There are more than a few cryptids that I think came about purely due to a one-off mutation or people spotting an animal so decimated by disease or cancerous growths that they can’t help but think it’s supernatural. The squonk is among those cryptids, but I won’t blame you if you haven’t heard of it.

The first mention of the squonk was by William Cox in his book “Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts.” Published in 1910, it’s possible the squonk was invented purely to fill pages, as there are no other known reports of the creature.

The following is a description of the squonk taken from Cox’s book:

“Probably the homeliest animal in the world, and knows it. The distribution was once fairly wide, the usual habitat being high plains where desert vegetation was abundant.

History shows beyond dispute that, as these areas gradually changed to swampy, lake-dotted country the squonk was forced to take to the water. Of distinctly low mentality it traveled constantly around the unaccustomed marshes in search of fodder.

With time, it developed webbing between its toes, but only on the submerged left feet. Hence, on entering the water it could swim only in circles and never got back to shore. Fossil bones dredged from these lake bottoms reveal that thousands perished of starvation in this manner.

Today the squonk is met with solely in the hemlock forests of Pennsylvania.

It is a most retiring bashful, crepuscular animal, garbed in a loose, warty, singularly ill-fitting skin. The squonk is always unhappy — even morbid. He is given to constant weeping over his really upsetting appearance, and can sometimes be tracked by his tear-stained trail.

Moonlight nights are best for squonk hunts, for then the animal prefers to lie quiet in its hemlock home, fearing, should it venture forth, that it may catch a glimpse of itself in some moonlit pool.

Sometimes you can hear one weeping softly to himself. The sound is a low note of pleading somewhat resembling the call of the cross-feathered snee.”

Anyone attempting to capture the squonk would be quite put out, as the animal was said to dissolve into a puddle of tears rather than subject its captors to having to see it for too long. Honestly, who among us hasn’t felt that way at some point or another?

Given their description and location, any sighting of squonks are almost certainly feral pigs suffering from extreme cases of sarcoptic mange. This would explain not only the lumpy, ill-fitting skin (animals suffering from mange may lose weight at an alarming rate and experience skin growths), but also the weeping of the animal as pigs can shed actual tears when they’re in misery.

While the real inspiration for the squonk is a thing to be pitied, there are a number of cute squonk plushies available for purchase online that people have crafted, playing up the adorable wrinkles that make it look quite a bit like a Chinese Shar-Pei. I confess to coveting them, myself. They may not have the imposing appearance of a Mothman plushie, but they look like they’d be nice to cuddle with.

Last edited 04/12/2025 by Haloveir