The Agropelter (Latin, Anthrocephalus craniofractens) is a Fearsome Critter from North American folklore, specifically folklore of the modern era (as opposed to the folklore of Native Americans), the Fearsome Critters being a popular type of cryptid often created as a sort of joke among outdoors men to trick tourists or simply to amuse each other.
Description[]
A rare creature whose territory stretches from Maine all the way to Oregon, the Agropelter was described by its only witness - a man by the name of Big Ole Kittleson - as resembling a slim ape with long, whiplike arms. It uses these arms to snap off dead wood and hurl it with pinpoint accuracy and the power of a cannon at anybody unfortunate enough to pass beneath one of the hollow trees in which Agropelters like to make their home. It is therefore blamed for the death of any woodsman unfortunate enough to have been hit by a falling tree or branch.
These monsters subsist on a diet of hoot owls and woodpeckers, although the fact that their prey is so scarce prevents the Agropelter from breeding in any kind of numbers.
Further reading[]
"The Agropelter" from Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods (1910) by William T. Cox
"The Agropelter" from Fearsome Critters (1939) by Henry H. Tryon