Squonk
Mythical creature from American folklore
title: "Squonk" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["fearsome-critters", "folklore-of-pennsylvania", "unguled-cryptids"] description: "Mythical creature from American folklore" topic_path: "general/fearsome-critters" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squonk" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mythical creature from American folklore ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mythical creature"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Squonk |
| AKA | Lacrimacorpus dissolvens |
| image | File:Squonk.png |
| caption | Squonk |
| Folklore | American folklore |
| Grouping | Fearsome critter |
| Country | USA |
| Region | Pennsylvania |
| First_Attested | 1910 |
| :: |
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|name = Squonk |AKA = Lacrimacorpus dissolvens |image = File:Squonk.png |image_size = |caption = Squonk |Folklore = American folklore |Grouping = Fearsome critter |Family = |Country = USA |Region = Pennsylvania |Details = |First_Attested = 1910 |Similar_entities = The squonk is a mythical creature that is reputed to live in the hemlock forests of northern Pennsylvania in the United States.
Johnstown, Pennsylvania celebrates the Squonk at the Squonkapalooza in August.
Origins
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Squonk.jpg" caption="―Illustrated by Margaret R. Tryon in ''Fearsome critters'' (1939)}}}}" alt="Squonk in Tryon Book"] ::
The first written account of the squonk was from the 1910 book Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods. His provenance was attested in the next written iteration, in the 1939 book Fearsome Critters. This book suggested that the creatures had migrated from deserts to swamps to finally settle in Pennsylvania. As logging camps were continuously moving in the early 20th century, this could explain their migration to Pennsylvania.
Appearance and behavior
Unlike many mythological creatures, the supposed physical characteristics of the squonk remain unchanged from the original written account, which states:
::quote
::
|text=The squonk is of a very retiring disposition, generally traveling about at twilight and dusk. Because of its misfitting skin, which is covered with warts and moles, it is always unhappy ... Hunters who are good at tracking are able to follow a squonk by its tear-stained trail, for the animal weeps constantly. When cornered and escape seems impossible, or when surprised and frightened, it may even dissolve itself in tears. |author=William T. Cox |title="The Squonk" |source=Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods (1910)
Later retellings included that squonks were slowest on moonlit nights as they try to avoid seeing their ugly appearance in any illuminated bodies of water. In addition to warts and moles, the creatures were given webbed toes on their left feet.
The given "species" taxonomy of the creature, Lacrimacorpus dissolvens, is made up of the Latin tear, body, and dissolve. These refer to its supposed ability to dissolve when captured.
In media
The "squonk's tears" are referenced on Steely Dan's 1974 track Any Major Dude Will Tell You. Genesis included the song "Squonk" on A Trick of the Tail in 1976. A squonk is used as a monster in the sixth book in the series Dungeon Crawler Carl, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride. In season 5, episode 5 of Abbott Elementary, titled "Camping", Jacob tells Barbara about the legend of the squonk to scare her into ending the camping trip.
In scientific literature
Some substances are stable in solution or some other "wild" form but cannot be isolated or captured without actually catalyzing their own polymerization or decomposition ("dissolving in their own tears"). For example, a molecule containing a carboxylic acid moiety and an acid labile moiety might be stable when initially prepared as the salt (e.g., barium prephenate) but unstable as the free acid (prephenic acid). These have been named "chemical squonks".
References
References
- Cox, William T.. (1910). "Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods". Judd & Detweiler, Inc.
- Holly Who Art. (2025). "Squonkapalooza".
- Tryon, Henry. (1939). "Fearsome Critters". Idlewild Press.
- O'Neil, Gerard. (2014). "Supernatural Lore of Pennsylvania: Ghosts, Monsters and Miracles". Arcadia Publishing.
- Sommer, T. J.. (2000). "Chemical squonks". American Chemical Society.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::