The Gumberoo is a bear-like cryptid that is said to have inhabited the forests of the Pacific Coast in the 19th and 20th centuries. Stories about the Gumberoo have been passed down through the generations and it is a popular character in lumberjack folklore.
| Cryptid Name: | Gumberoo |
| Location: | Oregon and Washington (from Grays Harbor to Humboldt Bay) |
| Category: | Lumberjack Folklore Cryptid |
| Description: | Large, hairless bear-like creature with black, rubbery skin. |
| Size: | About the size of a bear. |
| Behavior/Characteristics: | Bulletproof, skin is so tough that anything thrown at it simply bounces off. |
| Diet: | Unknown. |
| Habitat/Environment: | Forests of Oregon and Washington |
| Evidence: | No physical evidence has been found. |
| Sightings and Encounters: | No verifiable sightings or eyewitness reports. |
| Skepticism/Explanations: | Thought to be a myth invented by lumberjacks to explain sudden forest fires. |
What Does The Gumberoo Look Like?
The Gumberoo is said to look like a big black bear that has no hair with the exception of hairy eyebrows and hair on its chin.
Its skin is smooth, black, and shiny and it is said to be incredibly tough. In fact, it is believed that bullets can’t even pierce its skin and anything that does strike its skin is ricocheted right off. It is said that the only thing that will kill a Gumberoo is fire and if it does come into contact with fire it will explode with incredible force!
The Legend Of The Gumberoo
The legend of the Gumberoo is recorded in a book called, “Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods: With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts” by William Thomas Cox.
In the foggy region along the Pacific Coast from Grays Harbor to Humboldt Bay there ranges a kind of creature that has caused much annoyance in the lumber woods. This is the gumberoo, which, luckily, is so rare that only once in a great while is one seen. It is believed to remain in hiding most of the time in the base of enormous, burned-out cedar trees, from where it sallies forth occasionally on frightful marauding expeditions. During these periods of activity the beast is always hungry and devours anything it can find that looks like food. A whole horse may be eaten at one sitting, distending the gumberoo out of all proportions, but failing to appease its hunger or cause it the slightest discomfort.
The specimens seen are reported to have been coal black, but that may have been due to their being smirched with the charred wood. In size the beast corresponds closely to a black bear, for which it might be mistaken only for the fact that the gumberoo is almost hairless. To be sure, it has prominent eyebrows and some long, bristly hairs on its chin, but the body is smooth, tough, and shiny and bears not even a wrinkle.
The animal is a tireless traveler when looking for food, but is not swift in its movements or annoyed in the slightest degree by the presence of enemies. The latter characteristic is easily accounted for by the fact that no other animal within its range has ever found a successful method of attacking a gumberoo or a vulnerable spot in one’s anatomy. Whatever strikes the beast bounds off with the same force. Its elastic hide hurls back with equal ease the charging elk and the wrathy hornet. A rock or peavey thrown at the creature bounds back at whoever threw it, and a bullet shot against its hide is sure to strike the hunter between the eyes.It is believed that the scarcity of gumberoos is due to their combustible character and the prevalence of forest fires. The animal burns, like celluloid, with explosive force. Frequently during and after a forest fire in the heavy cedar near Coos Bay woodmen have insisted that they heard loud reports quite unlike the sound of falling trees, and detected the smell of burning rubber in the air.
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods: With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts
Source: Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods
Similar Cryptids
- The Squonk – Pennsylvania
- The Hodag – Wisconsin
- Cactus Cat – Southwestern United States
- Slide-Rock Bolter (Mountain Whale)- Colorado
References
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods: With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts
