The Ozark Howler - Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma
The Ozark Howler is a cat monster said to roam the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Recent evidence suggests it may be a cougar or some other big cat, but some eyewitnesses maintain it is a real monster.
The Ozark Howler - Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma Domain of the Ozark HowlerRecent searches for the strange cat-like monster of the Ozark Mountains have produced evidence that a big cat (or cats) might be roaming the region. Ozark MountainsA strange cat-like creature has been reported at points across the Ozarks. Is it a big cat, a monster or a legend? Stream in the OzarksThe Ozarks form a beautiful and rugged region of mountain vistas and running streams. They are known for their remarkable folklore. THE OZARK HOWLERArkansas, Missouri & Oklahoma Cat Monster of the Mountains! Copyright 2017 by Dale CoxAll rights reserved.Last Update: July 17, 2017(Some content Copyright 2012) Custom Search Ghosts & Monsters of the South Arkansas Wild Man (Bigfoot)White River MonsterOzarks of ArkansasHistoric Sites in ArkansasGhosts & Monsters of the SouthExplore other Southern Historic Sites Rugged Mountain TerrainThe vast and rugged slopes of the Ozarks are home to many legends of ghosts and monsters. A Cougar in the Mountains?Recent evidence suggests a large cat like this cougar may be loose in the mountains.(USDA Photo) The Ozark Howler is the name residents and hunters have applied to a strange creature some say roams the remote forests of the Ozark Mountains. The reports originate from a vast area that includes parts of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.Some attribute the sightings to the presence of an escaped big cat in the mountains, but others say something more is behind them. Eyewitnesses have come forward claiming to have seen a mysterious cat-like monster in the Ozarks, a creature unlike anything they had ever seen before.The mysteries of the Ozarks are part of their charm. Folk tales of ghosts, monsters and strange creatures in the region date back hundreds of years. Unlike the well-known Arkansas Wild Man of the 19th century and the Boggy Creek and White River monsters of the 20th, the Ozark Howler mystery is complicated because eyewitnesses vary widely in their descriptions of what they have seen.Some who claim to have seen the creature describe it as a gigantic cat, bigger even than a cougar. Others describe something far more monstrous: a massive cat-like beast with glowing eyes and horns protruding from its head. Most agree that it is black or dark in color.Between 2005 and 2010, the Howler (also called the Black Howler or the Devil Cat) was spotted several times. A family living north of Van Buren in the Boston Mountains of Crawford County set out trail cams after spotting what they believed was a cougar. The images they supplied to a Fort Smith television station appeared to show a big cat similar to a cougar (mountain lion).The problem is that wildlife officials maintain there is not a breeding population of cougars left in Arkansas. They do concede that it is possible there might be individual big cats living in the mountains, pointing out they likely were once held as pets but escaped or were turned loose by their owners.At roughly the same time as the Crawford County sightings, similar reports originated from across the border in eastern Oklahoma. Those sightings revolved around large dark cats seen moving through the mountains.Other reports from near Dardanelle in the Arkansas River Valley described strange sounds in the night similar to the laugh or bark of a hyena. From higher elevations, witnesses reported seeing what they described as a large "stocky" cat.Adding further confusion to all of this is the fact that some researchers believe the whole Arkansas Howler legend is a hoax, created by an individual intent on exposing what he considered the outlandishness of the chupacabra reports that began making their rounds on the internet in the late 1990s.Researcher Loren Coleman and others were able to conclusively point out that someone using multiple aliases had spread a variety of outlandish stories about the Howler on websites and blogs. Face in the Window - AlabamaArkansas Wild Man - ArkansasWhite River Monster - ArkansasGhost of Bellamy Bridge - FloridaWild Man of Ocheesee Pond - FloridaGhost of Allatoona Pass - GeorgiaGhosts of the Old Medical College - GeorgiaGhosts of Waverly Mansion - MississippiEdgefield Ghost - South CarolinaBell Witch - Tennessee So is the Ozark Howler a hoax? The answer to that question is a definite combination of yes and no. Some people have undoubtedly been involved in spreading false stories on a large scale. On the other hand, others have told stories of big cats in the Ozarks for many, many years.The most reliable accounts, like those of the sightings in Crawford County between 2005 and 2010, revolve more around cougars than they do monsters. The trail cam images taken of the creature in Crawford County definitely appeared to show a cougar.Evidence from Newton County, Arkansas, where the Howler was spotted in 2011, seems to verify the possibility of a big cat or two (or three or four) roaming the Ozarks.The SyFy Channel show "Haunted Highway" focused on the Ozark Howler in July 2012. Investigating the location of the Newton County sightings, program investigators took thermal images of an animal they thought might be the Howler and also made plaster casts of paw prints found where an animal had taken meat the show producers had left out hoping to attract the Howler.The thermal imagery turned out to be of a raccoon or possum, but a wildlife biologist consulted by the show intriguingly identified the paw prints as possibly being from a puma or cougar. They were too big to have been left by bobcats, which are well known residents of the mountains.The question still remains: Is the Ozark Howler a monster, a hoax or a real cat of some type? The evidence seems to point to the latter amswer. While a big cat living in the Ozarks may not be as flashy as a monster with glowing eyes and horns growing out of its head, the possible presence of such animals in the mountains is equally intriguing. The Ozark HowlerStories of strange cat-like creatures that defy explanation are common in the folklore of the South. The Ozark Howler, however, may be the real thing!