There are a lot of strange things you don’t want to encounter in the woods, and one of them includes a fat, bald exploding bear. Learn more about our Creature Feature Friday cryptid, THE GUMBEROO, originally printed in the blog 9 Cryptids That Are (Probably) Too Absurd To Be Real!

1) The Gumberoo comes out of lumberjack legends, hailing from the foggy region along the Pacific Coast. It bears a resemblance to black bears, except that it is completely hairless but for its bristly beard and big eyebrows.

2) The bald hide is said to be impenetrable even to bullets, which tend to bounce off its skin and fly straight back at whomever has made the poor choice to shoot at it.

3) Confusingly, sometimes Gumberoo stories include reports that the beast has up to eight legs and can swing from trees, while other reports claim it prefers to spend its time holed up in the bases of burned out cedars, coming out only to satisfy its ravenous appetite; its hairless elastic skin allows the Gumberoo to consume up to an entire horse in one sitting.

4) The differing descriptions probably come from the fact that Gumberoo sightings have been incredibly rare, and no proof of their existence has been produced. Not only does its strong hide prevent it from being killed, it seems the only thing that can damage the rotund cryptid is fire - which causes the Gumberboo to immediately explode on contact, so good luck finding a body.

5) Allegedly, a photographer named S. W. Allen once succeeded in snapping a photograph of the mysterious Gumberoo, but - fittingly - the negative exploded and destroyed the evidence.