The Dingmaul is an unusual feline cryptid that is mentioned in North American lumberjack folklore and is said to live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
|Dingmaul (Plunkus) / Saricatellus vociferens
|White Mountains, New Hampshire.
|Folklore / Feline Cryptid
|Large cat-like creature with short legs, tufted ears, and wolf-like fur. Two Varieties – Northeastern and Californian.
|About the size of a mountain lion.
|Forests and mountains.
|Sightings and stories.
|Sightings and Encounters:
|Anecdotal accounts and sightings. Lack of concrete scientific evidence.
|Misidentification of known animals, such as a bobcat or a mountain lion.
What Does The Dingmaul Look Like?
The Dingmaul is described as being a cat-like creature with a long slim body that is covered in wolf-like fur. It has a round head which is feline in appearance with tufted ears. It has a very long tail that is described as being twice as long as the Dingmaul’s body.
There are two varieties, the Californian Dingmaul and the Northeastern Dingmaul.
The Californian Dingmaul has a bony ball at the end of its tail which is quite similar to the Ball-Tailed Cat of Oregon and Pennsylvania.
The Dingmaul Legend
The most common story about the Dingmaul can be found in Henry Tryon’s book called, “Fearsome Critters” which shares the stories and legends of North American lumberjack folklore.
Well known in the White Mountains. In fact, above timberline in the col between Mt. Adams and Mt. Jefferson of the Presidential Range, there is a conspicuous, flat-topped boulder which for many years has been known as “Dingmaul Rock.”
Conclusive, exhaustive researches have clearly proven the existence of two distinct varieties – The Northeastern (S. vociferens var. pulsens). Both varieties are cat-like, being long, slim, slick, sorry-looking gentlemen having wolf-like pelts. Their bodies are long, with short, powerful legs. As Irvin Cobb has put it, “He’s built low to the ground like a carpet-sweeper.”
The head is round, sessile, feline, with tufted ears and glowing eyes. Neither variety is harmful, but both possess a curious, inquiring nature. They are fond of lying out in open, sunny spots (the top of Dingmaul Rock, for example), and carefully scrutinizing what goes on in the valley below.
The tail is very long, frequently twice the length of the body; but the California variety carries a medium-sized, bony ball on the end thereof. This is used to keep off flies, to pound on dead trees to produce a supply of soft slivers for lining the nest, and, in the mating season, to beat on the male’s chest to call his mate. The female also wears a ball a shade bigger than the male’s. But she only uses it to bean him with when he gets too obstreperous.
Ranger Bill Gott once watched one of the California variety galloping along the crest of the Siskiyous, with the ball lashing violently from side to side and striking the trees with tremendous force. “That,” commented Ranger Bill, “is the biggest kindlin’ cat I ever saw.”
The cry of the Eastern species is a dreadful, horrendous wail, while the call of the Western variety sharply resembles the toot of a logging donkey. The females of both species invariably whelp on the top of a large, exposed rock.Fearsome Critters