DAHU

Dahu's on first, Dawhat's on second. Wait, we're not doing that bit. We're here to talk about another legendary mythical creature. Now, let's play ball!

Taken at face value, the Dahu may resemble a pretty ordinary mountain goat, chamois or ibex. You're probably thinking, "Hey this is supposed to be the Creature Feature. And you're giving me a goat?" But that's what is so iconically interesting about this French, Swiss and Italian hybrid. Just as you can wander through the Alps, viewing soaring, snow-capped jagged mountains as they change and tumble into the landscape, skirting regions of three different countries and cultures, so too does the Dahu change upon initial viewing.

To behold this magical creature is in fact a matter of perspective. Unlike other quadrupeds, the legs on one side of the Dahu's body are shorter than the opposite side. Sound like a pain in the ass? Not if you spend your life living on a rocky slope. The Dahu's asymmetry allows it to stand horizontal as it walks on plunging, steep-as-shit terrain.

Okay, so letting that sink in a moment, you might come to the conclusion that if its uphill legs are shorter, the Dahu can only walk in one direction. Well, the French and Swiss hunters of yore thought of a quick solution for this first-draft creature idea! There are actually two types of Dahu! Yeah, not so smart now, are ya? The laevogyrous dahu has shorter left legs, allowing it to walk around the mountain counter-clockwise; the dextrogyre dahu has shorter right legs, allowing it to walk around the mountain clockwise. Both versions get really annoyed if they leave the house and realize they forgot their keys.

Unlike other folklore meant to dazzle imagination or instill fear or teach a lesson, the Dahu is actually pretty chill and is often the butt of the joke. A "dahu hunt" is an event in which hunters take their friend out to hunt a dahu, and then leave the poor sap stranded overnight. Kind of like a wild goose chase, but you're left for dead in the middle of the Alps—ha ha, real funny, fellas! Uh... fellas? Anyone?

One thing's for certain: folk tales are nothing without a sense of humor. This yeti of the Pyrenees, enigma of the Alpine, has long persisted mostly because people find it to be kinda funny. Or maybe the altitude has just gotten to their heads. Depends on how you look at it.

See you out there.