tripodero

plural tripoderos

1. USartsA mythical creature in lumberjack folklore said to have telescoping legs and a barrel-like mouth used for shooting prey.

   To bait the city slicker they invented preposterous practical jokes like the snipe hunt and fearsome critters like the tripodero and the hoop snake.

   1961, Herbert Brean, editor, The Life Treasury of American Folklore, C. D. Jackson, page 269

   2 more examples

   The tripodero is reputed seldom to miss a shot because it is “‘a deep student of ballistics, and has fine judgment of distance, wind, and drift.”

   1958, Mody C. Boatright, Robert B. Downs, John T. Flanagan, The Family saga and other phases of American folklore, page 42

   The tripodero, which has two telescoping legs and a tail like a kangaroo. It can elevate itself to see over the brush and spot a potential meal 10 rods away.

   1982, Boris Weintraub, “Bigfoot & Other Monsters”, in Soldiers October 1982, page 23