The Tailypo: North American Folklore

The Tailypo is a fearsome creature from American folklore with stories that have been passed down about this feline-like creature through centuries. The critter is said to be about the size of a large dog, but with the pointed ears and lengthy tail of a cat. His eyes glow red, or yellow depending the version of the story. His fur is shaggy, dark, and usually matted. The Tailypo is equipped with long, knife-sharp claws.

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The Tailypo is a mythical creature that accompanies an urban legend, with a multitude of vaiations. While the setting is always varied, depending on the location of who is telling it and where it is being told, most versions of the story are in agreement that the Tailypo is a woodland creature; most stories are set in deeply wooded forests. The Tailypo is named for his desire of retrieving his tail, which in stories of the creature, he always refers to it as a "taily-po".

In one version of the story, a little boy is startled awake by a Tailypo climbing through his bedroom window. When the little Tailypo notices he is not alone, he becomes frightened, sheds his tail, and flees. The little boy, needing money, sells the tail as a curio. When the Tailypo returns to retrieve his lost appendage, the little boy firmly denies having the tail, shouting and eventually scaring the creature back in to the night.

In the most common version of the countless Tailypo stories, the human counterpart is not so lucky. This story begins with a man staying in a cabin, deep in the woods, with his three dogs. He is unlucky at hunting, and very hungry. When he spots the Tailypo, he is quick to thinking he can make a tasty meal of the critter. He takes aim at him with his rifle, but before he can shoot, the Tailypo spies him and runs off, shedding his tail in the moment of fear.

The hunter makes a soup of the tail, and he feasts. Satisfied, he and his pups turn in for the night. However, the Tailypo is set on getting his tail back, and returns to the cabin, where he demands his "taily-po". The man, rightfully terrified, sends his dogs after the creature. The creature is scared off, but only two of his dogs return.

Not much later, the Tailypo returns, licking his lips and demanding his tail be returned to him. Again, the man sets his hounds on the creature.

Eventually, this cycle repeats until the man is left with no dogs. He hears a scratching at the door, and believing it is one of his beloved hounds, he opens the door. But instead it is the Tailypo, angry and ravenous. In all versions of the story, the man is bested by the Tailypo, in varying degrees of violence.