Cruncher

Because they are often described only in drunken retellings of loggers' or miners' tales, hodags are considered by many to exist only in the local folklore of remote areas. However, some individuals have actually encountered these dangerous beasts firsthand, and even fewer have lived to tell their tales.

Hodags are reptilian creatures the size of bulls. These vicious predators' long claws can tear creatures apart in seconds. Their backs sport dozens of long spines that run from their snouts all the way down the length of their powerful tails. Their wide mouths are full of sharp and twisted rows of teeth not unlike those of a shark. The hodags' rough, scaly hides carry hues of green and brown, allowing them to blend into their forest surroundings where they ambush prey. Only their glowing red eyes reveal their presence, though hodags have learned to use this to their advantage by drawing attention to their eyes in one area, then closing their eyes and stealthily moving to another area to cause their prey to misconstrue their location.

In the wintertime, when snow and ice blankets a region, hodags grow a foul-smelling coat of greasy, dark-brown fur that sprouts in tufts from between their scales. A typical hodag measures over 10 feet long from snout to tail and weighs upward of 700 pounds.