mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
It’s not always fun to introduce visitors to your local flora and fauna. Dealing with tourists can be a real chore. So the habit of pulling their legs a bit can be a welcome bit of fun. It goes on all over the world, so when you are traveling, be aware that there may be a bit of poking fun going on …especially if you’re told of a scary local animal to beware.
A Snipe (Gallinago naivitus) is the classic animal used for practical jokes, as in the snipe hunt. The person upon who the joke is played is convinced to hold a bag while the others chase the snipe into it. Variations include using ridiculous methods of attracting and/or chasing the snipe. In the end, the patsy is left all alone for however long they will stay put. The term “left holding the bag” may have arisen from this trick. The snipe is supposedly a very difficult animal to shoot, therefore, a crack shot is called a “sniper.” However, the word snipe refers to around 20 species of real wading birds.
The Drop Bear (Phascolarctos carnivorous) is a truly scary animal. A marsupial native to Australia, it is a vicious carnivore that attacks its prey by hiding high in a tree and dropping onto unsuspecting tourists. Photos of a drop bear show a startling resemblence to a koala, which is how the sneaky beasts fool you into standing under their trees. See the Drop Bear in action in this video starring Peter Holt.
The Hodag (Bovinus spiritualis) is a ferocious animal native to Wisconsin. The black hodag was first discovered in 1893 and is the largest of the several hodag species. It has two horns and a series of spikes along its spine. There are also the sidehill dodge hodag, the cave hodag, and the shovel-nose hodag. See a video about a hodag sighting here.
More fearsome creatures, after the jump.
The Jackalope (Lagomorpha fantasticus) is a cross between a rabbit and an antelope (or sometimes a goat or deer). Jackalopes only mate during electrical storms. They can be caught by using whiskey as bait, which will render them easier to sneak up on. Jackalope milk is suposed to have medicinal qualities. The German version is called the Wolpertinger (Crisensus bavaricus), which has wings. The legend of the jackalope may have come from sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope papillomavirus, which causes hornlike growths.
The Hoop Snake (Serpentus circulus) is native to the American west, although it has also been claimed by Pennsylvania and Australia. This snake has the ability to bite its tail and form a circle, then roll like a wheel, enabling it to chase people much faster than they can run away. It has a poisonous stinger in its tail, which can kill on contact. The only reliable sightings have been in carnival sideshows. See a video of a hoop snake in action here.
The Wild Haggis (Haggis scoticus) is native to Scotland. Their distinctive feature is that the four legs are different lengths. There are two species, one with longer legs on the left, the other with longer legs on the right. They cannot interbreed, because the male loses his balance attempting to mate. You can tell the male haggis from the female because the male only runs on a clockwise direction, and the female runs counterclockwise. Haggis is also a traditional Scottish entree (shown on the right).
The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus (Octopus paxarbolis) is an amphibious creature native to the Olympic National Forest in Washington State. The octopus is an endangered species, with an organization devoted to its survival. The site has been used in studies to determine how easily people believe what they see on the internet.
Ice Worms (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) are real. Scientists have studied them for years. That hasn’t stopped them from also becoming a hoax used to impress tourists in the northern regions. The Ballad of the Ice Worm Cocktail by Robert Service established the ice worm as a myth, and bars in Alaska and Canada still serve ice worm cocktails containing a piece of cooked spaghetti. The town of Cordova, Alaska has an Ice Worm Festival every February.
This list is far from inclusive. Are there other local animal legends you can add?
Comments (29)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
The Beavershark. Half Beaver, Half Shark it can be found in the lake at Camp Rainy Mtn. in Clayton, GA USA. (It’s a Boy Scout Camp) They even have a stuffed version in the lodge (which kids are not allowed into) over the mantelpiece.
posted by John (Grasping for the Wind) on 9-13-2007 at 6:32 am
The Jersey Devil – I grew up in the pine barrens of New Jersey, and in sixth grade during a school camping trip, they showed us a video showing this terrifying creature that lives in the woods in that area (most likely to keep us from sneaking out of our tents at night). It’s something like a mix between a warthog and the Tasmanian Devil.
posted by Julie on 9-13-2007 at 6:57 am
The Hodag is great. My mom grew up in Rhinelander, WI, where the story originated. I guess the story goes that the hodag eats only white bull dogs on full moon nights. The Hodag was supposed to scare the new loggers back when the area was a lumber hot-shot. They’re highschool mascot is now the hodag.
posted by Amy on 9-13-2007 at 7:06 am
What about Manbearpig? To quote Al Gore (as imitated on SouthPark), “it’s half man, half bear, and half pig… Why doesn’t anyone believe me?!? I’m super-serial you guys!!”
posted by Andrew on 9-13-2007 at 7:41 am
What, no chupacabra?
posted by Lebetho on 9-13-2007 at 8:24 am
I agree, the chupacabra (goatsucker) should be represented here.
posted by jenny on 9-13-2007 at 8:45 am
Chupacabra, as road kill, has been identified recently in northern Mexico. CNN ran a series on it, although I don’t have the site. Biologists think it’s an inbred dog. Ugly fu##er.
Growing up in the SouthWest I would have mentioned the jackalope, but somebody beat me to it.
posted by Doc on 9-13-2007 at 10:22 am
Down here in FL, lurking in the vast swamps and the Everglades lies the Skunk Ape. This creature is said to look like bigfoot and smell REALLY bad. The only problem is the only people to see it are drunken gator hunters and fishermen.
posted by melissa b on 9-13-2007 at 11:08 am
The county fair my family went to when I was young always had a hunting booth where they hung a “jackalope” head (a rabbit head with antlers glued to it), right next to the deer’s butt with googly eyes glued on it (with the tail representing the nose). Rather grisly.
posted by Elsa on 9-13-2007 at 12:17 pm
I come from the home of the jackalope, well almost. It’s DEFINITELY NOT a Texas thing, or a Southwest thing. They stole it. Us Wyomingites have very few things to be famous for, but jackalope is definitely one of them.
posted by Laura on 9-13-2007 at 12:32 pm
The Northwest: Bigfoot, Wendigo (Large hairy humanoid)
Mojave Desert, California/Arizona: Phantasma Colorado “Red Ghost” (Big red camel)
Southwest: Chupacabra “Goat Sucker” (Strange bloodsucking creature/thing)
The Wild Haggis sounds similar to the Guyascutus (spelling?) (goat like creature) which has longer legs on one side to walk around hills.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head for local animal legends…
posted by Jason! on 9-13-2007 at 12:36 pm
The Mountain Sidewinder: looks similar to a badger, and lives in caves at the tops of mountains. Comes out every morning, and has to walk the entire way around the mountain in one direction. You know, because the left legs are 1/2 the length of the right ones (because of the slope of the mountain).
posted by oregoncoastgirl on 9-13-2007 at 2:08 pm
The Mountain Naga- a goat like animal with longer legs on one side to as to keep their balace in the Alps. This unfortunate animal was hunted for its hide which was very popular in the 70’s- Nagahide.
posted by Ashley Daily on 9-13-2007 at 5:10 pm
For the record, the chupacabra was first seen in Puerto Rico, not the American Southwest.
posted by arbitraryboricua on 9-13-2007 at 7:15 pm
The drop bear’s best video appearance was in an ad for Bundaberg Rum. Search youtube for ‘bundy drop bear’
posted by Jase on 9-13-2007 at 7:36 pm
Thanks, Jase, that was hilarious! I posted it at Miss C Recommends.
misscellania.blogspot.com/2007/09/drop-bear.html
posted by Miss Cellania on 9-13-2007 at 8:41 pm
Churubusco, Indiana has a legend of a giant snapping turtle that terrorized the town. They now have Turtle days regularly.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beast_of_Busco
posted by Steph Mineart on 10-15-2007 at 6:11 am
We had a couple of rabbits with Shope papillomavirus living around our house two years ago. It was pretty weird, and I was concerned that our outdoor cat could get infected. They seem to have disappeared, though, so I assume that they died from the virus.
posted by Jenn on 8-16-2008 at 6:59 pm
Oh come on. What about the wompus cat? The terrible creature that stalks hikers and campers and is identified by it’s mating call “WOMP!” Indigenous to south western Louisiana and other adjacent areas
posted by fred on 9-18-2008 at 6:26 am
The Loveland Frog from Loveland, Ohio.
posted by Mickey on 9-18-2008 at 12:53 pm
I grew up in the U.P. of Michigan, and now live in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Every time I go home, I drive through Rhinelander, WI and noticed that they have pictures of the hodag everywhere! I’ve always wondered about the story, but never got around to looking it up. How interesting!
posted by Ophelia on 12-2-2008 at 1:04 pm
Thanks to a report on drop bears, which my friend Laura mistook as an actual koala, she is terrified, to this day, of koala bears. She thinks they are vicious, clawing animals who only remain mellow because of the tranquilizer-like effects of eucalyptus.
posted by Chelsea on 2-10-2009 at 10:55 am
In southern Illinois, the Piasa bird is a legend. The name is normal, but the creature is not.
posted by Dustin Fritsche on 2-10-2009 at 12:19 pm
Click on my name in the post above to see information about the legend.
posted by Dustin Fritsche on 2-10-2009 at 12:23 pm
we have furbearing trout in colorado,
called,,FURBEARING TROUT!!!
posted by oldbear on 2-10-2009 at 6:24 pm
The wompus cat is an Arkansas thing, too.
It’s the mascot for Conway High School.
A wompus cat is like a cougar only it has six legs. “Four to run at the speed of light and two to fight with all it’s might.”
posted by SpecialAgentBaker on 2-11-2009 at 12:43 am
The Australian drop bear is the most dangerious creature ever…..
they love attacking tourists and have no fear of man…..
they have the same bite force as a pitbull and would have a go at anything if it is disturbed….
A lot of greenpeace people have gone missing and have never been seen again……
come to Australia if you dare…..
posted by Spud on 6-10-2009 at 1:15 am
Sorry Ashley Daily. Seems you’re wrong about Naugahide.
Naugahyde is a well known and established brand of artificial leather (”pleather”), made from vinyl polymer coated plastic. The product was developed by Uniroyal Engineered Products and is now manufactured and sold by a division of the same company, the Naugahyde Company. Its name comes from the Borough of Naugatuck, Connecticut, where it was first produced.
posted by Sheila on 8-4-2009 at 1:35 pm
Sheila, the early ad campaign for Naugahyde referred to the Nauga that had to be hunted for its hide. It was a fun little tall tale that we of a certain age tell our children.
posted by Miss Cellania on 8-4-2009 at 1:56 pm