Hidebehind

Overview

A fearsome critter from American lumberjack folklore that always hides behind the nearest object, making it impossible to observe directly; used to explain unexplained disappearances of loggers in the deep woods.

Details

Origin:

Reported throughout the lumber-camp belt of North America: the upper Midwest (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota), the Pacific Northwest, New England, and adjacent parts of Canada.

Regions:

Upper Midwest, Pacific Northwest, New England, Appalachian Mountains, Boreal forest

First Reported:

Late 19th century

Full Account

The hidebehind is a creature from the 'fearsome critters' tradition of late-19th- and early-20th-century North American lumber camps. By definition impossible to see — the moment a person turns to look, the hidebehind darts behind the nearest tree, stump, or stone — it serves both as occupational humour and as a mock-folkloric explanation for loggers who walked into the woods alone and never came back. According to the published tales, the creature is nocturnal, preys on lumberjacks, subsists chiefly on the intestines of its victims, and has a strong aversion to alcohol, which is therefore considered an effective repellent. The story is documented most prominently in Henry H. Tryon's 1939 collection Fearsome Critters and in Walker D. Wyman's 1978 Mythical Creatures of the USA and Canada. The hidebehind belongs to a broader corpus of fearsome critters — including the agropelter, hodag, hugag, hoopsnake, splintercat, squonk, sidehill gouger, and wampus cat — invented or elaborated in lumber camps as initiation pranks for greenhorns and as set-pieces of campfire storytelling.

Also Known As

• Hide-behind (North American lumber camps)
• Behinder (Appalachian variants)

Etymology

Origin:

American English, lumberjack camp slang of the late 19th to early 20th century, from the creature's defining behaviour of hiding behind objects.

Meaning:

Literal compound: a thing that hides behind.

First Use:

Documented in lumberjack tall-tale traditions; appears in Henry H. Tryon's Fearsome Critters (1939).

Timeline

• 1939-01-01 — Henry H. Tryon publishes Fearsome Critters (Idlewild Press, Cornwall, NY), with an entry on the hidebehind (Establishes the modern canonical description of the creature)
• 1978-01-01 — Walker D. Wyman publishes Mythical Creatures of the USA and Canada (University of Wisconsin – River Falls Press) (Reintroduces the hidebehind to mid-20th-century academic folklore study)

Sightings & Evidence

Cultural Significance

Treated as humorous folklore rather than a sincere belief; the comedic premise is precisely that the creature's existence can never be confirmed.

Related Phenomena

• Agropelter — Fearsome critter that hurls branches at passing lumberjacks
• Splintercat — Fearsome critter said to shatter trees by ramming them
• Wampus cat — Elusive feline cryptid of Appalachian and lumber-camp folklore
• Squonk — Self-pitying fearsome critter said to dissolve into tears when cornered
• Hodag — Wisconsin fearsome critter associated with lumber-camp tall tales

Tags

Sources

• Hidebehind — Wikipedia
• Fearsome Critters — Idlewild Press, Cornwall, New York
• Mythical Creatures of the USA and Canada — University of Wisconsin – River Falls Press