History Main / FearsomeCrittersOfAmericanFolklore

* The '''Will-Am-Alone''' is a squirrel-like creature that lathers poisonous lichens on lumberjacks.

* The '''Bearbehind"', a strange creature with the lower half of a bear but with the upperhalf of a human, most notably either an minister or a politician. It's also a sort of a con-artist. Not to be confused with the Hide-Behind.

* The '''Bearbehind", a strange creature with the lower half of a bear but with the upperhalf of a human, most notably either an minister or a politician. It's also a sort of a con-artist. Not to be confused with the Hide-Behind.

* The '''Pamoola''', or '''Pomola''' is a large sabertooth cat-like predator with the body build of a panther and four saberteeth in it's jaws. It apparently has a taste for women and only lighting strikes can kill it.
* The '''Piasau''' is a large minotaur-like creature with wings, a very long tail and the ability to breath fire. It's a corruption of the Native American Piasa Bird

* The '''Wampus Cat''', which resembles a cougar, but [[WasOnceAMan is in fact a Cherokee woman]] cursed with a feline form. Its yowl is said to be an omen of death, and it has been blamed for many disappearances and attacks in Tennessee and neighboring states. Also the mascot of a number of institutions in its home range. There's also a variant from Idaho that's called a '''Catawampus''' that's bipedal and also has extendable arms that uses them to capture it's preferred prey, birds of prey mid-flight with, one of which is known as the '''Turkeagle''', a hybrid between a turkey and an eagle, hence the name.

* "'Camp Chipmunks''', '''Tigermunks"' or "'Vilas County Tigers"' are simply chipmunks that grew into the size dimensions and ferocity of tigers after eating prune pits that were discarded by Paul Bunyan. They were later exterminated by Bunyan and his group after the chipmunks were killing the bears and mountain lions in the area.

* The '''Wampus Cat''', which resembles a cougar, but [[WasOnceAMan is in fact a Cherokee woman]] cursed with a feline form. Its yowl is said to be an omen of death, and it has been blamed for many disappearances and attacks in Tennessee and neighboring states. Also the mascot of a number of institutions in its home range. There's also a variant that's called a '''Catawampus''' that's bipedal and also has extendable arms that uses them to capture it's preferred prey, birds of prey mid-flight with, one of which is known as the '''Turkeagle''', a hybrid between a turkey and an eagle, hence the name.

* The '''Wampus Cat''', which resembles a cougar, but [[WasOnceAMan is in fact a Cherokee woman]] cursed with a feline form. Its yowl is said to be an omen of death, and it has been blamed for many disappearances and attacks in Tennessee and neighboring states. Also the mascot of a number of institutions in its home range. There's also a variant that's called a '''Catawampus''' that's bipedal and also has extendable arms that uses them to capture birds of prey mid-flight with.

* The '''Dog-Mosquito''' is a hybrid of dog and mosquito that allegedly is from Mexico and that the females burrow into trees to raise their young.

* The '''Hellidid''' , a creature that resembles a hybrid between a zebra and an anteater with four ostrich-legs that's a specialist of yucca leaves.

* The '''Wampus Cat''', which resembles a cougar, but [[WasOnceAMan is in fact a Cherokee woman]] cursed with a feline form. Its yowl is said to be an omen of death, and it has been blamed for many disappearances and attacks in Tennessee and neighboring states. Also the mascot of a number of institutions in its home range. There's also a variant that's called a '''Catawampus''' that has extendable arms that uses them to capture birds of prey mid-flight with.

* Episode 5 of ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'' features the Inbyos, a species of wiry-limbed ape-like creatures that live in the Inverted Forest and throw rocks and sticks at people, highly reminiscent of the Agropelter.

* The "'Hellidid''', a creature that resembles a hybrid between a zebra and an anteater with four ostrich-legs that's a specialist of yucca leaves.

* The "'Helidid''', a creature that resembles a hybrid between a zebra and an anteater with four ostrich-legs that's a specialist of yucca leaves.

* The '''Wampus Cat''', which resembles a cougar, but [[WasOnceAMan is in fact a Cherokee woman]] cursed with a feline form. Its yowl is said to be an omen of death, and it has been blamed for many disappearances and attacks in Tennessee and neighboring states. Also the mascot of a number of institutions in its home range.

* The '''Icegedunk''', a Canadian terrestrial seal-like creature with deer-like ears, a hunched buffalo-like body which tapers down into a wheel-like appendage in place it's hindflippers. It's been known to stop at service stations as a way to "refuel" itself by getting it's wheel-like appendage patched up.

* The '''Luf(f)erlang''', a ferocious horse-like monster with a venomous bite, triple-jointed, spider-like legs that allow it to crawl in any direction and with it's tail being in the middle of it's back with a blue stripe running through it. It can only be repelled with a mirror, as the only thing that terrifies it is its own hideousness. It's often confused for an '''Old Spider Legs''', a similar creature that's basically a horse-spider hybrid.

* '''Saskipogo''' or '''Saskapogo''' is said to be a [[Stock Ness MonsterCanadian lake monster]] that resembled a hybrid between a wombat and a goldfish that allegedly hailed from "Lake Saskatchewan" (a Canadian lake that never existed). While there is a Saskatchewan Lake, but it's in Ontario and the creature was apparently made up by the people of Saskatchewan as the province was the only one without a prominent lake monster in it's folklore.

* The [[https://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus]], while really a creation of the Internet rather than bored lumberjacks, fits the bill as a pseudo-legendary, tongue-in-cheek North American cryptid invented for the purpose of fooling gullible people.

* '''Saskipogo''' or '''Saskapogo''' is said to be a Canadian lake monster that resembled a hybrid between a wombat and a goldfish that allegedly hailed from "Lake Saskatchewan" (a Canadian lake that never existed). While there is a Saskatchewan Lake, but it's in Ontario and the creature was apparently made up by the people of Saskatchewan as the province was the only one without a prominent lake monster in their folklore.

* "'Saskipogo"' or "'Saskapogo"' is said to be a Canadian lake monster that resembled a hybrid between a wombat and a goldfish that allegedly hailed from "Lake Saskatchewan" (a Canadian lake that never existed). While there is a Saskatchewan Lake, but it's in Ontario and the creature was apparently made up by the people of Saskatchewan as the province was the only one without a prominent lake monster in their folklore.

* "Saskipogo" or "Saskapogo" is said to be a Canadian lake monster that resembled a hybrid between a wombat and a goldfish that allegedly hailed from "Lake Saskatchewan" (a Canadian lake that never existed). While there is a Saskatchewan Lake, but it's in Ontario and the creature was apparently made up by the people of Saskatchewan as the province was the only one without a prominent lake monster in their folklore.

Still quite popular in Wisconsin, where it makes its home (and particularly in the city of Rhinelander), the Hodag is a fierce beastie with "the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end". Several hoaxes regarding the animal, from the way it terrorized the lumber community to its eventual capture (using chloroform and ''dynamite'', no less!) were perpetrated in the late 19th century by the prankster Eugene Shepard. Today, the creature is more or less a fondly-regarded local curiosity; it's even become [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/Rhsflag.jpg the mascot of Rhinelander High School.]]

Known by a ''myriad'' of other names, including the Guyanoosa and Sidehill Gouger, the Guyascutus is a terrible predator variously described as being like an alligator covered in protective plates, like an armadillo's, or like a deer with the ears of a rabbit and a mouth full of fierce teeth. Its most notable feature, however, is that the legs on one side of its body are much shorter than the ones on the other, so it can move about easily on the steep mountain slopes where it makes its home; therefore, to escape a Guyascutus, one need only run onto even ground. The creature, with its mismatched legs, will be unable to follow.

Perhaps the most famous of the bunch (and the subject of more than one popular song), the Squonk is a miserable animal, "The most melancholy of creatures", that allegedly inhabits the coniferous forests of northern Pennsylvania. Because its skin is covered in warts, blemishes, blisters and abrasions, the Squonk is disgusting to look at -- and it ''knows'' this, which is why it hides underground during the day, hoping not to offend any other creature with its hideous appearance. At night, the Squonks all come out into the open and openly weep; the strange sounds lumberjacks and other frontiersmen heard in the forest at night were attributed to their crying.

The most famous southwestern Critter, popular in Texas, New Mexico, and southern California.[[note]]Douglas, Wyoming, claims to be the hometown of the legend--and does appear to be the origin of the "stuffed Jackalope" taxidermy gag--but stories of "horned hares" date back to medieval Europe.[[/note]] The Jackalope is a wild hare or jackrabbit with the antlers of a deer, reportedly ''very'' difficult to catch or even to spot (though U.S. President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan ''did'' claim to have caught one once -- purely as a joke, we expect). Jackalopes are highly elusive and will run at the very sight of a human, but at night, they all gather in the desert and sing harmoniously with their strange, enchanting voices. Of course, that's only ''one'' interpretation; it's occasionally described as a vicious {{killer rabbit}}, and residents of snowier parts of the West will sometimes troll tourists by claiming that the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_fence snow fences]] along highways are actually seating for watching Jackalope races. To this day, the "stuffed Jackalope" is a fairly common sight in southwestern bars and taverns.

Interestingly, there are jackalope-like creatures in folklore from other countries; Arabia has the ''{{Almiraj}}'' (carnivorous rabbit with a {{unicorn}} horn), Sweden has the ''Skvader'' (half rabbit, half wood grouse, usually depicted as a winged rabbit), and Germany has both the ''Rasselbock'' (a rabbit with roe deer antlers) and the ''Wolpertinger'' (whose depictions vary between regions, but the most iconic is either a winged Rasselbock or a creature with [[MixAndMatchCritters a rabbit's head, deer's antlers, bird's wings, and squirrel's body & tail]]).

Interestingly, there are jackalope-like creatures in folklore from other countries; Arabia has the ''Al'miraj'' (carnivorous rabbit with a {{unicorn}} horn), Sweden has the ''Skvader'' (half rabbit, half wood grouse, usually depicted as a winged rabbit), and Germany has both the ''Rasselbock'' (a rabbit with roe deer antlers) and the ''Wolpertinger'' (whose depictions vary between regions, but the most iconic is either a winged Rasselbock or a creature with [[MixAndMatchCritters a rabbit's head, deer's antlers, bird's wings, and squirrel's body & tail]]).

Sadly, any reported Jackalope sighting is much more likely to be a regular rabbit [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shope_papilloma_virus afflicted with the Shope papilloma virus.]]

* ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'' has the [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/skwunk.htm Sqwunk,]] based on the Squonk, a useless byproduct of monster creation. Incredibly ugly, it weeps openly if its face is seen and dissolved into tears if it sees itself in a mirror.

* The '''Luf(f)erlang''', a ferocious horse-like monster with a venomous bite and triple-jointed, spider-like legs that allow it to crawl in any direction. It can only be repelled with a mirror, as the only thing that terrifies it is its own hideousness.

* Deviantart user [[https://www.deviantart.com/monstrumamericanum Monstrumamericanum]] has a large collection of Fearsome Critter legends (with accompanying art), including many of the creatures described above.