• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Ozark Howler

A

Anonymous

Guest
Reading an old issue of ft (112) and came across a peice about the above mentioned.

Being championed by no less than Ron Schaffner, my interest was obviously aroused.

Is there any more info on this - Was it a hoax? - have there been any more sightings? - Any one got any news?

thanks
 
Panthers in Arkansas

I grew up in rural Arkansas. I have heard many first hand accounts from people who say they have seen big cats. Usually described as a “panther”. Usually black but sometimes spotted like a leopard, always large. No, I have never seen one.
 
this is meant to be more like a boar, or something like a 'razorback'
 
I'm e-mailing the links to a good friend who grew up in Missouri, big naturalist type who's spent a lot of time in the Ozarks. I'll see if he has anything to add. Search, Sertile or Volshebnik are FTMBers who might have first-hand knowledge, off the top of my head.
 
Sorry to say I've never heard of it. The strangest noise I heard back then was what sounded like a huge pack of dogs or coyotes all yipping in unison out in the woods- it could have been a kennel(most likely) or a pack of either dogs or coyotes. Screech owls make a frightening noise, but I think it's common enough to be easily identified.
 
Oddly enough, the last time I was visiting family
in the Ozarks, I did hear what sounded like and
enormous pack of coyotes all start howling at once.

I hear coyotes quite frequently here in Minnesota,
but I have never heard a large pack all howl at the
same time.

I think a fire or ambulance siren on the main road
(about a mile away) is what set them off. It was
about 4pm, very sunny and warm. They had to have been
just out of sight in the woods (we were walking around a lake)
and it sounded like there were dozens of them. I can
imagine what that would have sounded like at night!

It was frightening... but the horses, dogs
and local folk paid no attention to them whatsoever.

I'm curious now -- I'll ask around when I visit
in a month or so...

TVgeek
 
Well, my friend finally e-mailed me back and said he has never heard any stories about this cryptid. Sorry.
 
I don't know how long ago the howler tales go back, but 100 years ago, cougars were not uncommon in the Ozarks. If anyone can remember that book "Where the Red Fern Grows", it's supposed to be based around that time and in the Ozarks, and a cougar encounter is towards the end of the book.
 
I'd never heard of this until yesterday when I watched one of those dodgy Unexplained Files documentaries on the History channel. "The Ozark Howler" - half cat, half god-knows-what. Can any of you crypto guys shed any more light on this?
 
This southern (US) history webpage gives a good overview of the subject:

https://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ozarkhowler.html
THE OZARK HOWLER
Arkansas, Missouri & Oklahoma


The Ozark Howler is the name residents and hunters have applied to a strange creature some say roams the remote forests of the Ozark Mountains. The reports originate from a vast area that includes parts of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. ...

Some who claim to have seen the creature describe it as a gigantic cat, bigger even than a cougar. Others describe something far more monstrous: a massive cat-like beast with glowing eyes and horns protruding from its head. Most agree that it is black or dark in color. ...
 
In 2015, photos alleged to be of the Ozark Howler were sent to a local TV station. Local authorities labeled them a hoax.

OzarkHowler?.jpg

'Ozark Howler' sighting at Devils Den? Game & Fish say photos are a 'hoax'

These photos were sent to 40/29 News by a viewer who said they saw the "Ozark Howler" along the Yellow Rock Trail at Devils Den this weekend.

We reached out to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission who said there have been no documented sightings of the "Ozark Howler" in our area.

Advertisement
A biologist said - to his knowledge - the legend of the "Ozark Howler" is one that ranks up there with the tales of "Big Foot."

While they couldn't comment on the legitimacy of these photos, the viewer who sent them to us says the pictures are not photo-shopped. But, we aren't so sure.

According to urban legend, the Ozark Howler is a creature that roams the Ozark Mountains. For those who say they've seen it, it's described as a cat-like animal with glowing eyes and horns. ...

SOURCE: https://www.4029tv.com/article/ozar...s-den-game-fish-say-photos-are-a-hoax/4957812
 
Thanks for the link, Enola.

In 2015, photos alleged to be of the Ozark Howler were sent to a local TV station. Local authorities labeled them a hoax.




SOURCE: https://www.4029tv.com/article/ozar...s-den-game-fish-say-photos-are-a-hoax/4957812

That image and another taken at the same time but from a different angle were included in the documentary. There was very little of substance in the show but they did mention that Daniel Boone had encountered a large cat-like creature with horns on its head. People have talked about a large cat like creature in those woods since the 1800's and possible connections to local witchcraft. So while most of the accounts are either fabrications or misidentifications, I wonder if there is/was something there.
 
... There was very little of substance in the show but they did mention that Daniel Boone had encountered a large cat-like creature with horns on its head. ...

This webpage dedicated to the Ozark Howler:

https://ozarkhowler.net/index.php/2019/01/19/daniel-boone-and-the-ozark-howler/

... mentions 2 versions of a story involving Boone and a creature that may or may not have been the same as the Ozark Howler. These and other versions of the story differ in terms of alleged location, timeframe, and whether Boone killed or merely wounded the beast.

The more specific version places the incident north of Cuba, Missouri (southeastern part of the state) no earlier than 1810. Boone was living in what is now Missouri at the time, and Cuba wasn't that far from his known residence.
 
There was a programme about this on tv last night. A husband & wife team of scientists were investigating. At first I thought it was going to be a Hunting Bigfoot type programme but it was much more interesting.

They met a man who said he'd witnessed an unknown creature in remote locations on 3 occasions going back a few years. He was hunting deer at the time. He never saw it but heard the howl a couple of times & spoke about a distinctive musky smell. He took them to the places his encounters happened.

They find many creatures native to the area but no sign of a howler. They come across a cabin in which a moonshiner was going about his business. They agree to keep the location secret. He tells them his grandfather, also a moonshiner, shot a howler decades before. He said he had the pelt, which he produced & which turned out to be canine. He let them take a sample of fur to test. He also had his grandfathers home made ‘growler’ which he’d used to scare people away from his moonshining & consisted of a barrel with a piece of string attached inside. It made a fairly convincing growl sound. He let them sample the spirits he made. He also had his own man-made version of the howl which he let them record.

They noted a lack of apex predators in the area. They found a dead deer which hadn’t been predated. They had an encounter with a large black bear which came within about 20 feet of them but didn’t attack.

They analyse the fur which turns out to match wolf fur. They then go with the hunter to a wolf sanctuary in which American Red Wolves are being raised in protected environment, the idea being to re-introduce them to the wild. They’re a very rare & threatened species which were once much more common in the area but have been hunted to near extinction. The wolves are much smaller & skinnier than grey wolves. The hunter recognised their musky smell & says it’s the same as the one he’d smelt years before. They play the moonshiners recorded howl & get a reply howl from the wolves.

So the Ozark Howler is identified, at least in this programme, as an American Red Wolf.
 
There was a programme about this on tv last night. A husband & wife team of scientists were investigating. At first I thought it was going to be a Hunting Bigfoot type programme but it was much more interesting.

They met a man who said he'd witnessed an unknown creature in remote locations on 3 occasions going back a few years. He was hunting deer at the time. He never saw it but heard the howl a couple of times & spoke about a distinctive musky smell. He took them to the places his encounters happened.

They find many creatures native to the area but no sign of a howler. They come across a cabin in which a moonshiner was going about his business. They agree to keep the location secret. He tells them his grandfather, also a moonshiner, shot a howler decades before. He said he had the pelt, which he produced & which turned out to be canine. He let them take a sample of fur to test. He also had his grandfathers home made ‘growler’ which he’d used to scare people away from his moonshining & consisted of a barrel with a piece of string attached inside. It made a fairly convincing growl sound. He let them sample the spirits he made. He also had his own man-made version of the howl which he let them record.

They noted a lack of apex predators in the area. They found a dead deer which hadn’t been predated. They had an encounter with a large black bear which came within about 20 feet of them but didn’t attack.

They analyse the fur which turns out to match wolf fur. They then go with the hunter to a wolf sanctuary in which American Red Wolves are being raised in protected environment, the idea being to re-introduce them to the wild. They’re a very rare & threatened species which were once much more common in the area but have been hunted to near extinction. The wolves are much smaller & skinnier than grey wolves. The hunter recognised their musky smell & says it’s the same as the one he’d smelt years before. They play the moonshiners recorded howl & get a reply howl from the wolves.

So the Ozark Howler is identified, at least in this programme, as an American Red Wolf.
That was Forrest Galante's show Mysterious Creatures (Man vs Monster)
It was a good episode, I agree.
The Ozark Howler was never really considered to be much more than a manufactured legend until rather recently. Since people in the US have started this trend of the "United States of Cryptids", finding a mysterious animal story for every state, the Ozark Howler has gained in popularity. Originally, it was described as feline.
 
That was Forrest Galante's show Mysterious Creatures (Man vs Monster)
It was a good episode, I agree.
The Ozark Howler was never really considered to be much more than a manufactured legend until rather recently. Since people in the US have started this trend of the "United States of Cryptids", finding a mysterious animal story for every state, the Ozark Howler has gained in popularity. Originally, it was described as feline.
I watched another of these last week, this time in remote Peru where a mountain farmer had reported a mystery creature scaring his animals - llamas/alpacas. None had been killed but his donkey had vanished. The farmer believed it was a paranormal/cryptid/local folklore creature which walked on 2 legs, the name of which I now can’t remember.

They found scratch marks & a broken fence on the animal compound & set up cameras etc.

To cut a long story short they found the donkey dead further up the mountain, probably due to lack of water & heat/exposure, being predated by vultures. The mystery creature turned out to be a female Spectacled Bear which do indeed sometimes walk on 2 legs, native but now very rare to the area. They decided to anaethetise then capture & drive it several hundred miles to a large wildlife sanctuary, otherwise it would probably have been shot.

I'm becoming a fan of these shows.
 
Back
Top