Keeping Up Appearances with the Jersey Devil

When we think of the Jersey Devil, we all too often think of the 1909 creature that was a mixture of several different animals suddenly appearing to witnesses and causing havoc in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.  But the actual area around which the Jersey Devil appears is far wider than most witnesses think.  And the dates involved are all the way up to present day.  Of the several groups dedicated to hunting this old menace, few have as much information as The Devil Hunters.  And as one witness reported to them, the Jersey Devil is alive and well, and still making appearances.

The witness’ account was reported to the Devil Hunters and was posted to their website.  It all began on October 1st, 2008 when the witness was out walking his dog around 4:00 in the afternoon.  The witness had come home from a long day at school and was at that moment exploring the woods around the drainage basin behind his house.  But what began as a simple walking of the dog that afternoon ended in terror.

The witness first noticed something was wrong when his dog started backing away from a strange sight or smell.  It was pulling on the leash, refusing to venture further into the woods and focusing its eyes one single point nearby.  The bush the witness had at first thought might be swaying in the wind soon proved to be rustling violently as if something were behind it.  But as the witness waited for what he thought was a deer or another dog to emerge, he still couldn’t get his dog to acknowledge the possibility that they may not in fact be in grave danger.  But his efforts proved fruitless.  The dog knew something unusual was nearby.  And it wanted to get as far away from that place as possible.

As the witness tried to drag his dog forward, it continued panicking.  Soon he found himself focusing on the bush.  It was then that “something” lunged out of them and stood in front of him in all its horrific glory.

The head and body was unmistakable.  It had the head of a horse, but massive wings that stretched out to either side.  It hissed out a tremendous grunting sound and its wings shot out to its sides like a massive bat.  The dog was immediately frozen with fear, as was the witness temporarily.  The two simply stood transfixed and watched as it then leapt into the air with its tail continuing to lash about behind it.  Eventually it landed on a tree branch above them and stared down at them as if to declare its dominion over the surrounding area.  

The witness reports that he felt his heart pounding in his chest.  As the creature let out another scream the witness and his dog suddenly found their legs and sprinted from the mysterious scene.  When they eventually got home they were able to count themselves among the few who had actually seen the Jersey Devil in 2008,  and both had lived to tell the tale.