Collection: Fearsome Critters & North American Tall Tales.

A Bestiary of forgotten folklore, critters and monsters from North America (& Canada.) -‘Fearsome critters’ are by definition: creatures of Folklore, tall tales, yarns & other oral traditions, typically from the United States and Canada - They are the legends of Woodsmen, usually told ‘round the campfire by guides of the North, lumberjacks, hunters & fishermen around the turn of the last century, often for entertainment or to haze newcomers & naive tender-footed city folk, as such, many consider these creatures as "jokes",  "hoaxes”, "pranks" or even sneered at by some as "fakelore." - But: if you consider them only as bold-faced lies, well... you'd better start believing!! - as a matter of fact: Many of these critters have real-world locations named after them, are used in part as long-lasting figures of speech, were exploited in advertisements for big companies, a few of them are still proudly flaunted as local mascots today, and a few of them even have museums and festivals dedicated to them, attracting needed tourism & bringing attention to the areas they hail from!  Their 'sightings & stories' were quite often published in historical documents, magazines, newspapers & books, and few of them even have toys, games, poems & dedicated songs. - however ridiculous they may seem or odd they may appear, they are every bit a part of our collective culturesas the 'more established' monsters & mythologies of old are. - Most notably: President Teddy Rosevelt [1858 – 1919] hunted both 'the Arizona hodag' and expressed interest in hunting 'The Maryland Snallygaster' - Another notable fact is that japanese folklorist 'Shigeru Mizuki'  [1922–2015] classified the critter known as the "Pennyselvania squonk" as an example of an "American YokaI" in one of his many yokai encyclopedias! - so, all of that said: There is indeed some overlap between mythology, folklore, culture, cryptids & critters, and if these creatures were ever actually believed in at one point (even in jest) then one could very well consider them to be 'Cryptids of Yesteryear.' - [I also list a few modern examples.] - I'd like to note that my inclusion of critters next to the cryptids, is not necessarily intended to 'prove' (or disprove) these critters existences, but to at least bring some awareness to long forgotten lore to these 'mythological underdogs' which have been frequently overlooked, or lost to the annals of time.)