Arkansas has many cryptids. It is home to ‘The Boggy Creek Monster,’ another Bigfoot creature. ‘The White River Monster,’ an aquatic animal that lives in the muddy waters of the White River. A friendly monster that the Arkansas State Legislature adopted. In 1973, the Legislature created the White River Monster Refuge to keep their pet monster from harassment by visitors.

With so many fascinating creatures to choose from, it wasn’t easy to select only one. I finally settled on the ‘Ozark Howler.’

The Ozark Mountains are known for their parks and wilderness areas. In the fall, fiery reds, oranges, and yellows adorn plentiful White Pine trees. The air crisp and cold, with temps in the mid-fifties. The Ozarks are gorgeous in the autumn.

Perfect for hiking trails and enjoying Arkansas’s colorful scenery. One day while a hiker is enjoying the fall weather, an ear-piercing screech shatters the serene silence.

Say hello to the Ozark Howler. The Ozark Mountains are known for strange and mysterious sounds at night. Much of the country folklore believes many of those sounds come from the Ozark Howler. The locals say no known native animal can make those noises.

The Howler is native to North Arkansas and Southern Missouri. It produces howls that send ice down your spine. These familiar cries are often heard by the locals late at night. Can you imagine sleeping soundly in dreamland and hearing sounds like that?

Sightings are rare, but witnesses have described the Howler as a cat-like creature. A huge cat the size of a bear, its stocky body covered with dark shaggy hair.

The Howler’s physical description parallel’s Bigfoot with one significant difference. The Howler has red glowing eyes with horns and a beard like a goat. Meeting up with this creature in the dark is a scary idea.

If this description doesn’t terrify you enough? Other witnesses claim it is a giant cat—a feline creature the size of a lion, with coal-black fur and glowing eyes.

It would petrify me to meet such a monster at night in the mountains.

Stories of the Howler have long been circulating in Arkansas since the 1800s. There is another tale in the Ozarks of a black panther living in the Ozark Mountains. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says there is no black panther in those mountains. Big cats of any species are not native to Arkansas.

Reports of the Howler have been coming out of the Ozarks since the 1800s. Something is in those mountains; if not a large cat, then what? Cryptozoologists think it is a distant cousin to another rumored creature in the mountains.

Arkansas is home to Scots-Irish immigrants from Britain settling in the mountains. The new townspeople brought their stories and legends with them. One long-living myth is the ‘Black Dog of Death.’

The legend of the Black Dog is popular in Great Britain. With reported sightings throughout Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and England. Our scary beastie has been seen everywhere over there.

The physical description of the Black Dog is also like the Howlers. It is larger than an average dog, with dark hair and glowing eyes. Sounds similar to our Howler, who has dark fur and glowing eyes.

The Black Dog doesn’t screech, and many people report hearing cat-like screeches. The signature sound of our Howler, which removes the Black Dog legend as our culprit.

Researchers have claimed that the Ozark Howler is a fraud. One researcher, in particular, Loren Coleman, provided proof. He could show that someone using multiple aliases’ spread the tale. This mysterious person passed the Howler urban myth through various blogs and websites.

Coleman discovering the secret blogger doesn’t account for the stories recounted since the 1800s.

We have a couple of possibilities then. The Fish and Game Commission is wrong, and there is a black panther loose in the Ozarks. Or there is a Howler on the prowl in those misty mountains of Arkansas.

If it is a black panther roaming those trails at night? The elusive night stalker is several sizes larger than a standard Panther. That matches the description of the Howler.

Intriguing paw prints discovered in the mountains do display feline tendencies. Are they paw prints of the Ozark Howler or a non-existent black panther? A panther not native to the Ozarks living in the mountains. That exciting tidbit makes you think.

The paw prints made the Fish and Game Commission modify their statement. They concluded if there is a large feral cat in the mountains? It is a stray or two escaping from a zoo, or a pet let loose in the wild when it got too big.

The Commission is still mum about a cryptid running loose scaring Arkansas’s inhabitants. A colossal cat-like creature with screams heard miles away.

I believe the Ozark Howler is real. Sightings since the 1800s and people are still seeing it today. They’ve recounted countless stories of preternatural howls shattering the darkness, leaving locals terrified.

It’s easy to believe in Arkansas’ Ozark Howler when hearing those terrifying sounds at night. If I were you, I would be wary of the Ozark Howler if you vacation in the Ozark Mountains.