Sidehill gouger
Encyclopedia
Sidehill gougers are folkloric creatures adapted to living on hillsides by having legs on one side of their body shorter than the legs on the opposite side (trapping the beast in an endless circular, uphill path.) The creature is variously known as the Sidehill Ousel, Gyascutus, Sidewinder, Wowser, Gudaphro, Hunkus, Rickaboo Racker, Prock, Gwinter, or Cutter Cuss.
Sidehill gougers are herbivorous
mammal
s who dwell in hillside burrows, and are occasionally depicted as laying eggs
. There are usually 6 to 8 pups to a litter
. Since the gouger is footed for hillsides, it cannot stand up on level ground. If by accident a gouger falls from a hill, it can easily be captured or starves to death. Gougers are said to have migrated to the west from New England, a feat accomplished by a pair of gougers who clung to each other in a fashion comparable to, "a pair of drunks going home from town" with their longer legs on the outer sides. If two gougers (one clockwise and another counter clockwise) meet, they have to fight to the death since they can only go in one direction. A Vermont variation is known as the Wampahoofus. It was reported that farmers crossbreed them with their cows so they could graze easily on mountain sides. There is also a similar mythical creature in France known as the dahu
.
Sidehill gougers are herbivorous
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s who dwell in hillside burrows, and are occasionally depicted as laying eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
. There are usually 6 to 8 pups to a litter
Litter (animal)
A litter is the offspring at one birth of animals from the same mother and usually from one set of parents. The word is most often used for the offspring of mammals, but can be used for any animal that gives birth to multiple young. In comparison, a group of eggs and the offspring that hatch from...
. Since the gouger is footed for hillsides, it cannot stand up on level ground. If by accident a gouger falls from a hill, it can easily be captured or starves to death. Gougers are said to have migrated to the west from New England, a feat accomplished by a pair of gougers who clung to each other in a fashion comparable to, "a pair of drunks going home from town" with their longer legs on the outer sides. If two gougers (one clockwise and another counter clockwise) meet, they have to fight to the death since they can only go in one direction. A Vermont variation is known as the Wampahoofus. It was reported that farmers crossbreed them with their cows so they could graze easily on mountain sides. There is also a similar mythical creature in France known as the dahu
Dahu
The dahu is a legendary creature well known in France, Switzerland and the north of Italy.French pranksters often describe the dahu as a mountain goat-like animal with legs of differing lengths....
.