Today’s monster hails from the east coast.
The Jersey Devil- no not someone from Jersey Shores- the Jersey Devil’s been around much longer than that brood.
The Jersey Devil either came about from an unhappy mothers curse in 1735 or was born in 1850 from a gypsy curse on a young girl. Either way the monster was born in Pine Barrens New Jersey, then escaped into the woods and continues to live there.
The Jersey Devil has a head like a horse or possibly a ram with large bat-like wings, and a long serpentine body. Tales of the Jersey Devil have waxed and waned like the moon it fly’s under, but one of the largest “Jersey Devil sightings and tales” period was a week in January 1909. Makes one wonder what happened then- hmm- maybe a story idea? :)
During that week, eyewitness accounts were documented in the papers with most witnesses reporting eerie sounds from near the Delaware river and the appearance of a strange glowing creature in the sky. Hoof prints of a strange animal were found in unlikely locations such a roofs, and the tops of chicken coops. No one has caught one yet though.
Want more info? http://www.elktownship.com/myth.html
"Stuff Ya Didn't Know Friday" is a weekly look at weirdness...creatures, places, people, myths, whatever I happen to come across that makes me say, "Hmmmmm?"
Yet another fascinating thing I did not know !
ReplyDeleteLoved this post. Who'dve thought Jersey had such an interesting legend going for it. Hmmm, we had the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I'm going to have to do research b/c I'm sure we in New York have something better to offer. We can't be upstaged by those folks on the other side of the Hudson. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by ladies! :) LOL- you get 'em Gabriella!
ReplyDeleteWow! I actually lived there and did a news story on it ages ago. I just published a book called End of Mae inspired by the legend that takes place in the Pine Barrens. It's listed as a reference on Wikipedia. That area was so scary after dark o.o
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