Wisconsin
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Washington County Goat Man
The Washington County Goat Man is a cryptid sighted in Washington County, Wisconsin, specifically in the town of Erin. The origin of this creature comes from the time of the Civil War. According to the story, a veteran was driving a covered wagon with his wife on Hogsback Road. An axle broke on the wagon and the man went to fix it while his wife waited inside for several hours. She heard growling and suspected a wolf or bear, and looked out to see a large upright creature covered in shaggy dark hair and with the head of a goat. She hid in the wagon until sunrise when she peeked…
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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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Hodag/Black Hodag
The Hodag is a well known creature from Lumberjack Folklore. They live in the swamps of West Virginia and Wisconsin. They have horns and spikes on their bodies and are often depicted with a crazed grin. Sometimes they have the head of a bull with a human face, short legs, clawed feet, a humped back like a dinosaur, and a prehensile serpentine tail ending in an arrowhead. Some describe them as chimerical hybrids of a frog, lizard, and mammoth. They eat wildlife, often feed on turtles, snakes, and muskrats from nearby swamps, and sometimes also eat humans. They smell so bad that people have been known to faint when they…
