The United States
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Sidehill Gouger
The Sidehill Gouger is a creature from Lumberjack Folklore. It has the “scientific name” Membriinequales declivitatis. Their legs are longer on one side of the body than they are on the other. This allows them to live on steep cliffs and spiral around them on ledges instead of climbing straight up, as they can only go in one direction. They are known to dig holes into the sides of these hills and feed on the rabbits that fall in. They are only though to come out on dark moonlit nights. If confronted from the front and clubbed, they will tumble down the hill and be unable to right themselves again.…
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Shovel-Faced Oscar
The Shovel-Faced Oscar is a strange creature from Lumberjack Folklore. It has the “scientific name” Caputpala borgesia. They are creatures with four legs and a face shaped like a shovel that lives solely underwater. They use their shovel-like faces to dig out the burrows where bass then leave their eggs. Supposedly they are named after a man named Oscar Wicklem, who was one of the first people to encounter this creature. Citations: Yarns of the Big Woods, Written and Illustrated by Art Childs
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Shampe
The Shampe are from Choctaw myth. They are massive hairy wildmen with incredibly good senses. Their vision is like that of an eagle. They can smell blood from miles away and will relentlessly stalk anyone who is injured or who has freshly killed game. They are sometimes described as having coarse hair, but sometimes described as hairless. They have hiding places and only emerge from them to consume human flesh. They are weakened and made sick by sunlight, so they only hunt at night. They are relentless in hunting prey once they’ve set their sights on something. They are virtually indestructible aside from their weakness to the sun. The best…
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Salvager Sucker
The Salvager Sucker is a strange fish from Lumberjack Folklore which is considered rare and endangered. They are found in the water of Discovery Bay in the Puget Sound. They measure two feet long with powerful fins, and a tail that moves up and down. They notably have a growth like a suction cup just below the mouth. They use these growths to produce a suction so strong it creates a seal that can only be broken with dynamite. With this seal, it makes strong movements through the water and can lift incredibly heavy objects out of the water. It’s believed they can be trained by tying a rope to…
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Rawhead/Tommy Rawhead/Bloody Bones
The Rawhead is a creature known from British and US folklore, commonly the American Midwest. Stories of this creature are thought to have originated in Britain or Celtic myth. It’s used as a bogeyman figure, and often seen as a companion to Bloody-Bones with them sometimes being seen as two parts of the same entity. One is a headless skeleton that dances, and the other is a skull that bites people. It’s described as very ugly with blood constantly pouring from the mouth. Sometimes it’s described as a tall figure in a black cloak. In the Pacific Northwest it sometimes appears as a cloud of green fog. It is thought to…
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Rattlerrabbit
The Rattlerrabbit is a creature from the Mimbre Valley of the American Southwest. It’s thought to have lived there 1000 years ago, and it’s now presumed to be extinct. It has the “scientific name” Lepus casteneta. It has the body of a rabbit all the way down to the waist and a big rattlesnake tail. It is very obscure and is only known through Native American pottery. Citations: Wyman, Walker Demarquis. Mythical Creatures of the U.S.A. and Canada. United States, University of Wisconsin-River Falls Press, 1978.=
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Oomph
The Oomph is a weird creature that comes from Lumberjack Folklore. It goes by the “scientific” name Ranaincumbramentum alvinshwartzi. They are sneaky creatures that are difficult to catch, and eat eggs they find in bird nests. They are roughly the size of a dog, appear to be a hybrid of lizard and toad, with long claws, sharp spines along their backs, and large spots all over their body. They are named after the sound that it makes when finding bird nests, which sounds like ‘oomph oomph.’ Citations: Yarns of the Big Woods, Written and Illustrated by Art Childs
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Sizzerbill
The Sizzerbill is a creature from Lumberjack folklore from Minnesota and Wisconsin. They have the scientific name Fortesrostrum coxi. They’re rare creatures becoming even rarer, and they’re thought to be half bird and half some other animal. They hang around reeds and marshy riverbanks, keeping themselves hidden from sight. When they see a fish struggling on a line they use their scissor-like beaks to cut the line and free the fish. Citations: Yarns of the Big Woods, Written and Illustrated by Art Childs
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Log Gar
The Log Gar is a fish from Lumberjack Folklore. It has saw-like teeth. They can cut through anything in the water and cut off limbs immediately. They will go through anything to kill prey. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016. Rose, Carol. Giants Monsters and Dragons: An Encyclopedia Of Folklore Legend And Myth. United Kingdom, WW Norton, 2001.
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Landlocked Walrus
The Landlocked Walrus is a creature from Lumberjack Folklore in Maine. It has the “scientific name” Odobenus rosmarus var. chesuncookia. It’s described as smaller than the oceanic walrus and lives in freshwater in the region of Chesuncook Lake. It’s thought they became trapped in this area during the ice age. They are typically thought to be more dangerous than the typical walrus due to having less marine territory. They have been known to attack people and capsize boats with their tusks, or break through the ice to attack those walking on it. They are rare and not often seen, with them being seen as likely extinct now. Citations: Packard, Christopher.…
