"The rest of the party had commenced piling up birch bark around the brute and thrown a few sticks of dynamite and by this time the fight got pretty hot, as the Hodag had became [sic] so infurated [sic] that he began slashing down the timber which was falling in every direction, and made it dangerous for the now furious hunters, and the black tar coal smoke which the hodag's breath had turned into, mixed with the sickening odor of the mangled dogs, was beginning to suffocate the now very much excited party." — The New North (Rhinelander, WI), October 28, 1893
Definition:
: a mythical animal reported chiefly from Wisconsin and Minnesota, noted for its ugliness, lateral horns, and hooked tail, and reputed to be outstanding in both ferocity and melancholy
Photo credit: Tory Novikova
