The Splintercat is a nocturnal feline animal of great ferocity. It flies through the air with terrific speed and when it hits a large tree, it knocks the branches off, withers the trunk and leaves it standing like a silvery ghost. These dead snags can be seen in many parts of the Pacific Northwest. The splinter cat performs this feat that it is named after to expose bees and honey to eat. However, the act of breaking open trees with its head leaves it with a constant headache, which causes it always to be in a foul mood. Accordingly, one is advised to never approach a splintercat.
"Splintercat Creek", found in the northern Cascade Range of Oregon is named after this legendary animal.
The Splintercat appears in the book 'The Last of The Really Great Whangdoodles' by Julie Andrews Edwards. This particular Splintercat answers to the Prime Minister of Whangdoodland and also enjoys playing Cat's Cradle.
A widely distributed and frightfully destructive animal is the splinter cat. It is found from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, but in the Rocky Mountains has been reported from only a few localities. Apparently the splinter cat inhabits that part of the country in which wild bees and raccoons abound. These are its natural food, and the animal puts in every dark and stormy night shattering trees in search of coons or honey. It doesn't use any judgement in selecting coon trees or bee trees, but just smashes one tree after another until a hollow one containing food is found. The method used by this animal in its destructive work is simple but effective. It climbs one tree, and from the uppermost branches bounds down and across toward the tree it wishes to destroy. Striking squarely with its hard face, the splinter cat passes right on, leaving the tree broken and shattered as though struck by lightning or snapped off by the wind. Appalling destruction has been wrought by this animal in the Gulf States, where its work in the shape of a wrecked forest is often ascribed to windstorms.