Agropelter: The Hollow Tree Menace
A famed cryptid of North American lumberjack folklore
Think twice about journeying past a random hollow tree the next time you decide to explore your local forest. You may inadvertently disturb an agropelter — a fearsome, rarely seen cryptid prone to exacting vengeance on unsuspecting humans.
Agropelters are not as commonly known as Sasquatches (aka Bigfoot) but they still occupy a fascinating little niche in North American forest folklore.
What is an agropelter?
Agropelters are creatures said to inhabit dense forests from Maine to Oregon. They make their homes inside hollowed out dead trees and are rarely seen because of their natural quickness. One eyewitness account described an agropelter as a creature possessing a slender, wiry body with an ape’s face and long, muscular whiplike arms.
Agropelters are said to subsist on a diet of hoot-owls and woodpeckers. Scarce food supply prevents them from breeding in large numbers and, according to legend, their population only increases during leap years. Agropelter pups are always born on February 29th and the litter always arrives in odd numbers.
Agropelter attacks
Anyone who enters an agropelter’s territory will soon regret it. Agropelters are extremely vengeful creatures who will attack intruders once they venture too close to the wrong hollow tree.
With its long whiplike arms, an agropelter can snap off dead tree branches and hurl the wooden projectiles at targets with pinpoint accuracy. The branches will strike their victim with speed and force of a bullet. Such attacks will leave the target of an agropelter with a bloodied and broken body and then the creature flees in search of a new home in a different hollow tree.
Agropelter origins
Tales of agropelters first emerged from 19th century lumberjack folklore. These creatures were invented to explain why large dead tree branches snapped off without warning and struck fatal blow to any unlucky lumberjack passing underneath the impact zone. Agropelter stories were meant to be cautionary tales, alerting lumberjacks to exercise caution and to always be aware of their surroundings when chopping down trees in a dense forest.
Agropelters also served as a folkloric explanation for why some people disappear without a trace in forests and wilderness areas. Again, the underlying purpose of agropelter tales seems to be a warning for hikers and campers against exploring unfamiliar trails. The reality is careless exploration can lead to getting lost or injured, increasing the risk of dying from exposure to the elements or becoming an evening meal for a hungry wild animal.
