| (Ozark Black Howler) | |
|---|---|
| Creature | |
| Grouping | Cryptid |
| Sub grouping | Local Legend |
| Data | |
| Country | United States |
| Region | Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas |
The Ozark Howler, also known as the Ozark Black Howler, is a legendary creature that is purported to live in remote areas in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The Ozark Howler is typically described as being bear sized, with thick body, stocky legs, black shaggy hair, and as having prominent horns. Its cry is often described as being a combination of a wolf's howl and an elk's bugle.
Cryptozoologists have speculated that the creature might be a misidentified or unrecognized big cat. Anthropologists have speculated that the creature might be a branching off of the dark dogs of death found in British folklore.
Chad Arment asserts in his book Cryptozoology that the Ozark Howler myth is a hoax. According to Arment, he and many other cryptozoologists received email messages that made wild claims about Ozark Howler evidence. These messages were tracked down to a university student who had made a bet that he could fool the cryptozoological research community.[1] However, stories of the Ozark Howler are said to predate this.