Kentucky is loaded with folklore and mythology, and I am here for all of it. I took a couple of folklore classes in college as electives–Intro to Folklore and, my favorite, Supernatural Folklore.
But some of the myths or legends with which I've familiarized myself over the last decade were unheard of back then. Of course, BACK THEN, there was no Internet. (That's become the equivalent of saying, "Of course, BACK THEN, there was no television," in the 1970s.)
I've come across a new one, and this time I'm not sure if we're dealing with a real creature, another rich piece of Bluegrass mythology, or a little of both.
It doesn't carry the weight of Bigfoot, the Yeti, or the Loch Ness Monster, but we'll take it, I guess. Here's a guy who believes THIS was a wampus cat.
I'm not sure exactly where this video was shot, but the photographer says it's a wampus cat, and if you can get a good enough look at it, you'll notice it IS an unusual cat. It closely resembles a bobcat but still looks just different enough to be its own species. On the other hand, it looks NOTHING like what THESE folks believe they've seen.
But IS it a species?
The stories about the wampus cat indicate something far more fantastical than what we see in that video. And if it's a cryptid, that means there is no proof that one exists.
AppalachianHistory.net says that a wampus cat is half dog and half cat. In my opinion, that would eliminate the creature caught on video that you saw earlier, even though it is admittedly unusual-looking.
If this cryptid IS real, it would seem to wander the Appalachian Mountains in MULTIPLE states.
So what is the wampus cat, if it's real? Some think it could be a panther, although the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources might shoot that down. According to the agency:
I guess someone bringing a big cat into Kentucky and letting it go wouldn't be impossible, but why would anyone do that?
I plan to hold off on any judgements until I get a better picture or video…and I've been "holding off" on a lot of cryptids over the years. This shouldn't be too hard.
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