Timberdoodle - [Fearsome Critters]

Timberdoodle - [Fearsome Critter]- aka: 'Timmerdoodle'

• About this critter: a small vaguely described, dangerous creature originating from Pennsylvania. With large round eyes and an even bigger bite. Lumberjacks had their bums bitten when they were least expecting it. The creatures bites where so savage that that their jaws would lock and not let go for months, until it was surprised by the sudden sound of thunder! 

• History & early appearances: Earliest published description of 'Timberdoodle' (at least in the context of lumber-lore & Fearsome Critters) is found in 1939's 'Fearsome Critters' by Henry H Tyron. Unlike the bulk of the entries in the book, his wife did not illustrate the critter and Tyron only included a single line about it in his introduction along side other 'Creatures of limited range & description' such as the 'Cross-feathered-Snee, Celofay, Snow-Worms, Linkumsluice, Pamola, Wunk, Wympsis, Whopperknocker and the Will-am-alone among a few others. The short, one line description goes as follows:

"The Timberdoodle of Pennsylvania, which bites savagely and won’t thereafter open his jaws until he hears thunder."

of course in the 100 or so years since its earliest mention, the critter has had plenty more descriptions & embellishments, a few are as follows:

In 1969s Gillygaloos and Gollywoppers, Ennis Rees wrote a quick poem about hunting the timberdoodle, along side was an spot illustration by Sir Quentin Blake; oddly, the poem does not mention the creature biting, but it does seem to conflate critters lore with another popular critter known as the 'Luferlang' [a donkey-like critter that bites once a year and is afraid of its own reflection, more on that one another time.] moving on…

yet another illustration of a Timberdoodle was included nearly 10 years later, in 1978s; 'KnickleSnifters and other Fearsome Critters' by Alvin Swartz. the timberdoodle there included was looking rather plump; something that I'd describe as a; 'Chubby mangy dog mixed with something like a komodo lizard?' –

Here Swartz adds "Mule Mcsneed" into the equation, which is quite interesting as 'Mcsneed' seems to be a regular in his critters stories (in the same book he also has Mule replace the man who captures the Pennyslvanian Squonk.) Oddly other sources also change the name to 'Sam Mcsneed' and claim him to be a mainstay in Pennyslvanian folklore. (other stories i've come across have this 'sam' being chased by Hoopsnakes, capturing the Squonk etc.) weather or not this 'Mcsneed' is key to finding out about the timmerdoodles origins is sadly unknown as i have yet to find any articles books or stories that mention this folk hero in depth: I'd suppose that's a bit of a tangent, and perhaps its not as important as the pleasant alliteration which is the point to the name  I'd assume that Mcsneed is a buddy of Bunyan's in essence.

One much more recent illustration of the Timberdoodle is found is in 2015's "Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods" by "Hal Johnson" (pen name) with a cute, "puppy esc" timberdoodle, illustrated by 'Tom Mead' - in the story its key to defeating the 'many armed gumberoo' by biting it. - [The 2015 book is a re-imagining of the fearsome critters into the modern horror genre, which sounds great in theory... However, since it was published, the books illustrations have appeared on so many cryptidz wiki articles that as a researcher on the subject, it has only left a sour taste in my mouth & has become something of a pet peeve: These articles give many their first impressions on critters, & often announce the pictures as "the critters are they are now!" rather than crediting the original sources or giving a proper date, which is both inaccurate and has caused some confusion for illustrators less familiar with the lore, trying to find reliable reference of these monsters or their original descriptions. In past, I've spent hours trying to edit the pages, but i just haven't the energy to fix every article on that damned site, nor do I feel is it worth the effort anymore, i hope my bios do something to raise awareness…but i digress.]

-[an example taken from the timberdoodles cryptidz wiki page]

Of course, if you search 'Timberdoodle' or 'Timberdoodle Cryptid' online today, the main results that come up are those which mention the actual bird: Woodcocks, which somewhat Ironically are relatives to Snipes.) - Of course, down the same vein of internet history, a short poem about the timberdoodle is also included on Lumberwoods lenwoods lexicon. [2019] which has also unfortunately been copy pasta'd & stolen across the web.

a few more folkloric foot notes to end on: Interestingly, it seems the "releases its bite during the clap of thunderstorms" is a parallel found in southern snapping turtle lore. - [see also 'storm snappers'] - of course; 'something that bites you and wont ever let go' is also a trope found widely in folk-stories and nursery rhymes - [see also 'The Yipiyuk'] - being bitten in general is a core fear, so i wouldn't be surprised if creatures like this one date back eons - I believe it was it Both Pit-bulls and Tigers that both get "lockjaw" when they bite, so there's your real world equals, having a persistent lil critter that wont let go, makes for a fun creature! 

Ultimately, Timberdoodles are seemingly 'not that deep of a critter.' just a few old-ish books to their name (as many critters are.) - I'd assume that its likely origin is in snipe hunting [knowing how common that type of prank was across penyslvania, (a couple good examples are both the Squonk and the Albatwitch.)] around the turn of the century; so, I'd like to imagine that the Timmerdoodle as a 'scary snipe' that hung on through history by the skin of it's teeth!' – in the end, lacking a proper description at the earliest mention available, i felt that a combination of the above felt best - But eh, who knows! - perhaps someday someone local will one day stumble upon another early mention of 'Timmerdoodles or Sam/Mule Mcsneed' in their library that might describe it as something completely different...

[Art sticker by @SamKalensky, part of my fearsome critters collection of stickers follow and support for many more!]