Swamp Booger

About

Swamp Boogers, also known as Assquatch, are taxidermy pieces made from the buttocks of an animal, which is leftover after the head as been mounted. This is a means of using more of the animal in taxidermy, adding eyes and mouths to the buttocks, creating bizarre-looking creatures for humorous effect.

Origin

The term "Swamp Booger" has likely been used prior to its appearance online. For example, the song "Swamp Booger Boogie" was played in an April 2004 performance by the band Sam Reefer and the Resin Valley Boys.^[1] The song was later featured on their 2006 album Texas Hill Country (song below).^[2]

The earliest known photograph of a traditional Swamp Booger was published on September 24th, 2004 by michigan-sportsman^[3] user reelcatchy. The post received more than 7,700 views in a little over 15 years (shown below).

Spread

On December 31st, 2006, author Don Burleson included a Swamp Booger in a post entitled "Make you own redneck art."^[4] The post included a photograph of several Swamp Boogers, calling them "Deer Butt Alien Heads" (example below, left).

Six years later on February 5th, 2012, YouTuber Applefish2112 shared a video entitled "Swamp Booger!!!" In the video, a boy is awakened by a man holding a Swamp Booger. The post received more than 30,000 views in less than eight years (shown below, right).

On March 2nd, 2013, Facebook user "Mother of Swamp Booger – Hermoso" posted a photograph of a Swamp Booger (shown below, left).

The image inspired various image edits (example below, center).

On April 22nd, 2018, Twitter user @nel_ngubane used the image as the depiction of someone's man in tweet captioned "'Stay away from my man' / Her man." The tweet received more than 200 likes and 180 retweets (shown below, right).

On May 23rd, 2018, Vice ^[5] posted the article "Taxidermists Are Seriously Turning Deer Butts into Assquatches." In the article, taxidermist Pat Morrin explains how Swamp Booger is used as a practical joke in the industry. They write:

Sometimes, when Pat Morrin has people over, a certain taxidermied creation--one with a big beard, brooding eyes, and a jutting snout--tends to catch the eye of his company.

"What is that thing,” they’ll ask the taxidermy collector and brocker, looking the creature up and down. From here, Morrin typically launches into a winding tale regarding a since-extinct monkey from the Louisiana swamp--a rare creature known as a swamp booger. “Oh wow,” they respond, “really?”

“Nah,” he’ll say. “It’s a deer’s asshole.”

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References