Reserved
The Wampus Cat
Legends of the Wampus Cat go back to the taming of the American West, though some are attributed to the American South. There are several variations on this legend. One tells of a young squaw who became distrustful of her husband's hunting party. The men, she figured, couldn't be spending all that time hunting. One day, she draped herself with a mountain lion skin and followed her husband into the forest. She found him with the other men, sitting around a fire, and learning the secret magic of the forest. When the old medicine man saw her eyes peering out of the darkness, he fused her to the animal skin, partly turning her into the beast she was trying to mimic. Supposedly, whe was cursed to roam the woods on two legs to serve as a reminder of what happens to folks who dabble with things they don't understand.
The other legend of the Wampus Cat tells of an old witch that lived on the outskirts of a farming town. At night, she would turn herself into a cat using the skin of a cougar, cast a sleeping spell on the family, and escape with cattle and other animals. One day, someone caught her while she was chanting the spell to turn her back into a human. The spell went awry, and she was forced to stay half woman, half cat forever. Veteran woodsmen still warn of the ferocity of this beast, who seeks revenge on any that wander into her woods.
No matter the legend, similar features of the Wampus Cat always turn up. The beast moves with the velocity of a cheetah, it's face looks like a cougar's, and the ears are tufted with fur like a lynx. On the end of its tail, there is a ball-like formation, with sharp bony spikes protruding all around it. The eyes are large golden orbs and shine brightly in the darkness. The Wampus Cat has deep blood colored maroon markings striping its golden fur. Most surprisingly, the Wampus Cat is sometimes described as having six legs- "four to run at the speed of light, two to fight with all it's might", the saying goes. The Wampus Cat makes its home in swampy woodlands, where it tears its prey with huge claws, and large serrated teeth.
