Gumberoo

Sometimes, all you need is a shallow lake, a slow news day, and a story that's too good not to believe.

Now, from the same tradition of lumberjack tall tales that gave us Pennsylvania's weepy squonk, comes a far tougher but equally bizarre beast from the Pacific Northwest, the Gumbaroo.

This fearsome critter, said to haunt the forest near Idaho's St. Joe River, is a perfect example of the wildly imaginative stories told to pass the time in isolated logging camps, a tradition that would have been familiar to the old woodsmen anywhere in our great nation.

The Gumbaroo is described as a large, stout, and often hungry bear-like creature.

Its most remarkable feature is its skin.

It's completely hairless, with a smooth, dark, leathery hide stretched so tight that it's said to be nearly impenetrable.

Lumberjacks, in the stories, would tell of their bullets bouncing harmlessly off the beast's rubbery flank, making it seem like an invincible foe.

It was known to be lazy, often sleeping in the hollowed-out stumps of burnt cedar trees, but possessed a voracious appetite, particularly for pork, and would frequently raid camps for food.

Sometimes, all you need is a shallow lake, a slow news day, and a story that's too good not to believe.

Now, from the same tradition of lumberjack tall tales that gave us Pennsylvania's weepy squonk, comes a far tougher but equally bizarre beast from the Pacific Northwest, the Gumbaroo.

This fearsome critter, said to haunt the forest near Idaho's St. Joe River, is a perfect example of the wildly imaginative stories told to pass the time in isolated logging camps, a tradition that would have been familiar to the old woodsmen anywhere in our great nation.

The Gumbaroo is described as a large, stout, and often hungry bear-like creature.

Its most remarkable feature is its skin.

It's completely hairless, with a smooth, dark, leathery hide stretched so tight that it's said to be nearly impenetrable.

Lumberjacks, in the stories, would tell of their bullets bouncing harmlessly off the beast's rubbery flank, making it seem like an invincible foe.

It was known to be lazy, often sleeping in the hollowed-out stumps of burnt cedar trees, but possessed a voracious appetite, particularly for pork, and would frequently raid camps for food.