Agropelter - (1910)
Fearsome Critters - (1939)
The Argopelter, also known as Agropelter (Anthrocephalus craniofractens) is a fearsome critter said to inhabit hollow trees of the conifer woods from Maine to Oregon. It doesn't like anything crossing its path or coming into its territory. If they come close enough, it will hurl wood splinters and branches at the intruder. Some have described the creature as a hairy humanoid similar to Sasquatch, but slightly smaller. However, the Agropelter is not Bigfoot.
They are so accurate in their assault, that there has only been one reported survivor of an Argopelter attack named Big Ole Kittelson. He said that the only reason he survived was because the branch was rotten, and shattered on his head. As it ran off, he managed to turn around and get a good look at it. He described it as having a "slender, wiry body, the villainous face of an ape, and arms like muscular whiplashes, with which it can snap off dead branches and hurl them through the air like shells from a six inch gun." The Argopelter subsists on woodpeckers, hoot owls (barred owls), high-holes (which is known in real life as the northern flicker, which is a real life woodpecker species) and dozy (rotten) wood. Its pups are always born on February 29 in leap years and always arrive in odd numbers, usually 3 or 5. They'll use anything as ammunition such as branches, acorns, pine cones, fruit, and even things like birds' nests.
In Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods: 20 Chilling Tales from the Wilderness (2015), the Agropelter is renamed as Acropelter, and its new scientific name is Papio stretcharmstrongus, and that it's the largest New World monkey, closely related to the African Baboon, but slightly more evil. Its eyes are two large dark hollow black circles, and apparently, despite the new change on the eyes, the Acropelter can still see just fine. Its upper jaw has a sharp overbite, with its upper canines being the largest and longest. Despite preying on owls and woodpeckers, the Acropelter has no problems with tree snakes sharing its territory. The Acropelter lives in the forests of the Northern U.S. Territories feasting on woodpeckers and owls, to which the diet of said birds is largely unchanged. It is confirmed that the Acropelter is not completely evil and not necessarily hostile to humanity and only attacks lumberjacks that try to chop down the trees the creature call home, to which these people are fools. What's more disturbing is that the Acropelter is mean-tempered and its arms are made from human hands, and the more hands from its human victims the creature has, the more stronger its throwing accuracy becomes. It kills its victims by ripping their hands off and connecting them with their arms, fusing the nerves, bones and veins in the creature's arms and stuffing their victims in hollow tree trunks before leaving off in the forest. Lumberjack Ole Kittelson is the only but best-known survivor of the Acropelter's attack.
Argopelter - Fearsome creatures (2008)
Acropelter - Fearsome Creatures (2015)
Further reading[]
"The Agropelter" from Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods (1910) by William T. Cox
"The Agropelter" from Fearsome Critters (1939) by Henry H. Tryon
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