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Description
Alternate Names: Gower, Gowerow
Latin Name: Verdisquamata cruribrevis

One of the more infamous of the Critters, supposedly named for the sound of its roars, the Gowrow was 20 feet in length, had a muscular body on short legs, and a long neck. Its back was covered in blackish bristle-like horns, and it had massive elephant or hippo type tusks in its mouth. Its claws were long and sharp, and the tip of its tail was adorned with thin sickle shaped blades. Webbed feet, dull green scales, and a semi-duckish face with large eyes completed the picture. Females had pouches on their necks/chests to carry their soft-shelled/leathery eggs, and later their young. The Gowrow was carnivorous and ate just about anything it could catch: deer, cows, goats, sheep, horses -- and people. It lived in caves and under shadowy ledges (often near water), and its dens were always littered with the bones and decaying pieces of its prey. It could also bite through rock and iron. They terrorized whatever area they lived in, and were vicious and dangerous to just about everything, including their own kind. It is also said that in places were their territory overlapped, the Gowrow would fight with and kill Black Hodags. Killing a Gowrow was no easy feat, and no lone hunter ever managed it. Any kills of this Critter were made with a large posse of men and a lot of guns. The skin of a Gowrow was rumored to have been preserved and sent to the Smithsonian in 1897, but no record of such a thing exists.

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The Gowrow is one of those FCs that gets melded to a couple others in some stories/sources. Sometimes it is seen as the same thing as a Hodag, and sometimes it's the same as a Sky Floogle. Weird, huh?

What exactly IS a Fearsome Critter?
Interested in seeing more Fearsome Critters?

Source(s):
Carden, Gary. "Appalachian Bestiary" (2013), p.41-42,109
Randolph, Vance. "We Always Lie To Strangers: Tall Tales From the Ozarks" (1951), p.41-46
Schwartz, Alvin. "Kickle Snifters and Other Fearsome Critters" (1978), p.40-43
Wyman, Walker D. "Mythical Creatures of the USA and Canada" (1978), p.64

Design and all art © me.
Please do not copy, alter, trace, or reproduce in any way, shape, or form without written permission from me. Thank you

Description
Alternate Names: Gower, Gowerow
Latin Name: Verdisquamata cruribrevis

One of the more infamous of the Critters, supposedly named for the sound of its roars, the Gowrow was 20 feet in length, had a muscular body on short legs, and a long neck. Its back was covered in blackish bristle-like horns, and it had massive elephant or hippo type tusks in its mouth. Its claws were long and sharp, and the tip of its tail was adorned with thin sickle shaped blades. Webbed feet, dull green scales, and a semi-duckish face with large eyes completed the picture. Females had pouches on their necks/chests to carry their soft-shelled/leathery eggs, and later their young. The Gowrow was carnivorous and ate just about anything it could catch: deer, cows, goats, sheep, horses -- and people. It lived in caves and under shadowy ledges (often near water), and its dens were always littered with the bones and decaying pieces of its prey. It could also bite through rock and iron. They terrorized whatever area they lived in, and were vicious and dangerous to just about everything, including their own kind. It is also said that in places were their territory overlapped, the Gowrow would fight with and kill Black Hodags. Killing a Gowrow was no easy feat, and no lone hunter ever managed it. Any kills of this Critter were made with a large posse of men and a lot of guns. The skin of a Gowrow was rumored to have been preserved and sent to the Smithsonian in 1897, but no record of such a thing exists.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Gowrow is one of those FCs that gets melded to a couple others in some stories/sources. Sometimes it is seen as the same thing as a Hodag, and sometimes it's the same as a Sky Floogle. Weird, huh?

What exactly IS a Fearsome Critter?
Interested in seeing more Fearsome Critters?

Source(s):
Carden, Gary. "Appalachian Bestiary" (2013), p.41-42,109
Randolph, Vance. "We Always Lie To Strangers: Tall Tales From the Ozarks" (1951), p.41-46
Schwartz, Alvin. "Kickle Snifters and Other Fearsome Critters" (1978), p.40-43
Wyman, Walker D. "Mythical Creatures of the USA and Canada" (1978), p.64

Design and all art © me.
Please do not copy, alter, trace, or reproduce in any way, shape, or form without written permission from me. Thank you