, but with legs about eighteen inches long on which it marauds along the shoreline. It has a large undulating body, with about 90 feet of exposed surface, of a light cream color, moving swiftly through the water, at a distance of three miles from the point of observation. Others reported seeing a monster-like animal which went faster than a locomotive and had a head variously described as being similar to that of a cow, otter, crocodile or a walrus. Its size was reported to be at least fifty feet long, and certainly not less than forty. Some sightings even spoke of a second member of the species and smaller monsters as well.

Bump

bump for u, my baby

Canadian Great Cats
>When they stood before him, the king said to Cornu, “Have you ever been closer to death than you are at this moment?” If you have and can prove it by a story, I will let one of your sons gofree.” “Yes,” said Cornu, “I have been closer to death. Once I was milking cows when twelve great cats came, and one of them began to purr every loudly, and I asked him what he’d take for the purr, and he said one cow. I agreed, and then all the cats began to swallow whole all the cows, and I climbed to the top of a tree, but the tree began to buckle and bend, and the cats were about to devour me, when a man came and shot the cat.” The king agreed that Cornu had proved his point and released on of the boys.

Hoopajubas
>The Sea Serpent variant of hoopsnake, often sought after by fisherman for their delicate meat. ”Hoopajubas? Oh, they live like the golden trout in the deepest and coldest part of a lake. How to catch them? Well, you get hold of a water-auger. You row to the deepest springhole and bore a hole in the water with it. Then you row ashore, hide in the bushes and make a noise like a mudworm. The hoopajuba comes out of the hole, grabs his tail in his mouth, and starts rolling over the water towards you like a hoop. You stick out an arm, run it through his hoop, and you have him! That’s the way to catch a hoopajuba.”

Are there any good Native American Fantasy anything in media?

The Humility
>The humility is so called because it speaks the word humility, and seldom mounts high in the air. Its legs are long enough to enable it to outrun a dog for a little way; its wings long and narrow; body maigre and of the size of a blackbird; plumage variegated with white, black, blue, and red. It lives on tadpoles, spawn, and worms; has an eye more piercing than the falcon, and the swiftness of an eagle; hence it can never be shot, for it sees the sparks of fire even before it enkindles the powder, and by the extreme rapidity of its flight, it can get out in an instant. It is never known to light upon a tree, but is always seen upon the ground or wing. These birds appear in New england in summer only; what becomes of them afterwards is not discovered. They are caught in snares, but can never be tamed.

Jonah
>A tradition among the poor whites of the South Jruns to the effect that the sea-monster that swallowed Jonah—not a whale, because the throat of that animal is hardly large enough to admit a herring—crossed the Atlantic and brought up at the Carolinas. His passenger was supplied with tobacco and beguiled the tedium of the voyage by smoking a pipe. The monster, being unused to that sort of thing, suffered as all beginners in nicotine poisoning do, and expelled the unhappy man with emphasis. On being safely landed, Jonah attached himself to one of the tribes that peopled the barrens, and left a white progeny which antedated Columbus's arrival by several centuries. God pitied the helplessness of these ignorant and uncourageous whites and led them to Looking-Glass Mountain, North Carolina, where He caused corn and game to be created, and while this race endured it lived in plenty.

Sysladobosis Monster
>Sysladobosis Lake, in Maine, has a snake with a head like a dog's, but it is hardly worth mentioning because it is only eight feet long-hardly longer than the name of the lake. More enterprise is shown across the border, for Skiff Lake, New Brunswick, has a similar snake thirty feet long.

Stone Spirit Dragon
>Spirit Canon, a rocky gorge that extends for three miles along the Big Sioux River, Iowa, was hewn through the stone by a spirit that took the form of a dragon. Such were its size and ferocity that the Indians avoid the place, lest they fall victim to its ire.

Angont
>Angont is a vicious, poisonous reptile who supposedly dwelled in desolate places such as caves, forests, lakes, and other depths in the world. If close enough to humans, the Angont could reach out its coils and thereby bring about a number of problems to local inhabitants, such as disasters and diseases. Due to Angont's abilities, medicine men sought this reptile out, hoping to gain cures via magical medicine. But its skin was so poisonous that nothing good came about from these searches. The Hurons believed in a monster spirit, the Angont, who wore a horn on his head that could pierce trees, rocks, and hills. A piece of this horn was an amulet of great value, for it insured good luck.

The Bassigator
>Nothing is known about the genealogy or habits of this hybrid-looking predator, the bassigator. An encounter with him in nature would probably be brief and unpleasant. Half aligator, half fish, measures about 22 feet in length and eyes the size of a beach ball, in its natural habitat has to be a relentless and voracious predator.

Silurian Salamander
>A snake haunts Wolf Pond, Pennsylvania, that is an alleged relic of the Silurian age. It was last seen in September, 1887, when it unrolled thirty feet of itself before the eyes of an alarmed spectator—again a fisherman. The beholder struck him with a pole, and in revenge the serpent capsized his boat; but he forbore to eat his enemy, and, diving to the bottom, disappeared. The creature had a black body, about twelve inches thick, ringed with dingy-yellow bands, and a mottled-green head, long and pointed, like a pike's.

The Canandaigua Indian Serpent
>Indians living on the shore of Canandaigua Lake, New York, tamed a pretty spotted snake, and fed and petted it until it took a deer at a meal. It grew so large that it eventually encircled the camp and began to prey on its keepers. Vainly they tried to kill the creature, until a small boy took an arrow of red willow, anointed it with the blood of a young woman, and shot it from a basswood bow at the creature's heart. It did not enter at once; it merely stuck to the scales. But presently it began to bore and twist its way into the serpent's body. The serpent rolled into the lake and made it foam in its agony. It swallowed water and vomited it up again, with men dead and alive, before it died.

There's a few around, but I'm more into colonial/white folklore than Indian, sorry

Amhuluk
>The monster Amhuluk, whose home is the lake near forked mountain, Oregon, had but one passion-to catch and drown all things; and when you look into the lake you see that he even drowned the sky in it, and has made the trees stand upside down in the water. Wherever he set his feet the ground would soften. As three children were digging roots at the edge of the water he fell on them and impaled two of them in his horns, the eldest only contriving to escape. When this boy reached home his body was full of blotches, and the father suspected how it was, yet he went to the lake at once. The bodies of the children came out of the mud at his feet to meet him, yet went down again and emerged later across the water. They led him on in this way until he came to the place where they had drowned. A fog now began to steam up from the water, but through it he could see the little ones lifted on the monster’s horns, and hear them cry, “We have changed our bodies.” Five times they had came up and spoke to him, and five times he raised a dismal cry and begged for them to return, but they could not. Next morning he saw them rise through the fog again, and building a camp, he stayed there and mourned for several days. For five days they showed themselves, but after that they went down and he saw and heard no more of them. Amhuluk had taken the children and they would live with him for ever after.

The Bright Old Inhabitants
>Indians of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas believe that the King Snake, or Snake God, lived in the gulf of Mexico. It slept in a cavern of pure crystal at the bottom, and its head, being shaped from solid emerald, lighted the ocean for several leagues when it arose near the surface. There were similar accounts among the cherokee people, by the name of the “Bright Old Inhabitants” of the mountains, which grew to a mighty size, and drew to them every creature that looked upon them. Each wore a carbuncle of dazzling brightness.

well you ought to at least have well known Native American monsters in there like skinwalkers and wendigos

The Powder Snake
>The powder snake was a giant serpent living deep in the swamplands, praying on any and all that come near, cutting off the village from any near by folk. It was named such because it would spray its victims in a black poisonous powder that would kill them quickly and painfully. When the snake was sleeping in the marshland, a young boy searching for grass for his cattle to eat chanced upon the slumber beast. Using his grass cutting machete, he cut the beast’s head off, with the body writhing and flailing and spewing the powder every which way, slaying the monster, but polluting the marsh for some time.

Apotamkin
>The monstrous Apotamkin is often misidentified as a "vampire" by non-Native Americans. But in actual Maliseet and Passamaquoddy legends, this creature has nothing to do with vampires-- the Apotamkin is a giant fanged sea serpent that lurks in the Passamaquoddy Bay and drags people, especially incautious children, into the water and eats them. Apotamkin is said to have long red hair, and in some stories was once a human woman who was transformed into a serpent.

The Sturgeon
>Michael Pauw, brave fisherman of Paterson, New Jersey, hero of the fight with the biggest snapping turtle in Dover Slank, wearer of a scar on his seat of honor as memento of the conflict member of the Kersey Reds-he whose presence of mind was shown in holding out a chip of St. Nicholas’ staff when he met the nine witches of the rocks capering in the mists of Passaic Falls-gave battle from a boat to a monster that had ascended to the cataract. One of the Kersey Reds, leaning out too far, fell astride of the horny beast, and was carried at express speed, roaring with fright, until unhorsed by a projecting rock, up which he scrambled to safety. Falling to work with bayonets and staves, the company despatched the creature and dragged it to shore. One of the Dutchman, who was quite a traveler, having been as far from home as Albany, said that the thing was what the Van Rensselaers cut up for beef, and believed that they called it a sturgeon.

The Bull of Durham
>...An enormous bull, painted on paneled sheet iron, decorated the front of the Durham factory building and the steam whistle, by means of a mechanical gadget, imitated the bellow of a bull. Each bellow, it was said, cost six dollars and could be clearly heard thirteen miles away. The bull was the masterpiece of J. Gilmer Kerner, eccentric and temperamental artist, whose sign-painting nom de plume was “Reuben Rink.” Raging and triumphant, Reuben Rink’s bull began to paw at the ground and emit flames from its nostrils. As its fame grew, and it began to appear on barns and signs all across the states and Europe, so did its life-like qualities. It would shake its head in the rain, and whip its tail from side to side. One night, it up and left its purch, letting an enormous iron bull on the loose of the countryside, but always returns before dawn.

I tried to stay away from well known stuff, like the Jersey Devil or Bigfoot. But I had the Windigo already posted, my man

>>More odd than this animal is the side-hill winder, a rabbit-like creature so called because he winds about the steep hills in only one direction; and in order that his back may be kept level, the down-hill legs are longer than the uphill pair.
So like a haggis hen? Wi wan set o legs aw stumpy fae runnin aroon tha braes?

The King Buzzard
>My pa tell me dat ‘way back in slavery time, ‘way back in Af’ica, dere been a nigger, an’ he been a big nigger. He been de chief er he tribe, an’ when dem white folks was ketchin’ niggers for slavery, dat ole nigger nuse to entice ‘em into trap. He’d git ‘em on boat wey dem white folks could ketch ‘em an’ chain ‘em. White folks nused to gee him money an’ all kind er little thing, an’ he’d betray ‘em. An’ one time atter he betray thousands into bondage, an’ de white folks say dey ain’ guh come to dat coast no mo, dat was dey last trip, so dey knocked out dat nigger down an’ put chain on him an’ brung him to dis country. An’ when he dead, dere were no place in heaven for him an’ he were not desired in hell. An’ de Great Master decide dat he were lower dan all other mens or beasts; he punishment were to wander for eternal time over de face er de earth. Dat as he had kilt de sperrits of mens an’ womens as well as dere bodies, he must wander on an’ on. Dat his sperrit should always travel in de form of a great buzzard, an’ dat carrion must be he food.
>An’ sometimes he appears to mens, but he doom is settled; an’ in he ain’ would er hurt Tad, kaze one er he punishment is dat he evil beak an’ claw shall never tech no livin’ thing. An’ dey say he are known to all de sperrit world as de King Buzzard, an’ dat forever he must travel alone.

There's like 30 different American creatures like that. Cutercurse, Cuter-Cuss, Godphro, Godaphro, Gouger, Guyanoosa, Gwinter, Hunkus, Lunkus, Mountain Stem-Winder, Prock, Prock Gwinter, Sidehill-Dodger, Sidehill-Ganger, Rickaboo Racker, Rockabore, Sawger, Sideswipe and Sidewinder all have the leg thing going on, for the most part.

he Split Dog
>Well, I saw him fall apart and I ran and slapped him back together. I had jerked off my shirt, so I wrapped him up in that right quick and ran to the house. Set him in a box and poured turpentine all over the shirt. I kept him near the stove. Set him out in the sun part of the time. Oh, I could see him still breathin’ a little, and I hoped I wouldn’t lose him. And after about three weeks I could see him tryin’ to wiggle now and then. Let him stay bandaged another three weeks, and then one morning I heard him bark. So I started unwrappin’ him and in a few minutes out he jumped, spry as ever.
>But, don’t you know, in my excitement, blame if I hadn’t put him together wrong-way-to. He had two legs up and two legs down! Anyway, turns out he was twice as good a rabbit dog after that. He’d run on two legs till he got tired, and then flip it over and just keep right on.
>Aa Lord! That little dog could run goin’ and comin’, and bark at both ends!

The Double Rat
>I heard dat ole red nigger tell some lie ‘bout a rat. He say he been back on Lykes’s plantation in de ole field by de river. He say he was walkin’ ‘long ‘tendin’ to he business when he see sump’n crawl out from under a pile er straw. He say he stand up an’ look at it wrong. He say at first sight it look like a rat totin’ another rat on he back, but when he look good he see it be two rat, back to back, growed together. All two on ‘em been full rat. Each on ‘em had he own head an’ he own leg an’ he own tail.
>An’ dat nigger say he make up he mind to guh and tray ketch ‘em for the boss. He say he know ain’ nobody see no sech rat as dat. An’ he say when he make for him, dat rat start ‘cross de field, an’ him an’ dat rat. He say he ain’ never been so outdone. He say when he think he mighty nigh ketch him, lo an’ behold! Dat rat lay down an’ roll over an’ de other rat start runnin’.
>An’ he say day wey he quit

The Fire Beast
>There was once a father and son out hunting in the woods, in want of fire to cook their catch. The boy looked up and saw what looked like fire in the tops of the trees. He climbed up to fetch it, when the ‘THING’ asks “What do you want with me?” “Pop said to come down and fetch you a slab of beef”, answered the boy. “I’ll come down after a while”, answered the fire. It came down and they gave him the skin from their hunt, but it was not enough, then the man gave it more and more until there was no beef left. When he asked for more, the man said they had none more. “Well, then give me your little boy.” The man said to the boy they would have to drive the creature off, and took off running, until darkness enveloped them. They came to a shack in the woods, asking for sanctuary from the lady there. But as they begged, from the woods came “Bum, bum, Sally Lum, tearing down trees and throwing them as I come”, and she turned them away. They came upon a stone home, with a sturdy stone fence, but again came “Bum, bum, Sally Lum, tearing down trees and throwing them as I come,” and were turned away again. The woods now bright with flame behind them, they came upon a mighty plantation, with scores of negroes. But the master saw the brightness from behind them, and heard again “Bum, bum, Sally Lum, tearing down trees and throwing them as I come”, and turned them away for fear of his cotton. Lastly, they came up to a rabbit, who said, “Do not fear, I will protect you.” “How?” asked the boy. “Don’t worry, jus’ hide behind that tree there. I will protect you.” “Have you seen a man and his son?” asked the beast, in a blinding glow. “Chicky-Licky-Chow-Chow-Chow,” mocked the rabbit. Again the beast asked, and again the rabbit taunted, jumping on his head, dancing and singing. The beast tried to butt the rabbits brains out his head against a tree, the rabbit leaped, and the beat split his skull open.

The Poopampareno
>A man who was a great hunter got to thinking that he could do without the faithful dogs that had always helped him. He left a bowl of milk out for the hounds, but they were too upset about being left behind to go near it. When they did, they found it turned to blood. Now, the hunter was walking boldly through the woods when suddenly he found himself face to face with a Poopampareno! There was only one place it could be hurt, and that was right under its chin. Anywhere else and the bullet would bounce off its skin like a rubber ball. He dropped his gun and ran up a tree.
>He didn’t stop climbing until he reached the tip-top. When he looked down, his blood ran cold. The Pooppampareno’s lips were drawn back from his terrible saw teeth and he was grinning at the hunter like this, and began to saw with his teeth. Through the bark he sawed, and into the wood. Then the hunter called to his dogs as loud as he could:
>”Here, Sambo! And Ringo! Your master’s almost gone! And a poo-pam and a poo, and a poo-pam and a poo!”
>The voice echoed across the woods, and the hounds heard their master’s call clearly. They came bolting, reaching just in time as the tree fell, and took the Poopmapareno by the neck, slaying the beast.

Piasa
>The Piasa is a Native American dragon depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on bluffs (cliffsides) above the Mississippi River. In 1673 Father Jacques Marquette saw the painting on the limestone bluff and stated this "While Skirting some rocks, which by Their height and length inspired awe, We saw upon one of them two painted monsters which at first made Us afraid, and upon Which the boldest savages dare not Long rest their eyes. They are as large As a calf; they have Horns on their heads Like those of a deer, a horrible look, red eyes, a beard Like a tiger's, a face somewhat like a man's, a body Covered with scales, and so Long A tail that it winds all around the Body, passing above the head and going back between the legs, ending in a Fish's tail. Green, red, and black are the three Colors composing the Picture. Moreover, these 2 monsters are so well painted that we cannot believe that any savage is their author; for good painters in France would find it difficult to reach that place Conveniently to paint them. Here is approximately The shape of these monsters, As we have faithfully Copied It."

The Shoofly
>Shoo flies are large aquatic flies native to a shallow warm lake fourteen miles northeast of Mud Lake in Washoe County, Nevada. They were discovered and appropriately named by prospectors. A shoo fly is black in color, four inches long and with an abdomen three inches in circumference. The transparent wings resemble those of a horsefly and produce a ten-inch wingspan. Shoo fly larvae are deep green in color, six inches long and four inches wide, and feed on rushes; after roasting they look like sweet potatoes and have a vegetable taste, making them prized food commodities. Swarms of shoo flies buzz over the waters of the lake and under it. The flies can go underwater and produce an air bubble that forms around their heads. With this organic scuba gear, the flies can stay underwater indefinitely.

Haakapainiži
>Haakapainiži, the Grasshopper as he is known to the Kawaiisu, is an unpleasant ogre from Southern California, although he lives on a rock in a Nevadan lake. His counterpart in Chemehuevi folklore is Aatakapitsi, and their tales are parallel. Haakapainiži takes several forms, but the best known is that of a giant grasshopper walking on two canes, with a basket on his back. His legs are armed with viciously sharp spikes. His legs are long enough to allow him to walk the 20 miles between Inyokern and Onyx in one step. He also appears as a giant, a harmless-looking old man, and a swarm of grasshoppers. Haakapainiži sings as he walks, hiding his evil intentions.Children are Haakapainiži’s prey, and he stuffs them in his basket for devouring later. As such he is correctly classified as a bogey, and parents will quell children with warnings of “Haakapainiži is coming!”

Swan Valley Monster
>The Swan Valley Monster made its appearance on August 22, 1868, in the otherwise tranquil locale of Swan Valley, Idaho. Its presence was witnessed and reacted to by an unnamed old-timer crossing the river at Olds Ferry. The first thing he saw of the monster was an elephant’s trunk rising from below the surface and spouting water. This was followed by a snake-like head the size of a washtub, with a single horn that kept moving up and down, and long black whiskers on both sides of the face. It had ten inch fangs and a red forked tongue that spewed green poison. When it hauled its massive body onto the shore, the old-timer noted that it must have been twenty feet long, and it stank to high heaven. A pair of wing-like fins came out of the sides of its neck. Its forward half was like a snake, the thickness of a calf, greenish-yellow with red and black spots; this in turn led into a fish-like section with hand-sized rainbow scales shining in the sun; finally, the tail was a drab, scaly gray like a lizard tail. Shiny black barbed spines, like those of a porcupine, lined its back from head to tail. Finally, it had twelve stubby legs that were easily missed at first glance; the first pair under the fins had hoofs, followed by two pairs of legs with razor-sharp claws, then a pair of hoofed feet, a pair of clawed feet, and another pair of hoofed feet near the tail. Of course, the old-timer’s first reaction to the abomination slithering up the bank was to fire a slug into its eye. The monster reared up, hissing, bellowing, and spurting poison over its surroundings. Everything its poison had touched, whether trees or grass or other living beings, withered and died. As the monster was too large to be carried off by one man, the old-timer returned to town to fetch a wagon and six strapping lads to help him, as well as a tarp to protect them from the poison. They could smell the odoriferous creature a hundred yards away.

The Mi-ni-wa-tu
>The Mi-ni-wa-tu, or “sea monster”, is known from the folklore of the Tetons, and may be found in the Missouri River. A mi-ni-wa-tu is an amphibious creature with a body like that of a buffalo, and covered with red hair. It has a single horn in its forehead, and a single eye. Its back is notched like a saw or gear. The mi-ni-wa-tu may be safely seen at night when it swims powerfully up the river, churning the water and glowing like fire; in the spring, it breaks up river ice. Seeing a mi-ni-wa-tu during the day causes confusion and loss of sight. Madness sets in; after a day of convulsions, the unfortunate victim dies.

The Teelget
>As one of the Anaye, the “Alien Gods” of Navajo folklore, Teelget was born from a human woman who resorted to unnatural and evil practices. In this case, his “father” was an antler. The creature born was round, hairy, and headless, and was cast away in horror; it was this creature that grew into the monster known as Teelget. The origin of Teelget’s name is not known with certainty, but the “tê” makes reference to his horns. He is like an enormous, headless elk or antelope, rounded in shape, hairy like a gopher, with antlers he uses as deadly weapons. Coyote was his spy, and between him and the other Anaye they laid waste to the land, slaughtering many.

The Boont
>The Boont, a bear with deer's antlers, similar to a Jackalope in how easily a specimen can be made by creative taxidermy. The Boont is notable as the symbol of Booneville, California, a small town in the mountains which, sometime in the late 19th century, began using a new and distinct language. The Boont is also the symbol of the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, a beer manufacturer located in Booneville.

The Glawackus
>The Glawackus is a creature seen in Glastonbury, CT and Frizzelburg, MA and is in the traditions of lumberjacks. In the latter incident it is reported to have attacked livestock. It is said to have a strong resemblance to a mix between a bear, panther, and lion. An eyewitness report states that "I was working as a young reporter on the Hartford Courant that year when World War II was in the wings. But we were preoccupied with the developing story about this Glastonbury creature that howled at night, slipped in and out of view and caused dogs, cats and small farm animals to disappear. As the sightings grew in number, so did the variety of descriptions. First it was a huge cat. Then some people reported what looked like a dog in back and a cat in front. Others saw it vice-versa. One man called to say he had seen a big animal in the pitch dark with eyes that glowed like embers.

The Wunk
>Most of us have been outdoors at night and seen a dim shape with bright glowing eyes. Sometimes this turns out to be a cat, skunk, or raccoon - but if it turns and disappears before you can make out details, what you've seen is, indubitably, a wunk. Unlike many Fearsome Critters, the wunk is common in populated areas and even ventures into cities from time to time. Its method of eluding predators is similar to that of the wombat of Australia, which quickly digs a burrow with its powerful claws and plugs the entrance with its armored backside. The wunk does the wombat one better - not content to leave any part of itself exposed, it reaches back and pulls the hole in after it, leaving no trace. (As if this were not enough, rumor has it that the wunk could change its shape if it wished, even to the point of passing for a human - but it never does.)

The Squidgicum-Squee
>Like the Wunk of the same area, the Squidgicum-Squee is very shy, not wanting to ever be seen. When it hears or sees someone or something approaching, it takes a deep breath and swallows itself.

The Beazel
>More commonly known as the Fur-Bearing Trout, a native fish to the streams of Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maine. They are the size of a salt water, but can grow much much larger depending on what they feed on. The size and consistency of their fur coats may also vary, sometimes being described as that of a beaver’s, to that of a silver haired fox. The story of how they came to be is highly contested, ranging from being stranded after a race with a mango bat, a migration to feed on the wild game of the west, or the result of pollution of a snake oil salesman’s hair growth tonic after the federal government came to collect tax.

The Black Fox of Salmon River
>The Black Fox of Salmon river is said to be in possession magic powers, entrapping any who gaze upon its pelt to search after it all their life, but cursing all of their bullets and arrows to miss, passing right through its body, no matter how true the aim. The hunters that gave chase would come home days later, too exhausted to move, but none too exhausted to recount their grand adventure. Other times, hunters would say the one who pursued the darkling creature was never again seen on this mortal earth. Each mysterious disappearance, the Indians would attribute this to the whimsical, indifferent spirit dwelling within the magical fox.

The Arkansas Snipe
>The Arkansas snipe has nothing to do with dodgy little snipe. The Arkansas snipe is a more terrifying creature, a mosquito, a large, ugly mosquito that devours horses, cows and hapless campers. One account tells a hunter was lost in Arkansas, so he tied the bridle of his horse at the foot of a tree and climbed a hill to get his bearings. When he returned, two Arkansas snipes had eaten his horse, chewed the saddle, and spat the horse's horseshoes to see which of them would pick up the bridles. In another version, the gigantic mosquitoes kill a cow and clean their teeth with their horns. A story specialist named Daniel Stamps believed this story, according to "a friend of Daniel": "A northern cattle buyer came to town and sought Danial to find some cattle. So, the next morning, they both started walking through the swamp. Soon, they heard the cowbell that was ringing and they took that direction. When they came to a clearing, they saw a mosquito standing on a dead cow that blew its bell, shaking it infernally so that the rest of the herd would turn toward him. Apparently, these mosquitoes looked more like raccoons than mosquitoes, and their toenails were so long they could kick a cow into their belly and get their heart pierced.”

The Columbia River Sand Squink
>The Columbia River Sand Squink is a fearsome creature from the stories of North American sheep hunters and shepherds. He lives in the mountains of Washington, and leaves only at night. It has the body of a coyote in the shape of a lynx. It has the curved and bushy tail of a squirrel and long ears like those of an American hare (known as jackrabbit). The sand squink goes down the river and eats anything you can find swimming in the water. However, the Columbia river sand squink loves to eat electric eels and consumes many throughout its life. When he is hungry, he feels very weak and hides from other creatures. When he has eaten, and feels himself in the fullness of his strength, he goes to the earth in search of larger prey than the fish he habitually eats. It will lurk solitary travelers appearing before them touching their ears with their tail. Having eaten a lot of electric eels, the alternating touch of their tail from ear to ear, throws a series of electrical sparks. This distracts the traveler who follows him and is never seen again, as well as badly burns, even killing the prey with electric shock, if the beast so desires. The Columbia river sand squink builds nests and lays bakelite eggs.

The Dew Mink
>The dew mink is one of the fearsome creatures in the stories of American loggers. The creature was seen and described in General History of Connecticut, from its first settlement under George Fenwick, to its latest period of amity with Great Britain prior to the Revolution; Including a description of the country, and many curious and interesting anecdotes. It seems to be a species of mink that only feeds on the drops of dew.

The Dewayo
>The dewayo or dwayyo is described as a bipedal mammal with characteristics similar to those of a wolf, but the posture and stature of a human being. Dewayo sightings occur mainly in West Middletown, Maryland, but sightings have also been reported in Wolfsville, Maryland. It seems that this creature is enemy of the snallygaster and these beings have had violent encounters that go back to the first human settlements in the valley of Middletown.

The Dingbat
>One of the fearsome creatures of the American loggers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The dingbat is a small flying creature, possibly a bird, which had large wings and horns on its head. His little body was covered with feathers. The dingbat had the unique ability to eat bullets in the air, and all those shots that failed their target was because of dingbats.

The Tonnage Rat
>The tonnage rat is one of the creatures of the old tales of American loggers. It lives in the mountains and leaves during the rocky landslides. After a rocky detachment, gather the rocks and place them back in their location. The female lays large square eggs.

The Hoot Pecker
>The hoot pecker (which could literally be translated as "howling woodpecker" or "howling whistle") is a species of bird from the tales of the American loggers, who live in Michigan. These birds are a complete combination of North American tawn (strix varia) and woodpecker. He works all day and night and, therefore, never sleeps. It is said to be extremely useful as it cleans forests of insects and other pests.

The Kickle Snifter
>Also known as a hickle snifter, the kickle snifter is about the size of a person's thumb. They live in the beards just as some species of lice do. They are seldom seen because they are very shy. They are often heard after an old man has eaten. Because the beard hairs tickle them, they laugh out loud.

The Lucive
>The name of lucive derives from loup cervier (wolf cervero), a species of wolf and deer cross. Popularly, loup cervier, is the name that was called the lynx.

Old Spider Legs
>Old Spider Legs, also known as Eight-legged Horse, was a strange creature that was sighted in America during the 19th century by a lumberjack. As he traveled through the forest, he heard a sound of fast and numerous gallops. He then had a clear vision of a horse that had eight legs placed like the legs of a spider. The man mounted his horse and chased the beast, but could not keep up and lost sight of it. Many have heard it since, but no one has seen it again.

The Rubberado
>Rubberado is one of the fearsome creatures from the folklore of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century American lumbermen from Wisconsin and Minnesota. The rubberado is a species of porcupine whose flesh and thorns are extremely elastic, making a skilful use of these corporal characteristics, so that it could rebound by the earth, moving by her. If a rubberado was cooked, its meat became inedible.

The Snallygaster
>The snallygaster is a mythical beast resembling a dragon that inhabits the Blue Ridge Mountains near Braddock Heights, Maryland. This area was colonized by German immigrants around 1730. The earliest stories describe that community being terrorized by a monster called Schneller Geist, which in German means "quick spirit." The first incarnations of this creature mixed the bird characteristics of a mermaid with the nightmare characteristics of a demon, ghouls or vampire. The snallygaster was described as a half-reptilian, half-bird, with a metal beak lined with sharp teeth, and from time to time were given tentacles similar to those of an octopus. He silently jumps from the sky to catch and take away his victims. Early reports claim that this monster sucked the blood of its victims. The seven-pointed stars, which supposedly kept the snallygaster at bay, can still be seen painted in the local stables. It has been suggested the legend was resurrected in the nineteenth century to scare the freed slaves.
>News stories throughout February and March 1909 describe encounters between local residents and a beast with "huge wings, a good pointed bill, claws like steel hooks, and an eye in the center of the forehead." It was said that he emitted Squeaks "like a locomotive whistle." A lot of publicity surrounded this series of appearances, with a Smithsonian Institution offering reward for its capture. President Theodore Roosevelt allegedly considered postponing a safari in Africa to personally hunt the beast.

The Snawfus
>It is a white deer with huge horns that lives in the tops of the trees, jumping from branch to branch like a monkey. When he does this he shouts "Halley-loo! Halley-loo! " In the autumn of the snawfus there exhales a blue smoke from his mouth, which slides up, towards the sky, forming clouds of blue haze.

The Three-tailed Banalorous
>This creature, the banalorous three-tailed, is half bird, half mammal. While its front is covered with feathers, its back was covered with fur. It has the legs of a cow or a buffalo and a horned head in the shape of a corkscrew. This being has three tails: one is flat and uses it as a seat, another is prickly with a pointed end and uses it as a weapon, and the other is a peacock tail used to ward off flies

The Timmerdoodle
>The timmerdoodle is a small mammal that was said to have lived in the United States of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The timmerdoodle bounds towards unfortunate souls that wander into its hunting grounds, and bites then with his fierce jaws, not letting go until he hears thunder. Once a man named Sam McSneed was bitten by a timmerdoodle; Two months passed before a storm struck in the vicinity and the beast released him.

The Augerino
>The augerino is one of the fearsome creatures that, they say, lived in the deserts of Colorado, and is sometimes called the augerine. He lived underground and liked to keep its deen as dry as ever it could be. As a result, it attacked all waterways and destroyed the dams that the local population built.

The Windyo
>The windyo is a mysterious creature that appears in the humorous and strange histories of the American northwest, in the lumberlands. The windyo is said to have large feet but other than that there is no other description of the animal. This dark creature makes a moan like the sound of the wind.

The Whangdoodle
>A whangdoodle is a fantastic creature of indefinite and indeterminate nature, appearing in certain popular phrases or songs, whose figure would be further popularized through children's literature. It seems that the origin of these beings is American, situating it around the year 1856, being popularized by appearing in a paródy sermon attributed to William P. Brannan that read "Where the lion roareth and the whangdoodle mourneth for her first-born,” published in" The Harp of a Thousand Strings: Or, Laughter for a Lifetime"(1858). Whangdoodle was an earlier term used to designate something fantastic or imaginary or to designate a thing whose correct name is unknown.

The Whing-Whang
>Whing-whang is a very peculiar creature, a separate case among fearsome creatures from the folklore of American loggers. It goes unnoticed during the day and lives near the beach. For most of the time he lives his life without being seen or heard. However, on those nights when the moon turns orange, the whing-whang leaves his resting place and devotes himself to writing his name in the sand again and again. As the night lights up and the sun begins to rise, whing-whang erases everything he has written and then quickly disappears.

The Alkali Monster
>This gargantuan, mono-horned, foul smelling, reptilian beast is reputed to lurk in the depths of Nebraska’s famed Alkali Lake, devouring all who come near it. Located in central Nebraska, Walgren Lake (formerly known as Alkali Lake) is an eroded volcanic outcropping that is reputed to be the nesting place of one of the most unusual LAKE MONSTERS ever recorded and, if the legends are true, the habitat of the only aquatic monster ever reported in the state of Nebraska. Originally chronicled in Native American folklore, this creature has been described as a gargantuan alligator-like beast with some unique attributes. Eyewitnesses claim that the beast is approximately 40-feet long, with rough, grayish-brown skin and a horny outgrowth located between its eyes and nostrils.

Godaphro
>Sometimes it was described as a deer with rabbit ears and fangs while it has also been described as a kind of giant lizard. It swung from the trees with a powerful tail. It was once a part of a wild animal show in a circus. Many people paid to see it but the circus entertainers warned that it had escaped. People fled in fear and the entertainers were able to profit from all their takings. Another tells of a farmer who was able to breed the Godaphro with his sheep producing a pet that easily walked the hilly farms but was slow on flat road.

Camelce
>The Camelce is a curious hybrid of the American elk and the Asiatic camel, created when camels imported by the U.S. government for use as pack animals in the Arizona desert got loose and mated with elks in the wild. The existence of this creature was first reported in an 1875 New York Herald article about the Newton-Jenney expedition to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Correspondent R.B. Davenport noted discovering a large skeleton that looked to him like the skeleton of a bull elk, but he was later corrected by the scout "California Joe" who identified the bones as those of a Camelce. Said California Joe (as quoted by Davenport): "Well, sir, I reckon that there must be the bones of one of them camelces I's'eerd so much about. You see, a good many year ago the guv'ment decided to use camels for packin' supplies down in the deserts of Arizony. Some of the females escaped and, feelin' sorta lonely, they joined up with a elk herd. It wasn't long before they was matin' with the bull elks and the result was somethin' that was half-camel and half-elk. Dog-gonedest animal I ever seed ... "

The Black Dog
>It is a smaller creature, with the look of your average mountain dog, but entirely pitch black all over that inhabits the Hanging Hills in Connecticut. The dog is the harbinger of joy, sorrow, and death depending on the number of sightings. To see the dog once, is to bring joy and good luck to whomever its companion was. To see it twice is to bring bad luck and misfortune to that very same person. And a third time, the viewer will either die on the spot, or die very shortly afterwards.

Monster Boar of Georgia
>Tales of gigantic wild boars remain a big thing in those parts of the South where wild pigs still roam free. Georgia had the maybe-made-up tale of Hogzilla, which weighed in at just over 1,000 lbs. Not to be outdone, an 11-year-old boy in Alabama is reported to have killed a 1,051-lb. beasty with a pistol. Oh, and the pig itself may have started out as a farm pig before being sold to a game preserve.

Madrone Monkeys
>Now, Madrone monkeys are not indigenous to the south coast. Where you find them historically, is in the vast rain forests, that is, the jungles of the Amazon river basin, where they have flourished for eons, subsisting on the nutrient rich outer bark of the Madrone tree, until as of late – where you read so much in the paper, and see on TV, about the heavy clear cutting – the deforestation – of those wonderful jungles, to the point that there is a real potential to lose this species to extinction through loss of habitat.
>Now, you don’t see the monkeys because they’re nocturnal. In other words, all their work is done at night. But you certainly see the evidence of their participation in this ecosystem as we travel up and down the river.
>...Look at the surface of the water. Do you see that foam line? Have you noticed how these foam lines develop from time to time along the river? Well, this again indicates the presence of Madrone monkeys. See, Madrone monkeys are a highly developed system of primates. And as is almost always the case, in upper level primates, they will identify for themselves – each group, each community – a dominant male. And it’s kind of interesting how the Madrone monkeys do this. In fact, they have studied this, behavioral scientists have, back at Cornell University, in hopes of unlocking some of the mysteries of our own political systems.
>It seems then, that each evening, those mature males vying for dominance, will stand on a branch overhanging the river, and tinkle out into the river. Now, the monkey which can tinkle farthest into the river, becomes by consensus then, the dominant male until supplanted by a contender.
>Now, not all the foam is from the monkeys of course. Some of it’s just fish sweat. These salmon and steelhead working so hard to get up river on their annual migrations – often times their sweat will collect on top and mix with what the monkeys have done.

The Altamaha-ha
>Local legend reports a 20-foot-long water serpent that dwarfs the size of alligators in the region. It lives where the Altahama River dumps into the Atlantic Ocean, and thus a host of very real sea creatures have been suggested as explanations for the beast. In addition to sightings, it has been the subject of many myths and lore during the time of its "discovery" by the local Tama Indian Tribe in the state of Georgia, which predates British-English colonization. The Altamaha-ha is described as having a sturgeon like body including the bony ridge on its top. Front flippers and no back limbs, swimming like a dolphin or porpoise and having the snout of a crocodile. The coloring is said to be gray with a whitish-yellow underbelly. So far, no physical evidence of the Atlamaha-ha has been found. It is sometimes shown to be green, so it can camouflage.

The Fish Hound
>"In Siberia, Wisconsin, away from the beaten paths, on the edge of one of the most wonderful lakes, was a beautiful little cabin with a ginseng garden adjoining it. The lake was filled with fish of every description and the woods were filled with a variety of game; moose, elk, deer, fox and bear. There was a profusion of flowers and shrubbery, and the monarch of the forest, the great pine, sang with a soughing sound, all through the year. If the angels ever saw this scene of beauty, they might be tempted to leave their present place of habitation.
>Not wishing to boast, nature endowed me with a secret, which I shall carry to my grave. My slightest thought is powerful and hypnotic. (I can't explain it, nor can anyone else). I can take a bird, beast or fish of any species and bring about a different breed. I have proven this, as I have a wonderful pair of fish hounds at my cabin, under the care of a faithful Indian. These were bred from a water fowl, known as the hell diver, and crossed with a mink, producing this new breed known as the fish hound. In the first litter, there were five pups. One was killed by a wolf and two were drowned. The two which I now have, can, at the age of eight months, divine my thoughts.
>If I want a fish, all I have to do is to say, "Nero, get me a four pound bass." He at once dives into the water and swims among the muskalonge, pickerel and pike until he spies a four pound bass. As my lake is full of fish, Nero is usually back within five minutes with the bass. In hunting animals, Nero and his mate have the same uncanny methods of capture. In appearance, the fish hound resembles the ordinary fox hound, from the tip of its nose to the end of the tail. One side of this fish hound is covered with feathers and the other side with the soft fur of the mink. Boys, if all goes well, this will be my last winter cutting down pine, as I intend to go into the raising of fish hounds. Good night"

The Wamp
>“How's the deer hunting this year?” asked the new arrival at camp importantly, as he leaned on his shiny new gun and looked proudly down at his well pressed, unspotted hunting suit.
>The old guide looked him over slowly before he drawled, “Pretty good. Pretty good. And I've seen the tracks of a wamp around here lately, too, and that means more deer than ever. Yes. sir!”
>“The wamp?” asked the newcomer politely.
>“Every deer hunter knows about the Wamp,” replied the guide witheringly, “He's about the size of a coon, with a gray body, shaped like a salt sack and a hollow tail with a salt shaker on the end of it.”
>“A salt shatter?” repeated the tenderfoot doubtfully.
>“Sure. Don't you know how crazy deer are about salt. Well, the wamp goes around shaking salt at the roots of trees every few miles, and the deer lick it up and run to tell their friends about it.”
>The hunter looked at the guide thoughtfully, but the old woodsman, with solemn face, was looking out across the bronzed woods, as though at any minute one of his weird animals might come slinking in between the I tall trees, or peer at them from behind a flaming bush.

The Squasholiger
>Across the lake was a neat little cabin where an “old-timer” lived all the year round. He raised quite a crop of vegetables, which he sold to campers.
>The old guide took the tenderfoot over with him on a vegetable buying trip. “We'd like a couple of those fine squashes of yours, I've noticed lately they're coming along great,” remarked the guide.
>The wrinkled old woodsman shook his head. “Sorry, but they're gone those were the squasholiger variety, you know.”
>“Oh, sure,” nodded the guide, “That's the walling kind ain't it?”
>“Yep. They grow just like any other squash on vines, only heaps larger. And as they ripen their eyes and legs come out and their month opens, and just before they're ready to walk, a piece of the vine turns into a tail, and —presto! Off they go!”
>Don't you ever get them?” asked the tenderfoot.
>Nope. You see their green color helps them hide in the underbrush. But I don't understand losing them, because they stay around the place and live on bugs and insects, so you see they're considerable help. They're a rare variety, though. Isn't often I raise any of 'em.”

The Fish-Fox
>”Snowshoe Bill had a visitor. He was a younger guide, with tanned skin, keen black eyes, and a flashing smile. The two of them smoked and looked over the ripples that danced in the sun.
>“Catching many fish?” asked the visitor.
>“Quite a few,” answered Bill. Then he raised his voice loud enough for the nearby tenderfoot to hear. “By the Way, whatever became of that fish-fox your father had when you were a kid.”
>“Poor old foxy!” replied the young guide sadly. “He grieved himself to death after dad died. He was a dandy, all right. Why, all father had to say, was ‘Foxy, old fellow, we want fish for supper.’ and away he would go to the lake and dive in. Then he'd make a noise like an angleworm and the fish would follow him right out of the water onto the shore and up to the cabin. All dad had to do was to take a club and kill as many as he wanted and tell Foxy to take the rest back to the lake. Some fish we had then.”
>The young fellow took a sidelong glance at the open-mouthed listener. Then winked at Snowshoe Bill and said lazily, “Ho, hum. Those were the happy days.”

The Boat Hound
>“Hey!” called Snowshoe Bill, the Big Woods guide, one morning. “The boat is gone. Did one of you fellows go fishing last night and forget to tie it up?”
>The tenderfoot flushed. He was always doing something wrong. “I'm the one that had it last,” he conwessed, “and I forgot to tie it up. What do you suppose has happened to it?”
>“Well,” speculated the guide, “My private opinion is that the boat hound got it.”
>“The boat hound! Never heard of suchathing!”
>“Didn't, huh? Well, he's about the meanest customer I've ever run into. He sneaks along in the dark looking for boats that careless folks forget to tie and when he finds one, he swallows it right down. He has a great long body shaped like a boat, with big froglike feet, and four ears. With the front two he can hear everything in front of h'en, and with the back two he hears everything behind him. He has a big mouth like an aligator's.”
>“Where does this queer creature keep himself durning the day?” the tenderfoot inquired with a little grin.
>“He sleeps on the bottom of the lake in the daythne, but at night he's wide wake, all right, looking for boats. Just you remember about him next time you take a boat out, young man.”

The Oomph
>Down by the old logging road Mrs. Partridge was sitting on her nest. At the approach of danger she scuttled off the nest and hid in the underbrush. The intruders counted fourteen pretty eggs.
>“There's a raspberry ratch a little further down,” remarked the guide, “and I think there's another nest near it. Want to take a look?”
>The tenderfoot followed him eagerly. There was the nest, sure enough, but all the eggs were gone—only a few shells left. The guide shook his head sadly. “It's the oomph's work,” he explained. “He's a hard-looking animal, the worst enemy the birds have in nesting season. There's a big bounty on the oomph, but he's sly and hard to get.”
>“In case you see an animal about as big as a dog, but looking like a cross between a big lizard and a toad with long claws and with sharp spines all along his back and big spots all over him, get him quick. He's an oomph. He goes around hunting birds' nests, and when he finds one he makes a noise deep down in his throat that sounds like ‘oomph, oomph.’ That's how the old boy gets his name.”

The Duck-Footed Dum Dum
>“Not much fish in the lake this summer,” said the old guide sadly, as he rowed with his party across the sun-flecked water where the glistening fish were supposed to be waiting hungrilly for some one to offer them bait.
>“What's the matter?” asked the “chap from the city,” on his first trip into the Big Woods.
>“Those know-it-all game wardens scared the duck-footed dum-dum away, that's what. Ever see a dum-dum? Funny animal. Comes around every spring. He has two tails like bass-drum sticks and swings them like lightning, beating on the tight drum-like skin on his back.”
>“Well, when the fish hear this they all flock near the shore in shallow water and lay their eggs. They wouldn't know it was spawning season if they didn't hear the dum-dum. Then after they lay their eggs they go away and the dum-dum keeps watch until all the little fish are hatched out.”
>“So you see when those pesky game wardens come spying around and scare off the dum-dum, we don't get any fish.” And the guide pulled glumly at his little black pipe.

The Gazunk, or The Flute Bill
>When night steals over the Big Woods, the cry of a prowling bird sounds like a ghostly wail, and the crackling of a small twig resembles the sharp repport of a revolver. The brush of a fluttering leap across his cheek brings the “greenhorn” to his feet with a startled cry.
>It is then, as they sit about the campfire, the old guides like to spin the yearns that have been handed down by generations of their predecessors.
>“What is that?” exclaims a tenderfoot hoarsely, as one of the many strange aounds of the night strikes his ear.” “It sounds like some one whistiling away off in the distance.”
>“Why that,” explains the twinkling-eyed old-timer, “must be the gazunk, or flute-bill bird. When the gazunk was a young bird, he went to sleep in a tree and a woodpecker, by mistake, drilled some holes in his long bill. Of course, it made him sore, until he found he could play on his bill like a flute, using his claws as stops. It almost tickled him to death. So now he goes around playing like that all night. Listen! Just strain your ears a bit. Yep, sure enough, that's the gazunk.”

The Skeeteroo
>Kwasin, the old Indian, stalked into the camp to see his friend, the guide. The tenderfoot was introduced to the red-skinned visitor.
>“By the way,” remarked the guide to the tenderfoot, “do you see those big scars on Kwasin's arms and neck? That's the work of the billed mosquito. Tell us about it, Kwasin.” The Indian grunted, but remained silent.
>“Long time since I've see any skeeteroos,” continued the old guide, “but years ago this country used to be full of ’em. They grew as big as chickens and had a bill ’bout six or eight inches long and as hard as steel. They kept ’em sharper ’n needles, with two little two-handed grindstones they had rigged up on the banks of the creek. Tell hint about the time a whole flock tackled you, Kwasin.”
>“No, you tell um,” requested the Indian gravely.
>“Well, one time when Kwasin was coming down Fish Creek in his canoe a flock of ’em come at him so he hurried to the banks of the stream, hauled his canoe out: turned it over, and got under it. The skeeteroos lit all over the canoe and pierced it full of holes with their sharp bills. Kwasin, to save himself, took a rock and clinched their bills underneath, until, all of a sudden, the skeeteros flew away with his canoe! Isn't that so, Kwasin”
>The Indian grunted solemnly

The Milamo
>The Milamo was a huge crane that was reportedly so large that it would eat snakes the size of a car’s tire. It was also known to live on a diet of giant worms that lived in giant wormholes. One story told a Milamo that had difficulty trying to catch and eat giant worms. When it pinched one in its beak and pulled back, the worm would hold on tight in its hole and its body would stretch like an elastic band. The bird pulled some more and when the worm was really thin it let go and flew out of its hole like an arrow from a bow and it hit the Milamo bird in the eye. The Milamo loosened its grip in its shock of being hit and the worm dove back into its hole as faster than when it come out.

That's all I got

I'll be back in a few days with humanoid creatures and witches

bump

A lot of these creatures are pretty silly, and there's not a whole lot of physical description going on. It'll take some creativity to turn them into mobs, but I think these are pretty fun

>ITT: American man desperate due to lack of own culture

Eh, I like it