Monster of the Week: Ball-Tailed Cat

You might know it from: Paul Bunyan, the forest around you

Dear Reader,

For this Monster of the Week, I decided to write about an Oregon native, the Ball-Tailed Cat. Unfortunately, it's hard to find any concrete information about this monster. The Ball-Tailed Cat is a “fearsome critter,” a staple of lumberjack folklore. Its name is deceptively cute. First, it is not a house cat, instead closer to a panther in scale; second, the “ball” is a club, which the creature uses to bludgeon its opponents to death. It primarily resides in trees, which allows it to swing its tail at unsuspecting lumberjacks. 

This creature has several variations, which are considered different species. Its closest sibling is the Silver Cat. The Silver Cat is one of its most famous forms because it terrorized Paul Bunyan in folklore, which is how I was first introduced to the Ball-Tailed Cat. The two main deviations it takes from the Ball-Tailed Cat are its appearance and its method of murder. For the first point, the Silver Cat is, in fact, silver. Its red eyes are dilated horizontally like those of a goat and its tail is spiked on one end. The tail ties into the second difference, its method of murder. The Silver Cat scoops up wanderers into trees with the blunt side of its tail and impales them on the sharp side, so it can feed on its meal in its nest. 

Enough about impaling and bludgeoning, let's talk about the Dingmauls, or the “sorry-looking gentlemen” (Fearsome Critters). What makes the Dingmauls special is that they are kind of just chill and nonchalant. They act like housecats, exploring and being curious when they’re not sleeping. The balls on the end of their tails are less deadly and made out of bone. Despite their drastic differences from the rest of the Ball-Tailed Cats, they have one thing in common with both of their siblings, which might explain why these creatures came to be. During mating season, all of the Ball-Tailed Cats drum on their chests or the trees below them to attract a mate. To lumberjacks, hearing mysterious thudding noises coming somewhere in the woods was common, so some created the Ball-Tailed Cat to explain it, which then split off into the Silver Cat and the Dingmauls. It’s interesting how such a common observation can evolve into various creatures and it's quite fascinating that all these creatures happened to be cats. The next time you’re on a hike in the gorge and hear a mysterious noise, think about what could have possibly created that noise and pray that it doesn't have two dilated eyes and a ball-shaped tail.