Aside from a few mentions elsewhere, bobołaks appear only in one short story, "Droga, z której się nie wraca" ("A Road with No Return"), about Geralt's mother, Visenna, which takes place before Geralt's birth. In the English translation of The Last Wish short story collection by Danusia Stok, bobołaks are called "bogeymen" in one instance, and "weretots" in another, while in Michael Kandel's translation of "The Witcher" short story, they are called "werecats", despite there being mentions of actual werecats elsewhere in Andrzej Sapkowski's books. In the German translation by Erik Simon they are called "Murmelmenschen" which apparently derives from the appearance of the Marmot ("Murmeltier" in German).