JAN'S TALES
Forest Creature
April, 1990, rural Marshall
County, Kentucky. I was attempting to make a residential delivery (Worked for a
World Wide Delivery company at the time of event). While walking up the gravel
drive I noticed a flock of birds flying overhead coming from the direction of a
thick grouping of trees in the back of a field to my left. They were chattering
loudly and flying wildly in what seemed to be a race. As they got closer I
noticed that there were different species flying together...Blue Jays,
Cardinals, Black Birds, Finches, etc...This struck me as odd for a moment.
When
I reached the steps to the porch of the home I heard the thunder of hooves
hitting the ground and turned and saw many horses that were in the field come
running from the edge of the forest towards the house, they too where whinnying
and making a lot of commotion. Before I could really think anything about it, I
saw several deer leaping from the thick trees and running thru the fields away
from the same spot, and behind the horses. My first thought then was that there
was a fire! I hurried to the residence door and knocked very hard and
repeatedly, while scanning the sky for any signs of smoke. No one answered.
Having delivered here before I thought the occupant might be around back in the
barn so I left the porch and turned to walk in that direction, that's when I
heard the most terrifying sound in my entire life that I knew could not have
been human or from any known animal in this area.
The sound came from the thick group of trees and echoed over the fields in thick
vibrations. It was a mixture of a deep lions growl that heightened into a scream
containing the same low, deep, loud rhythm. I stood stunned, half scared and
half curious. From the area of the trees where the sound traveled from was the
figure of something very tall, very large in width and very strong, as some of
the smaller pine trees about 10 to 15 feet in height were being shaken back and
forth vigorously and violently. The figure itself was not totally visible but
hidden mostly behind the shadows of the larger trees behind and around it. It
was dark in color, guessing dark brown or black, with a thick furry outline. It
looked to have stood well over 8 feet in height. It began moving along the edge
of the trees towards the house, just keeping inside the safety of the shadows.
(At the time, I was thirty years old, and was seven to eight months
pregnant. The sighting occurred somewhere between 10:30 am and noon.
The event lasted from twenty to thirty seconds, with the strange
creature remaining about 100 feet away in the shadows.)
Although I couldn't see
any facial features, I felt that it was staring at me - I had goose bumps, the
hair on the back of my neck was standing up, and my legs were trembling with
fear and excitement. The animal was "eight feet to nine feet tall, at least,"
and was from three to four feet wide. It was covered with hair that was darker
than the tree trunks that were in the shadows. It moved slowly and deliberately,
and with caution, taking a few steps and then pausing, and then a few more steps
and pausing again. The horses in the pasture where on the far right hand side
now, rising up and hitting the fence with their hooves. This was too much
excitement for me, and I turned to run to my truck. That hideous sound came thru
the air again, but this time it was much closer than before, I quickly made it
into the truck, started the engine and left very rapidly.
(Half way expecting the engine to be flooded or the battery dead, like in
some lame horror movie.)
This event left me pretty shaken, but it was also my duty as a courier to return
to the home the next day to re attempt the delivery. Upon reaching said home, I
briefly explained to the occupant what occurred the day before, expecting him to
start laughing. To my surprise, he only agreed that there had been some strange
sounds coming from 'those neck of the woods' lately, and that his horses were
frequently 'spooked' by something in the area. He also stated that a friend of
his had took his hunting dog back there a few weeks prior to this incident and
that the dog took out after something, disappeared from sight, let out curdling
yelping sounds, then went quiet. He said his buddy found what was left of the
dog, it's head was not to be found, and that there had been a fowl odor around
the area at the time. He further insisted it was probably a 'bobcat' or
something and never suggested anything else, except not to 'go in them there
woods' by myself.
Not to worry, I had no intentions of it.
Post Script: There is a place close to here called Land Between the Lakes that
has several stories of a 'Beast' that lives in the dense forests there. Also,
neighboring counties all have their own tales to tell. I have done research on
these stories years ago, in fact the local paper here, the Paducah Sun,
published one of the stories (The Beast of LBL) in a Halloween section of their
paper some 18 years ago. And that will be another story to
submit soon....stay tuned!
-Jan Thompson.