Bronze statue of the six-legged Wampus Cat located at Conway High School
The Wampus cat is a cat-like creature in American folklore that varies widely in appearance, ranging from frightful to comical, depending on region.
Description
Early references, by the American Dialect Society, noted the Wampus cat as "a creature heard whining about camps at night," "a spiritual green-eyed cat, having occult powers," or "an undefined imaginary animal."[1] Folklorist Vance Randolph described the Wampus cat as "a kind of amphibious panther which leaps into the water and swims like a colossal mink."[2]
Conway Junior High/ High School, Conway, Arkansas – seen as a six-legged swamp cat. Described by locals as "a mountain lion with six legs: four for running at the speed of light, and two for fighting with all its might."[4]
The Uwharrie Wampus Cats, a wood-bat baseball team in Albemarle, North Carolina[8]
The Wampus cat has been associated in several South-Eastern tribal beliefs as a shape-shifter. One can find the story in Cherokee folklore.[9]
Margaret R. Tryon's 1939 depiction of the Wampus cat catching an eagle.
In popular culture
A musical ensemble who recorded several tracks in 1937 and 1938, and consisting of six or seven string musicians including Oscar "Buddy" Woods, were billed as "the Wampus Cats".[10]
Kobold Press converted the Wampus cat into a monster for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition in its sourcebook Tome of Beasts. These Wampus cats appear as female mountain lions with the heads of human, trollkin, orc, or goblin women and are created through curses leveled by shamans upon women who practice forbidden magic. Possessing the ability to enthrall others with their voice, Wampus cats despise all men, but especially holy men, priests, and shamans, whom they seek to kill in retribution for their fate.
Pardon My Take, a sports podcast, used the Wampus cat as a euphemism for consuming a large amount of chewing tobacco as a punishment for mistakenly predicting a “whomping” in the 2022 NBA Playoff series between the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets.
The 1965 Tommy Collins (singer) song "If You Can't Bite, Don't Growl" includes the lyrics "I'm a wampus kitty and a mean mamma".