View source for Squonk

{{short description|Mythical creature from American folklore}}
{{About||the performance art company|Squonk Opera|the song by Genesis|Squonk (song)}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name          = Squonk
|AKA           = ''Lacrimacorpus dissolvens''
|image         = File:Squonk.png
|image_size    = 
|caption       = Squonk{{right|{{small|―Illustrated by Coert Du Bois in  ''Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods'' (1910)}}}}
|Folklore     = [[American folklore]]
|Grouping      = [[Fearsome critter]]
|Family       = 
|Country       = [[United States of America|USA]]
|Region        = [[Pennsylvania]]<ref name="cox"/>
|Details       = 
|First_Attested = 1910
|Similar_entities = 
}}
The '''squonk''' is a [[mythical creature]] that is reputed to live in the [[Tsuga|hemlock]] forests of northern [[Pennsylvania]] in the [[United States]].<ref name="cox">{{cite book|last=Cox |first=William T. |author-link=William T. Cox |others=Illustrated by Coert Du Bois |title=Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Judd & Detweiler, Inc |date=1910 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cNgW5S102uMC&pg=PA30 |pages=30–31}}</ref>

[[Johnstown, Pennsylvania]] celebrates the Squonk at the Squonkapalooza in August.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://squonkapalooza.com/ |title=Squonkapalooza |author=Holly Who Art |date=2025 |accessdate=2025-02-08}}</ref>

==Origins==
[[File:Squonk.jpg|thumb|alt=Squonk in Tryon Book|Squonk {{right|{{small|―Illustrated by Margaret R. Tryon in ''Fearsome Creatures'' (1939)}}}}]]
The first written account of the squonk was from the 1910 book ''[[Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods]]''.<ref name="White"/> 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.<ref name="Tryon"/> As logging camps were continuously moving in the early 20th century, this could explain their migration to Pennsylvania.<ref name="White"/>

==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)<ref name="cox"/>
}}

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.<ref name="Tryon">{{cite book|last=Tryon |first=Henry  |author-link=<!--Henry Tryon--> |others=Illustrated by Margaret R. Tryon |title=Fearsome Critters |location=Cornwall, New York |publisher=Idlewild Press |date=1939 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dJ41EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |pages=48–49 }}</ref>

The given "[[Type species|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.<ref name="White">{{cite book|last=O'Neil |first=Gerard |chapter=The Squonk: a Small Tale from Franklin County |editor-last=White |editor-first=Thomas |editor-link=<!--Thomas White --> |title=Supernatural Lore of Pennsylvania: Ghosts, Monsters and Miracles |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |date=2014 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qYmACQAAQBAJ&q=squonk |isbn=9781625850263}}</ref>

==In media==
The "squonk's tears" are referenced on [[Steely Dan]]'s 1974 track [[Any Major Dude Will Tell You]].  [[Genesis (band)|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 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 (chemistry)|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".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sommer |first=T. J. |author-link=<!--T. J. Gerard Sommer -->  |title=Chemical squonks |journal=Chemical Innovation |pages=24–28 |publisher=American Chemical Society |date=2000 |issn=1527-4799}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{American tall tales}}
[[Category:Fearsome critters]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania folklore]]