The Agropelter (Anthrocephalus craniofractens) is a mythical fearsome critter said to inhabit hollow trees of the conifer woods from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

.Wyman, Walker D. Mythical Creatures of the USA and Canada. (River Falls, WI: Univ of Wisconsin Riverfalls Press,1978.) From this vantage point, the creature would await an unwary person and hurl wooden splinters and branches at the intruder. Some have described the creature as being so quick that it has never been seen.Cohen, Daniel. Monsters, Giants, and Little Men from Mars: An Unnatural History of the Americas. (New York: Doubleday, 1975) One reference describes the creature as having a "slender, wirely 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 agropelter subsists on woodpeckers, hoot owls,Cox, William T. with Latin Classifications by George B. Sudworth. Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods. (Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler Inc., 1910 high-holes, and dozy (rotten) wood. Its pups are born on February 29 and always arrive in odd numbers.Tryon, Henry Harrington. Fearsome Critters. (Cornwall, NY: Idlewild Press, 1939) They are blamed for the disappearance of people in northern forests. When loggers died from branches falling on their heads, the agropelter was blamed for throwing the heavy branches. Another reference describes the creature as having "the head of a gorilla or some other terrifying ape, but fully furred, and its body was like that of a stretched-out, starving bear." They are also said to be "completely black save for its face, which had a spoken ash-grey skull pattern contrasting with the black of the rest of the animal". In one account, an agropelter kidnapped a pioneer surveyor and fed him raw fish until he escaped.

References

External links

The Agropelter, Mythical Creatures List
Fearsome critters {{Legendary-creature-stub