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Shagamaw

Fearsome Critters (1910)

The Toteroad Shagamaw (Bipedester delusissimus) is a creature from American lumberjack tales, known as a Fearsome Critter. It was the size of a horse with the front paws of a bear and the hind parts of a moose, like some mix of a satyr. It would walk on its hind legs and sometimes walk on its two front paws to leave different tracks in the ground.

It is said that it would walk 440 steps on its front legs and then walk on its back legs for another 440 steps, or around half a mile both ways. This made it very difficult to hunt down and it became a creature of great stealth. It had a hunger for cloth, especially cotton, and would eat the washing left out by local people.

The Shagamaw likely alternated between legs to confuse lumberjacks on the hunt. It was considered an insult for a woodsman to be told he incorrectly identified animal tracks such as moose or bear, so brawls were bound to insue over the cunning, sneaky critter. The rascall always followed tote roads. Some believe this is the effect of the varmint's significant observation of the woodsmen who trodded the same paths. It is also believed that the critter took 440 steps with each set of legs due to the fact that it was unable to count any higher.

Shagamawx

Fearsome Critters (1939)

The Shagmaw was not a creature of direct aggression, but more so of irritating and mysterious antics, such as many Fearsome Critters.

In Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods (2015) it is far more aggressive. It lives in Maine, New Brunswick and Quebec, and it's very deceptive. Its scientific name is Peripeteia garbagophagus, and its diet is anything and everything, including a man's right hand, but is self-restricted to garbage and unattended pets. It is no longer like a satyr, and it is a bear-moose hybrid, with sharp teeth, moose antlers, a tiny bear tail, a moose's skull in the mass and volume of the Jersey cow. It also has tiny devil horns on top of its head. It still keeps its bear forelimbs and moose hindlimbs. Hal Johnson, author of the 2015 Fearsome Creatures book and cryptozoologist, is not only the survivor of the creature's attack, but also the only and first to describe the beast accurately and scientifically. Fortunately, the Toteroad Shagamaw is easily beaten by Hal because he is not only a hunter but also a fly fisherman, and Hal lived to see another day, and the Toteroad Shagamaw now has a match and, to this day, is unprepared.

Toteroad Shagamaw

Fearsome creatures – (2015)

Further reading[]

"The Tote-Road Shagamaw" from Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods (1910) by William T. Cox

"The Toteroad Shagamaw" from Fearsome Critters (1939) by Henry H. Tryon

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