NC Cryptid File #011

Not every booger lives under your bed.

Some live in the mountains.

Long before “booger” became something children laughed about, the word had another meaning across Appalachia.

A booger was whatever you hoped you never met walking home after dark.

The Rich Mountain Booger was said to roam the forests around Rich Mountain near the North Carolina-Tennessee line. Witnesses described a large, shaggy creature moving through the trees with surprising speed, appearing just long enough to remind people they weren’t alone.

Unlike Bigfoot, the Rich Mountain Booger wasn’t famous.

It didn’t need to be.

Its job was to stay in local stories.

Parents used it to convince children not to wander too far into the woods.

Hunters blamed strange noises on it.

Travelers kept an eye on the trail after sunset.

As years passed, the legend settled comfortably into Appalachian folklore.

Maybe it was a black bear.

Maybe it was an unusually large person glimpsed from a distance.

Maybe it was simply the mountains giving a name to the feeling that somebody was watching.

Some stories don’t need proof.

They only need another generation willing to tell them.

Field Notes

Classification: Mountain Cryptid

Location: Rich Mountain, North Carolina

Habitat: Appalachian forests

First Recorded: 1800s

Historic Sightings: 19th & 20th centuries

Estimated Height: Unknown

Folklore Fame: Local Legend

Current Status: Unexplained