Sidehill gougers are folkloric creatures adapted to living on hillsides by having legs on one side of their body shorter than the legs on the opposite side (trapping the beast in an endless circular, uphill path.) The creature is variously known as the Sidehill Ousel, Gyascutus, Sidewinder, Wowser, Gudaphro, Hunkus, Rickaboo Racker, Prock, Gwinter, or Cutter Cuss.
Sidehill gougers are herbivorous mammals who dwell in hillside burrows,[1] and are occasionally depicted as laying eggs.[2] There are usually 6 to 8 pups to a litter.[3] Since the gouger is footed for hillsides, it cannot stand up on level ground. If by accident a gouger falls from a hill, it can easily be captured or starves to death.[2] Gougers are said to have migrated to the west from New England, a feat accomplished by a pair of gougers who clung to each other in a fashion comparable to, "a pair of drunks going home from town"[3] with their longer legs on the outer sides. If two gougers (one clockwise and another counter clockwise) meet, they have to fight to the death since they can only go in one direction.[2] A Vermont variation is known as the Wampahoofus. It was reported that farmers crossbreed them with their cows so they could graze easily on mountain sides. There is also a similar mythical creature in France known as the dahu.