Looking for an American folklore beastie
Not sure how appropriate this is for this sub but “Fictional Mythology” is one of the flair options so here goes;
I read an illustrated storybook compilation as a child (I believe it might’ve skewed more “Snow Queen” & “Thumbelina” TBH, less Homer’s Odyssey) and my vague memories of one specific tale are bugging TF out of me. I’m 90% sure it was set in America - somewhere with mountains & pine-trees, probably pre-20th century - and was about… well something that was drawn a lot like the attached image here.
It was a big quasi-bipedal leonine thing like from Disney’s “Beauty & the Beast”, only non-sapient and decidedly chimeric. Wings, horns, a scaled fish tale IIRC, etc.. The story itself was either about it menacing a secluded town (and possibly falling to its death out of a tree at the end, lol?), or mayyybe about a townsperson simply making it up as a tall tale & constantly adding new stuff. In either case, it had “fearsome critter” energy, and I got the impression it was a minor cultural touchstone. I could’ve sworn it’s name was even shorthand for big hairy hodgepodge monsters. Something like… “bugaboo” or “gruffalo” or IDFK “nallywag” but obviously/evidently none of those. Ring any bells to anyone here?