THE HODAG

The Hodag, first reported in Maine and later captured and positively identified near Rhinelander, Wisconsin, in 1895 by E. S. Shepard, is among the most infamous of the great northern woods beasts, though now exceedingly rare—no doubt due to the widespread use of lemons in cooking, for citrus repels it as wolfbane does wolves, perhaps even more so. Hideous in form, it bears a knobby head with bulging eyes and a pair of heavy horns like those of a stag beetle, stout claws, a hooked tail, and a jagged row of stegosaur-like spines running down its back, while its smaller teeth were once collected for umbrella handles. Aware of its grotesque appearance, the creature often succumbs to fits of bitter weeping, its crystallized tears said to resemble fine amber, though they dissolve at the slightest touch of lemon juice. The Hodag cannot endure ridicule, and when mocked it becomes ferocious and highly dangerous, yet a single pair of lemons is said to be enough protection against even a herd of them.