In
American folklore, a teakettler is a creature with origins in
lumberjack
Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...
culture, specifically the lumber camps of
Minnesota and
Wisconsin. It is part of a group of related entities collectively as
Fearsome Critters. It is said to resemble a small stubby legged dog with the ears of a cat. Its name comes from the sound it makes, which is akin to that of a boiling
tea kettle
A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a type of pot specialized for boiling water, commonly with a ''lid'', ''spout'', and ''handle'', or a small electric kitchen appliance of similar shape that functions in a self-contained ...
. It only walks backwards, and steam issues from its mouth as it makes its whistle. As the myth goes, only a few lumberjacks have seen one, as they are very shy, but if a boiling kettle is heard and nowhere to be found, it is sure that a Teakettler is nearby.
An account is given by
Jorge Luis Borges under "Fauna of the United States" in ''
Book of Imaginary Beings'' (1957).
References
Fearsome critters
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