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Succarath

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  The succarath, also known as the su, was a monster Andre Thevet reported from Patagonia. The beast was described as having a very short face, similar to either that of a human or a cat. It had a red beard and lion like mane. The body was very skinny, with a deep chest in the front and narrowing to the back. The tail was very bushy and held over its back. The succarath carried its young on its back and sheltered them with its tail. The creature had long legs for running, and was quite quick and agile. The succarath was a carnivore and a capable hunter, comparable to a large cat. While Andre Thevet was the first person to write about the succarath, he wasn’t the only one. Other explorers such as Conrad Fore, Ambroise Pare and Juan Eusebio Nieremberg all mentioned the succarath. Each of these explorers all write about the succarath as a completely natural animal, and not hearsay from local legend. It was said that the local Tehuelche natives would hunt the succarath for its...
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La Crosse Man Bat and Medford Flying Lizard Man

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 Wisconsin is known for many cryptid sightings. Most famously the beast of Bray Road, one of the most famous dogman sightings. Although Wisconsin is also home to bigfoot, lake monsters, and even dragons, the latter I have covered in this blog before. Two other monsters which are occasionally sighted in Wisconsin are lizard men, which are far more famous from the Scape Ore swamp of South Carolina, and giant bat human hybrids, the most famous being Batsquatch of Washington state. While these cryptids may be more commonly associated to other places, Wisconsin still has their share of them. And unique to Wisconsin is what appears to be a hybrid of the two, a winged lizard man.  Medford Flying Lizard Man  In 1997, sometime at night, a warden for the DNR was driving along highway 13, south of Medford. There he saw a reptilian humanoid standing right in the middle of the road. The creature was as tall as an above average human, had no clothing, scaly skin and slitted reptilian e...
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Ninki Nanka

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  The Ninki Nanka is a river monster from west Africa, especially Gambia. It’s an important figure in the Mandinka people’s mythology. The Ninki Nanka has varying appearances from place to place. Sometimes it’s snake like with a horse’s head, other times it had legs but is completely reptilian and dragon like. One variation that, which has become how the Ninki Nanka is mainly known by outsiders, is that of a horse headed, giraffe necked reptile with an unusual arrangement of horns on its head and a mane done its neck. The exact arrangement of horns varies, but its usually drawn with two horns on the back of its head and a unicorn like horn on the front. The Ninki Nanka has colourful and reflective scales that allow this massive creature camouflage and hide easily. The Ninki Nanka is said to live in bodies of water, whether that be rivers, swamps or mangroves, and is most active during the rainy season. Much like the basilisk, the Ninki Nanka is said to have a deadly gaze, anyo...
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Hagg Worm

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 The hagg worm was a type of flying serpent found in Cumbria, in England. It’s considered a dragon, but most acknowledge it’s quite different from the typical idea of a dragon. They didn’t breath fire like a normal dragon, and they may have been venomous, but it’s never mentioned. These creatures were large hairy, flying snakes. It’s never said whether they flew on feathered or bat like wings, but the more ghoulish option the better. The exact size of these flying serpents is never stated, but they are large enough to swallow magpies in one quick gulp like a swallow catching flies. And large enough to be a threat to people. You might hear the name hagg and immediately think of hags, those hideous old crones from Scottish legend who would eat children. Although the word hagg is from old English, meaning swamp, and was later applied to both hags and the hagg worms, because that’s where they lived. Specifically, the hagg worms lived in the forested swamps outside of the town of Ar...
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Campe

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   Campe was a primordial monster and guardian of Tartarus in Greek mythology. She appears in the Titanomachy. Campe’s name means twisting or crooked one. She was known as the nymph of Tartarus. Campe is described as one of the more confusing monsters from Greek mythology. She had the qualities of several other monsters mixed together. Campe had the head and torso of a human woman, albeit covered in reptilian scales. She had snakes for hair like Medusa. She had eagles talons for hands and wings as black as the night, alternatively wings like the sphinx. Her hips were wreathed in the heads of animals, similar to Scylla, but instead of dogs it was an assembly of every fearsome and vicious animal possible. She had snakes for legs like Echidna, specifically it was said Campe had one hundred snakes for legs. Finally Campe had a scorpions tail, which she held high over her head. It’s unknown if she was supposed to be beautiful apart from her monstrous features or a hideous hag. ...
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Mississippi Monster

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  The Mississippi monster is one of those old time cryptid stories that appeared in 19 th century news papers. And like many of these stories it pushes the limits of what can be believed. Although I find this monster in particular pushes those limits more than most. Stories like the Swan Valley monster had a bizarre creature that defies biology, but only a small number of witnesses and ultimately the creature didn’t do very much. The Ape Canyon attack has lots of action and damage, which should leave a paper trail of police reports and insurance claims that can be verified if someone where to look deep enough, but involves big foot, one of the more reasonable cryptids to exist. The Mississippi monster involves both a confounding monster that is like nothing else alive, and over the top damage, which should be able to be verified by its own paper trail. However the story takes place long enough ago that such things like insurance claims and repair reports of company owned ships wo...
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Slide Rock Bolter

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   The slide rock bolter is a fearsome critter from Colorado. It’s whale like in shape and size, in spite of being an entirely land based creature. On the ends of its tail fins are hooks that allow it to grab onto mountain ridges. It has tiny eyes and a large gaping mouth, much like a sculpin. The bolter also constantly drools out an oily slippery saliva that surrounds it. The slide rock bolter lives only on the steepest cliff sides, ones that are over 45 degrees. There it remains in wait, hanging high up on the cliff side watchful for its prey. The slide rock bolter’s primary prey is tourists, although it will eat practically any creature it catches unaware. When it spots prey in the valley bellow it lets go of the cliff with its tail hooks and slides down the side of the mountain like an avalanche, flattening anything in its way and leave and trail of destruction. Helping the slide rock bolter slide down the hillside is the ample drool it left behind before, as this a...
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