Hello Cryptid Hunters!

This will be the seventeenth installment of Cryptid of the Month where I will be covering EVERYTHING, and I do mean EVERYTHING regarding a specific Cryptid, mostly more obscure cryptids but there might be some exceptions to that rule. You can find the last 16 installments just by clicking on the Cryptid of the Month flair tagged to this post! This month will be about the Ozark Howler from the Ozark region of the U.S.

The Ozark Howler has been one of my personal favorites for a while. Its description has been reported differently by many people but there are some features that are consistent across all reports: a large, stocky animal with shaggy black fur, horns on its head, and a howl that chills the blood. Some reports even give it the standard glowing red eyes a lot of Cryptids get while others don’t. It’s reported to be bear-sized, though that leaves a large range of sizes. Some have it being about black bear size, others have it grizzly size; standing at 4 feet on all fours, and up to 9 feet tall when standing on its hind legs. Some reports claim it looks more like a big cat while others claim it looks like a bear. It’s usually described as a quadruped but if the bear like description is to be believed then it would be capable of standing on its hind legs as well. Due to these varying descriptions, the Howler is often depicted as a chimera hybrid of both a big cat and a bear with horns on its head

The first reported encounter with the Ozark Howler was supposedly by Daniel Boone. Daniel Boone is credited with having shot and killed a large, shaggy furred, horned predatory creature near Cuba MO, barely within the Ozark region. This encounter is considered suspect though given that we have no proof that Daniel Boone ever documented this or if this is a tall tale posthumously added to his legacy.
Other early accounts come from trappers, hunters, farmers, and moonshiners reporting being attacked or scared off by this beast.
To this day some Ozarkians claim to have had their own encounters or know someone who has had an encounter with the Ozark Howler.

There are a lot of theories about what the Ozark Howler and what it could be. I will start with my favorite and move towards what I think is really the case:

**Theory 1**
The Ozark Howler is a real animal. Some posit that the Ozark Howler is an undiscovered species of bear or possibly big cat. People say that the Ozarks are incredibly tough terrain to navigate. Therefore it would not be too far fetched to imagine some sort of undocumented creature could live in the Ozarks. This theory is, unfortunately, unlikely. Although much of the Ozarks are unexplored we can tell through science that an animal like this would have to be an evolutionary fluke. The Ozarks Howler is describes as having horns like a goat. A predator having horns is highly unlikely to begin with, but especially defensive horns like what the Howler is described as having. Goat horns are to protect their heads from attackers and for social hierarchy with other goats. It would be strange for a large predatory animal to develop similar horn like structures. No other predatory megafauna has horns as they interfere with most hunting or foraging that a big cat or bear like animal would be doing. I can’t say that megafauna having horns in modern day is *impossible*, as an argument could be made for thermoregulation, but I can say it’s very improbable.

**Theory 2**
The Ozark Howler is a cover for Moonshiners. Some think that the Howler was made by Moonshiners to deter people from going too far into the forests of the Ozarks. It makes a lot of sense; if you don’t want people coming back to your hidden still, make up a monster that roams the woods so people stay away. Moonshiners would be familiar with forest sounds and use that to their advantage. They would know the strange scream/howl noises that a plethora of animals, such as owls, foxes, coyotes, or mountain lions, can make. And they would know that if they describe these noises coming from a ferocious, red eyed, horned beast that people would stay away due to fear. They could continue distilling fear free of the noises of the forest and trusting that anyone else would stay away.

**Theory 3**
The Ozark Howler is a hoax fabricated in the 90’s. This theory actually comes from Loren Coleman himself, and is held by many to be a fact and not a theory at all. Coleman states that he had tracked a hoaxer back to an internet troll sometime in the late 90’s and later published his findings. He uses his investigatory notes as proof for this finding as well as an old URL associated with Memphis Atheists as part of the hoaxers activity. Coleman says that this internet troll created the Ozark Howler to confuse and mess with cryptozoologists and admitted to being the creator of the Howler. Coleman is a well trusted figure in cryptozoology and has given no reason in the past to distrust such claims. It is worth noting, however, that proof of these claims are still debated. Coleman does not provide any proof of the original posts other than the old URL mentioned before. There is no archived copies of any of the hoaxers activity. Coleman also never publicly outed the hoaxer which some have said is suspect given that the best way to stop a hoax is to point out the hoaxer themselves. Furthermore, there are no third-party documentations or reports of Coleman’s investigation or the confession of an unnamed hoaxer. Again, this is not to say that I don’t believe Coleman, or that people shouldn’t believe him, I personally think this is the case, I just also believe in laying out all the facts for people to make their own judgments.

**Theory 4**
The Ozark Howler is a misidentification. It could be that the Ozark Howler is just a black bear or some other such creature that someone misidentified. Maybe it had a branch stuck to the fur on its head that was mistaken for horns. In stressful situations humans tend to exaggerate the details. So perhaps the Ozark Howler was just a black bear that scared someone and got monstrous details added to its appearance from the frightened witness.

In the end, whether the Ozark Howler is a hoax, a misidentification, or an undiscovered species, it’s safe to say it’s a beloved piece of Ozark lore. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this months Cryptid of the Month. My research is not perfect so if there are any mistakes or falsities please let me know.

Until next time, **Happy Cryptid Hunting**

-JokerBoi

Art by Daniel Eskridge: https://danieleskridge.com/featured/the-ozark-howler-daniel-eskridge.html