Cooter

The boomlands isn't overrun with giant mutated animals, but they're not as uncommon a sight as most people would like. Inscects--ants, scorpions, cockroaches--are far and away the most common irradiated giants that folks are likely to encounter out in the wild, probably because bugs are more likely to survive the high levels of radiation required to cause such drastic mutations. Still, the bugs aren't alone and there are reports of giant (with "giant" being a very rubbery designation) creatures of just about every type. Most people are willing to take accounts of giant critters at face value, but a beer-drinking armadillo the size of a volkswagon microbus?
They call him "Cooter" and the stories have been spreading out from Texas since not long after the Boom. He's mostly been spotted around the Texas/New Mexico border, but there have been sightings all over southwest Texas and eastern New Mexico. Cooter is said to be fairly sluggish and uninterested in human activity most of the time, but there's one thing that will always get his attention: booze. He's reportedly ransacked camps in search of the stuff, destroyed stills and brewing operations, and even attacked convoys with significant amounts of liquor among their cargo.
Even for people who take tales of Cooter at face value, the assertion that he's particularly fond of beer and prefers Lone Star, the national beer of Texas, is where most people draw the line. Most folks write that part of the story off to the eccentricities of Texas pride.

Spread

Rumors of Cooter started at camps who were in contact with one another in Texas not long after humanity came out of the bunker, but it wasn't until dinertowns started popping up that Cooter became a subject of discussion throughout the Booomlands. Not surprisingly, the Mojo World dinertown is ground zero for Cooter stories. Just about everyone based in that part of the world has a yarn about how their cousin's girlfriend's uncle had a close encounter with the beast. Mojo and his crew have cashed in on their association with the creature, selling Cooter rag dolls, hand-painted Cooter merchandise, and their own home-brewed approximation of Lone Star beer.

Cultural Reception

Lots of people find tales of Cooter a little hard to swallow, but most of those same people have encountered other giant mutant animals, so they can't just write it off.

Date of First Recording

Mid 1970s

Date of Setting

The Big Boom to the present

Related Locations

• Mojo World