The nokos oma (“like-a-bear”) is an obscure creature from Muskogee folklore. It is described in Bill Grantham’s Creation Myths and Legends of the Creek Indians (University Press of Florida, 2002):
Like-a-Bear was about the size of an ordinary black bear but always carried its head near the earth and had immense tusks that crossed each other. The Oklahoma Seminoles described this being as about two feet tall and smelling worse than a skunk. (36)
So, apparently you don’t want to startle it. Either it’s as big as a regular bear and it may well gore you with its tusks, or it’s tiny but stinks to high heaven.
Darrell J. Pursiful 