The North Maine Woods’ Folk Creatures

When lumberjacks made their way across the United States, they passed on stories and each camp had their own unique take on the lore. In the center of the tales were fearsome critters and fabulous beasts. I’ve been looking for fearsome creatures that were popular or unique to Maine, and here’s what I found:

- Will-am-alones were rodent-like creatures that would poison lumberjacks with lichens. People reported having headaches and hallucinating from the lichens that had supposedly been put over their eyes while they slept.

- Razorshins was a humanoid creature with sharp shins, said to be an immortal with a taste for Bangor Whisky. This creature gained popularity during prohibition. If new loggers left a jug of whisky outside their camp, the next morning Razorshins would cut down a tree for them – if the newcomers failed to leave an alcoholic offering, they would be scalped or mutilated. 

- Dingball was a ball tailed cat, with a human singing voice. It would use it’s songs to lure tired or lost people into the woods, where it would crush their skulls with his wrecking ball like tail. While Dingball himself is not native to Maine, his story was incredibly popular.