Cats are elusive and deadly, so it's no surprise that several cryptid cats are said to roam the world. Great Britain has Alien Big Cats terrorizing livestock and people, despite being an unlikely place for large predators. Tanzania is plagued by a cat with a taste for human flesh, while Alaskans avoid snowstorms to evade the White Death. From the Cactus Cat to other felines, each one is deadly and potentially waiting for its next victim.
About this list
- 1
The Wampus Cat Of Cherokee Mythology Is Actually A Cursed Woman.Wampus Cat.This creature comes from Cherokee folklore. It stems from the actions of a widow named Running Deer, who lived in what is now North Carolina. Running Deer and her village faced an attack from an evil spirit named Ew’ah, the Spirit of Madness. The Elders decided to send her husband, the village's strongest warrior, to kill the demon and stop it from stealing children's dreams and causing madness.
Weeks passed. Running Deer's husband returned to the village, clearly insane from Ew'ah. As a widow, Running Deer asked the Elders for permission to seek revenge on Ew'ah. They gave her a mask of a bobcat's face so the animal's spirit could help her defeat the demon. Running Deer hid her scent and began hunting Ew'ah.
Running Deer attacked Ew'ah while it drank from a stream. She struck the demon with the power of the bobcat mask and drowned it in the water. She returned to her village victorious. The villagers named Running Deer the Spirit-Talker and Home-Protector.
Legend says she still exists as the Wampus Cat, protecting Native lands from other demons.
139 - 2
The Cat Sìth.Cat Sìth.pronounced cat-shee.cat-shee.This ghostly feline rivals a large dog in size. It has black fur and a spot on its chest. The fairy cat walks on all fours in front of humans but prefers to be bipedal. It roams Scotland and plays a role in several local stories.
Cat Sìth visits houses during Samhain.Samhain.People who left out milk saucers were blessed. Those who forgot the fairy cat faced a curse. Another story about this feline claims the creature is a witch. She changed into a cat eight times and got stuck on the ninth change. This is why cats have nine lives, according to Celtic storytellers.
Celtic wakes can become wild because the fairy cat steals the souls of the recently dead if left alone. To distract the cat from the departed, families would wrestle, sing, dance, tell riddles, or spread catnip inside the house. They kept the body in a room without a fire to avoid attracting the warmth-seeking Cat Sìth.
133 - 3
Paxson, AK, is a marshy town where White Death currently resides.White Death.White Death allegedly started its terror more than 200 years ago. Legend states a huge white tiger hunts the area for other wild animals, livestock, and people under snowstorms.
Witnesses describe White Death as nine feet long and five feet tall. Two dark stripes run down its white back. Estimates place the creature's weight near one thousand pounds. Its mouth shows canines nearly eight inches long.
117 - 4
Japanese lore states that the Kasha.Kasha.House cats learned magic. Superstitious people later tied a cat's tail to stop this. Kasha are said to collect people from graves if they live evil lives.
Disguised as house cats, these Japanese demons become bipedal cats to steal corpses. Sometimes, the evil soul moves to Hell inKasha steals corpses from Japan's graveyards and takes them to hell.The Kasha uses a flaming cart for eternal damnation. Other times, the Kasha takes the evildoer's empty shell and performs necromancy to make a zombie. Sometimes, the Kasha just eats the corpse.
Wary families staged decoy funerals to trick the cat demon into attacking a coffin full of rocks. A razor on a coffin can also keep the Kasha away from the dead. Funeral chants, "Don’t be eaten by a baku, don’t be eaten by a kasha," twice keep Kasha from crashing the party.
89 - 5
Mythology describes the serpopard as a terrifying cross between a leopard and a serpent.The serpopard is a terrifying cross between a leopard and a serpent.A serpopard has a leopard's body, a serpent's long neck, and a leopard's head. Egyptian art shows serpopards in pairs, necks tangled, symbolizing chaos. This is theThe serpopard is chaos.Egypt viewed the rest of the world beyond its borders as chaos.
Serpopards appear in artwork being restrained or attacking other animals.This serves as another metaphorThe serpopard is for the rest of the world.
88 - 6
"Alien Cat"Alien Cat” is a general term for the many average-sized predatory felines reportedly roaming the British countryside. The badger is actually the largest native predator in Great Britain, so there shouldn't be wild, puma-sized cats there.
Sightings of these cats have been steady since the 1970s, when The Dangerous Wild Animal Act passed. British citizens bought exotic pets, and this law forced them to get rid of poor animals, likely dumping them in the wild.
In 1983, a farmer in South Molton lost 100 sheep to throat slashing over three months. The British government noticed and sent Royal Marine Snipers to kill the beast, felling the livestock. A 16-year-old girl on her way to work saw a large black cat with a long tail and white feet.
Many photographs and accounts of Alien Cats are as recent as the early 2000s, suggesting an impressive lifespan. In 2009, someone in an area with sheep loss captured a video of the alleged culprit: a black cat-like creature.
77 - 7
In Iceland, Jólakötturinn gives life lessons during the holiday season.Jólakötturinn, the Yule CatThe Yule Cat stalks the countryside during holiday time, seeking people who did not receive new clothes for Christmas. This cat was first mentioned in a poem written in 1932.
A giant feline checks every child's clothes. This shows they finished chores before Christmas. Those who fail get snatched and eaten before Jólakötturinn moves to the next house for the same act.
Icelanders use the Jólakötturinn tale to stop children from being lazy. The legend also tells those with more to share with the less fortunate. Why let a giant cat eat a neighbor when a gift of socks can save a life?
75 - 8
Tanzanian folklore sets the origin of itsMngwaThe Mngwa grew at the feet of a rich nobleman who ignored his cat. The legend says this nobleman's cat grew fast, like the main character inClifford the Big Red Dog.
Unlike a cheerful children's story, the Mngwa's appetite grew as it got bigger. It first ate chickens, then livestock, and finally ate fully grown humans. Still, the nobleman would not control his pet.
During a countryside tour with his six sons, the Mngwa attacked and killed three of them. A surviving son destroyed the Mngwa, declaring it an enemy. Mngwa also terrorized towns, killing many people and livestock in Tanzanian fishing villages, leaving brindle and gray hair on victims before vanishing.
66 - 9
The Cactus CatThe Cactus Cat shares features with a small lion. It has creepy additions: bony protrusions on its forearms, thorny fur, a barbed tail, and horns made of clustered barbs behind its ears.
The cat wanders the American Southwest. It uses its sharp body to cut open cacti and drink the sap. The creature follows a set path, making a circle to drink from several cacti. This lets the sap ferment, making the creature drunk.
When Cactus CatWhen the Cactus Cat gets drunk, it stumbles into human campsites. It slaps victims, leaving them bloody and bruised with its barbed tail. Anyone following the creature to steal its fermented drinks faces the same fate. When the Cactus Cat is drunk, it rubs its bony forearms together, making a rasping sound with its wails.
63 - 10
The Huan Cat of China is a large, three-tailed cat with one eye. It has strange abilities in life and death. The Huan Cat's roar is so loud, hundreds of animals can hear it.Hundreds of animals can hear the Huan Cat's roar.Other versions of the legend describe the creature asable to copyThe Huan Cat of China has one eye. It can mimic other animal sounds, and hundreds of other animals do too.
Raising a Huan Cat as a pet supposedly protects owners from evil and negativity near the creature. However, some people also believe wearing its skin or eating its flesh cures jaundice.
61
More like this

17 People Share Funny Stories Of Being Mistaken For Employees
On Subreddit r/IDontWorkHereLady, people share funny stories of being mistaken for employees. We've compiled the most hilariously frustrating ones, varying from frustrating to wholesome - vote up the best ones!

Strongest MCU Characters, Ranked
Over 7,000 fans voted on 20+ characters in Strongest Characters In The MCU, Ranked. The current top 3 are Thor, Scarlet Witch, and Doctor Strange.

Best 'My Hero Academia' Fanfiction, Ranked
Over 13K fans voted on 30+ items for Best 'My Hero Academia' Fanfiction, Ranked. The top 3 are Hero Class Civil Warfare, Yesterday Upon The Stair, and Erased Potential.

Ouija Board Enthusiasts Meet Zozo
On Reddit, people use Ouija boards to contact Zozo, a demon allegedly haunting since 1816. Redditors share outlandish tales that seem too real to be fiction, claiming Zozo torments and teases believers who use these boards.

Comments (0)
Join the conversation
Sign in to share your take and reply to others.
First take? Share what stood out to you.