In the folk traditions of the Alpine region of south-central Europe, the Tatzelwurm or Stollenwurm or Stollwurm is a serpent-like entity with four short legs or two forelegs, a face resembling a cat, and a body resembling a snake. The supposed beast can sometimes be described as hissing or making a high-pitched sound, being venomous, or attacking with poisonous breath. Several places in Europe, including that of Austrian, Bavarian, French, Italian, and Swiss Alps, have accounts of meetings with the beast or short documented legends about it. Other local names for it include Bergstutz, Springwurm, Praatzelwurm, and Arassas in French. A 1680 account of dragon sightings in Switzerland was later reproduced in 1723 with copperplate depictions of the creatures. Hans Fuchs, a farmer, had a run-in with the Tatzelwurm, according to a tradition from 1779. The legend has it that he spotted two of these animals right in front of him while in the highlands. He rushed to his house out of fear for his life and passed away from a heart attack as a result. He allegedly told his family about the encounter before he passed away, characterizing it as a 5- to 7-foot-long creature with a serpent-like body, two clawed front legs, and a big feline-like head. Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre, a naturalist, claimed in 1887 book of — History of Dragons of the Alps — that these entities could all be classified as lizard or snake species while blithely ignoring the cat-like traits. Together with the folklore surrounding them, Dalla Torre believed that these ancient huge creatures had vanished by the time of his day, but that the reputation of Tatzelwurm as a Phantom of these fabled giants persisted in his time [Information and Image Credit : Tatzelwurm , Wikipedia; Wikipedia-Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatzelwurm ] [Image: Depiction of the cat-faced Mountain Dragon of the Swiss Alps claimed to have been encountered in Sarganserland, c. 1660.] [The Work (Image) is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the life of Author plus 100 years or fewer. The Work (Image) is probably also in Public Domain in the United States as well. (Please Relate to Source Image-URL for More Image Usage Property and License) Wikipedia-Image-Source-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Houghton_Swi_607.23_-_Ouresipho%C3%ADtes_helveticus,_fig_X.jpg ] #Mythology
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