The Ax-Handle Hound - [Fearsome Critter]

“The Ax-Handle Hound” - (Latn: Canis Consumens) - [Fearsome Critter]

• About this Critter: A small canine-like critter resembling a dachshund - but with a hatchet shaped face: it wanders between Lumber-camps at night, eating the axe’s handles that lumberjacks where careless to leave out. These wild hounds are considered the bane of suppliers as They’re known to eat entire crates of axe’s in one sitting!! 🪓

• History:  The Axe-handle hound was most famously included in Henry H Tyrons "Fearsome Critters" [1939] The critter was also, earlier included among those in "Yarns of the big woods" [published in news articles 1922-1925] (see attached article.) by game warden, Art Childs - The entry goes as follows:

 

    The bane of supply and depot camps Northern logging operations. Has a head shaped like Peavy axe. The body is slender and axe-handle shaped, with short stumpy legs. Looks a good deal like a dachshund but really bears a closer resemblance to B. B. Bickford’s bureau dog.
    Distinctly a nocturnal prowler. Frequents the camps after nightfall hunting for axe and peavy handles, of which it is voracious fond. One hound has been known to consume two boxes of DB handles and sixteen six-foot peavy stocks in one night's eating. They make nice pets, but are costly to feed Jim Peters once tamed one. That was short-sighted, because Jim had a wooden leg made from an axe-helve. The only way he could keep his leg whole was to wear it to bed. But he got rid of the pup by feeding it red oak handles, Which it dislikes as heartily as any experienced chopper.

Once, a man named ‘Jim Peters’ was said to have once tamed an axe handle hound in an attempt to domesticate the species: however that was quite short sighted, because the man also had a wooden leg: you can imagine what happened. - He ended up ‘getting rid’ of the pup by feeding it "red oak handles." – “Which it disliked as heartily as any experienced chopper.” - Apparently they’re picky eaters and will only eat the finest handles." - ‘Red Oak’ is apparently sometimes said to make for cheap axe handles, while White Oak or Elm with a tighter grain makes for a finer quality and is the ideal handle of the "serious" lumberjacks choice! - [The small bit of tool related research I did says that the material difference between the two is actually quite minimal, so the preference is usually personal, i suppose that this could very well be another level of Lumberjacks hazing each other. 😂]

--it seems that the creature might be based around the fact that in real life, porcupines are known to nibble on wooden tools, because they have a salt deficiency. - So, we at least know that something really was eating the axe handles!!

This critter is often said to be most popularly encountered in Minnesota and Wisconsin lumber camps - In Minnesota, down the Little Fork River near Voyageurs National Park and very close to Linden Grove, there is an out of the way ‘canoe access’ campground which is named after this critter: perhaps if you camp there (and bring along an axe as bait) you’ll be lucky and meet one. [I’m a bit sad that there’s very few pictures of the area online (aside from the road pic (below) on google maps.) so if you’re local to the area, maybe you could visit & post about it sometime!]

Sticker Art by @Samkalensky (yo thats me!) - Part of my Fearsome critters/Cryptids sticker collection, weather resistant 4" sticker. Check my shop & follow @samkalensky for many more!