You have to love pre-modern bestiaries. From Edward Topsell’s The Historie of Foure-Footed Beastes (1607) comes this description Of the Gorgon, or strange Lybian Beast:
Among the manifold and divers sorts of Beasts which are bred in Affricke, it is thought that the Gorgon is brought foorth in that countrey. It is a feareful and terrible beast to beholdd, it hath high and thicke eie lids, eies not very great, but much like an Oxe or Bugils, but all fiery-bloudy, which neyther looke directly forwarde, nor yet upwards, but continuallye downe to the earth, and therefore are called in Greeke Catobleponta, From the crowne of their head downe to their nose they have a long hanging mane, which maketh them to looke fearefully. It eateth deadly and poysonfull hearbs, and if at any time he see a Bull or other creature whereof he is afraid, he presently causeth his mane to stand upright, and being so lifted up, opening his lips, and gaping wide, sendeth forth of his throat a certaine sharpe and horrible breath, which infecteth and poysoneth the air above his head, so that all living creatures which draw in the breath of that aire are greevously afflicted thereby, loosing both voyce and sight, they fall into leathall and deadly convulsions. It is bred in Hesperia and Lybia.The Poets have a fiction that the Gorgones were the Daughters of Medusa and Phocynis, and are called Steingo, and by Hesiodus Stheno, and Euryale inhabiting the Gorgonic Ilands in the Aethiopick Ocean, over against the gardens of Hesperia. Medusa is said to have the haires of his heid to be living Serpents, against whom Perseus fought and cut off his head, for which cause he was placed in heaven on the North side of the Zodiacke above the Waggon, and on the left hand holding the Gorgons head.1 The truth is that there were certaine Amazonian women in Affricke divers from the Scithians, against whom Perseus made Warre, and the captaine of those women was called Medusa, whom Perseus overthrew and cut off her head, and from thence came the Poets fiction discribing it with Snakes growing out of it as is aforesaid. These Gorgons are bred in that countrey, and have such haire about their heads as not onely exceedeth all other beastes, but also poysoneth when he standeth upright. Pliny called this beast Catablepon, because it continually looketh downeward, and saith that all the parts of it are but smal excepting the head which is very heavy, and exceedeth the proportion of his body which is never lifted up, but all living creatures die that see hie eies.
By which there ariseth a question whether the poison which he sendeth foorth, proceede from his breath or from his eyes. Whereupon it is more probable, that like the Cockatrice he killeth by seeing, then by the breath of his mouth which is not competible to any other beasts in the world. Besides when the Souldiors of Marius followed Iugurtha, they sawe one of these Gorgons, and supposing it was some sheepe, bending the head continually to the earth, and moving slowly, they set upon him with their swordes, whereat the Beast disdaining suddenly discovered his eies, setting his haire upright at the sight whereof the Souldiors fel downe dead.