Ozark Howler

Overview

A regional cryptid of the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri, described as a stocky, bear-sized animal with a shaggy black coat, glowing eyes, prominent horns, and a distinctive howling cry.

Details

Origin:

Reports concentrate in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, with occasional reports from adjacent Oklahoma and eastern Texas.

Regions:

Ozark Mountains, Northern Arkansas, Southern Missouri, Eastern Oklahoma

First Reported:

1800s

Full Account

The Ozark Howler is a cryptid in the folklore of the Ozark Mountains, principally reported in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, with occasional reports from Oklahoma and eastern Texas. Tradition describes the creature as bear-sized and stocky, with a shaggy dark coat, prominent horns and glowing eyes, and a long mournful howl that gives it its name. Most documented reports date from the 20th and early 21st centuries, though enthusiasts trace the lineage of the legend to a tale that the frontiersman Daniel Boone killed an unfamiliar large hairy animal in the region in the late 18th century. The Howler has remained a regional rather than national cryptid; mainstream wildlife authorities have not endorsed any of the claimed evidence. A widely circulated set of 2015 photographs submitted to an Arkansas television station was identified by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as a hoax. The phenomenon is treated by folklorists as a piece of regional Ozark legend and tall-tale tradition rather than as evidence of an undescribed mammal.

Also Known As

• Ozark Black Howler (Arkansas / Missouri, USA)
• Howler (Ozark Mountains)
• Hoo-Hoo (Ozark Mountains)

Etymology

Origin:

The English name refers to the creature's signature long, mournful howl.

Meaning:

'Howler' from the reported nocturnal cry; 'Ozark' from the mountain region in which it is reported.

First Use:

Mid-to-late 20th century, in regional folklore and cryptozoology literature.

Timeline

• 1990s — Ozark Howler reports proliferate on early cryptozoology websites and regional media (Crystallization of the modern legend)
• 2014-10-01 — A motorist in Springdale, Arkansas reports nearly colliding at night with a bear-sized, gray, fast-running animal on Pump Station Road (One of few reports referred to state wildlife officers)
• 2015-12-01 — Arkansas television station 40/29 News receives photographs purported to show the Ozark Howler (Arkansas Game and Fish Commission reviews the images and concludes they are a hoax)

Sightings & Evidence

Cultural Significance

In regional folklore the Howler is treated as an omen creature; its cry is considered an ill portent in some Ozark traditions.

Related Phenomena

• Wampus Cat — Southern Appalachian cryptid felid sharing folkloric features
• Fearsome critters of North American lumberwoods — Tradition of regional tall-tale animals to which the Howler is sometimes assigned
• Eastern North American 'black panther' reports — Reports of large, dark-coated felids in the eastern US, sometimes conflated with Howler accounts

Tags

Sources

• Ozark Howler — Wikipedia
• Meet the Ozark Howler, the South's Most Cryptic Cryptid — Garden & Gun
• Arkansas Game and Fish Commission identifies submitted Ozark Howler photographs as a hoax — 40/29 News (Arkansas)