Episode 239: The Squonk
In the tree-covered forests of Pennsylvania and the northeastern United States lurks a monster described as being of “so sensitive a nature as to shed tears if its feelings are injured.” Once the thing of lumberjack legends, this squishy, soft-hearted cryptid has moseyed its way into all our hearts. If you find yourself in this beast's preferred habitat, the sounds of winds whistling in the woods may not be the wind at all, but instead the creature’s tearful wails. This week's episode is The Squonk.
SOURCES
Animals We Hear About But Never See, The San Francisco Examiner (Feb. 24, 1929), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Book notes and comments, The Ottawa Citizen (Jan. 11, 1969), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Compendium of North American Cryptids & Magical Creatures Perfect Paperback by Maury Brown & Ben Morrow Mike Young: https://www.amazon.com/Compendium-American-Cryptids-Magical-Creatures/dp/1945097000
Countryside, Sioux City Journal (Nov. 12, 1950), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Eastern Hemlock, Pennsylvania State Tree, State Symbols USA: https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/pennsylvania/state-tree/eastern-hemlock#:~:text=The%20eastern%20hemlock%20is%20a,shelter%20birds%20and%20other%20animals.
Ever Hear of the "Squonk"?, The Arlington Enterprise (Jul. 6, 1917), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberjack Legends, The Kansas City Star (May 2, 1924), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Fearsome Creatures Of The Lumberwoods: With A Few Desert And Mountain Beasts by William T. Cox: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fearsome_Creatures_of_the_Lumberwoods/cNgW5S102uMC?hl=en
Fearsome Wild Beasts Found in Remote and Dismal Haunts, Biddeford-Saco Journal
(Jan. 31, 1912), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Grandpa's Bedtime Story, The Long Beach Sun (Jan. 6, 1932), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Made A Bad Start, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Jun. 15, 1883), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Paw's Hunting Trip, The Cincinnati Enquirer (Feb. 22, 1912), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Pennsylvania's squonk is 'the homeliest animal in the world': Monsters of Pennsylvania, Penn Live: https://www.pennlive.com/wildaboutpa/2015/06/pennsylvanias_squonk_ends_the.html
Perhaps a Whirling Whimpus or Even a Gumberoo, The Ottawa Journal (Nov. 16, 1953),
Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Prohibition Notes, Fort Wayne Sentinel (Feb. 20, 1919), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Squonk Cries in Forest of Pennslyvania, The Dunn County News (Jan. 19, 1977), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Stalking the Wild Squonk, The Miner (Oct. 20, 1976), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Sundown Valley Farm Notes, Stockton Journal (Jan. 16, 1929), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
The American Language Supplement I: An Inquiry Into The Development Of English In The United States by H.L. Mencken: https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.157922/2015.157922.The-American-Language-Supplement-I-An-Inquiry-Into-The-Development-Of-English-In-The-United-States_djvu.txt
The story of Phil Collins' first show as the lead singer of Genesis, Louder Sound Magazine: https://www.loudersound.com/features/phil-collins-first-show-as-the-lead-singer-of-genesis
Uncle Hicks is on the air, Los Angeles Evening Express (Jun. 10, 1924), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
What is a squonk? Pa.’s ‘quaint’ beast cries over how ugly it is, Penn Live: What is a squonk? Pa.’s ‘quaint’ beast cries over how ugly it is - pennlive.com
Wild Beasts New to Science, The Times-Democrat (Jan. 28, 1912), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
Wild Beasts That We Know But Little About, El Paso Herald (Jan 27, 1912), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
William T. Cox, Minnesota's First State Forester, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/history/first-state-forester.html
Woodsmen Describe Strange Animals in Manner So Vivid That They Seem Realities,
The Windsor Star (Jun. 30, 1924), Newspapers.com (Subscription Required)
