Exploring American Monsters: Arkansas
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on May 6th, 2015
From Mysterious Universe:
The state of Arkansas in the southern U.S. is known for its lush green mountains, roaring rivers, and University of Arkansas football. It’s the headquarters of the world’s number one retailer, Wal-Mart, and is the birthplace of musician Johnny Cash, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton. It’s also the home of monsters. The most famous of these is the Fouke Monster, a sasquatch-type creature immortalized in the 1972 movie “The Legend of Boggy Creek.” But this series, “Exploring American Monsters,” isn’t about well-known beasts, it’s about the lesser-known creatures the world sees from the corner of its eye, like the Ozark Howler.
Ozark Howler
The Ozark Mountains in north central Arkansas are covered in pine trees, hickory, and several species of oak. A number of endangered species live in these forests, and so does the Ozark Howler.
The Howler has been reported to be a great cat, or dog, or bear-like beast with eyes that glow red from behind a black pelt. The monster stands four-feet-tall at the shoulder, and some witnesses say the beast has horns. But the one aspect every witness agrees upon is the Ozark Howler’s piercing, terrifying cry, described as everything from the bugling of a bull elk, to the laughter of a hyena (more on that later).
Many people have dismissed the Ozark Howler as a hoax, a college student’s idea of a joke, but Howler sightings stretch back to the early 1800s. A number of residents of Red Oak, Arkansas, reported seeing the Howler in 1846, as well as those in nearby Branson, Missouri, in 1998, and in Jasper, Arkansas, in 2011. Is the Howler a hoax? Witnesses don’t think so.
Read about the other monsters from Arkansas like the Gowrow and White River Monster here.
See also:
Exploring American Monsters: Arizona
Exploring American Monsters: Alaska
Exploring American Monsters: Alabama
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
