Racoonigator - [Fearsome Critter]

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Racoonigator - [fearsome critter/cryptid] - aka 'Coonigator'

• About this Critter: a hybrid of a Raccoon & an Alligator. Rather small and varmint-like, often said to be seen rooting through trash in Montpelier, Vermont, Texas. From a distance it looks like a regular ol' raccoon until it turns around, revealing a horribly toothy grin.

• History: not much was ever written about the 'coonigator' prior to the “The Monster Spotters Guide to North America" – [ Francis Scott July, 2007] - The book refers to them breifly as such along with an illustration:

“Not much is known about these strange animals. According to reports they look like something out of the movie ‘Critters,’ resembling raccoon in both appearance and behaviour, except that they have fearsome alligator‑like faces.”

...There are no other accounts of this critter to be found in earlier literature (at least that I can find.) so, perhaps it's something the author heard of firsthand. - (He also used “fearsome” & “critters” in the same sentence, perhaps a joke referring to folkloric fearsome critters.)

Most scientists know for a fact that cross-breeding between mammals and reptiles is biologically impossible: so it's most often theorized to be more than likely the result of people mistaking a raccoon, for an opossum & their long snout for that of an 'gators.

By those standards & because of the uncertainty surrounding this creature's origins I'd categorize this as a 'Fearsome Critter' rather than as a "cryptid" proper. - One should also note that there are plenty of 'gator-animal hybrids to be found in rogue taxidermy, such as the “Bassigator” & the “Crocidog” these fall under the 'critters' umbrella as well.

/Edit 2024:/ at this point feels worth noting that there seems to be a folkloric subset of modern hoax-Cryptids, that are actually just run of the mill varmints that startle people who are taking out in the trash: Such biologically improbable "Trashbin-Chimeras™" are usually created in an attempt at creating humorous folklore or are otherwise a simple case of mistaken identity. - A couple others which fall into this category include the the Kentucky "Girraffe-Possom", as well as the Texan Skunkadillo, of course you could also extend this phenomena and say that it goes back as far as the Jackalope, Cooncat & even Jinmenken too. - If There's a 'monster under the stairs' then there's definitely a similar phenomena when taking out the trash, what people see can vary depending where they live.

sticker art by samkalensky part of my fearsome critters and cryptids collection of stickers, check my shop and follow for many more!