The Jersey Devil

     The bleak marshes of New Jersey in the USA have never been welcoming to people, and locals tell of strange sightings and chilling cries emanating from unknown sources in the dark. According to many, something evil is out there.
     The Jersey Devil is a creature of legend said to inhabit the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey. The Devil is often described as a bipedal flying creature with hooves, bat-like wings and the head of a deformed horse topped with two goat-like horns. This inexplicable beast has been terrifying locals for more than 200 years, emerging in the dead of night to kill wild and domestic animals and abduct small children.

     In a single week in January 1909, more than 1,000 people claimed to have come face-to-face with the Jersey Devil, being seen by homeowners, policemen and local officials. So very similar were the separate accounts that local and national newspapers had no choice but to take the story seriously. Newspapers nationwide followed the story and published eyewitness reports. Hysteria gripped the entire state during this terrible week.

• 16th (Saturday) — The Devil was sighted flying over Woodbury.
• 17th (Sunday) — In Bristol, Pennsylvania, several people saw the creature and tracks from cloven hooves were found in the snow the following day.
• 18th (Monday) — Burlington was covered in the same tracks that seemed to defy logic; some were found on rooftops, others seemed to disappear completely. Several other towns found similar footprints.
• 19th (Tuesday) — Nelson Evans and his wife, of Gloucester, sighted the Devil outside their window at 2:30 AM.
  • Mr. Evans gave the following account: "It was about three feet and a half high, with a head like a collie dog and a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and its back legs were like those of a crane, and it had horse's hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them. It didn't use the front legs at all while we were watching. My wife and I were scared, I tell you, but I managed to open the window and say, 'Shoo!' and it turned around, barked at me, and flew away."
  • Two Gloucester hunters tracked the Devil's seemingly impossible trail for 20 miles. The trail appeared to jump fences and squeeze under eight-inch gaps. Sightings were reported in several other towns.
• 20th (Wednesday) — In Haddonfield and Collingswood, posses were formed to find the Devil. They watched him fly off toward Moorestown, where he was later sighted by at least two people.
• 21st (Thursday) — The Devil attacked a trolley car in Haddon Heights, but was chased off. Trolley cars in several other towns began to maintain armed guards. Several poultry farmers found their chickens dead. The Devil was reported to have walked into an electric rail in Clayton, but if this did happen, it did not kill the beast. A telegraph worker near Atlantic City claimed to have shot the Devil and watched him limp into the woods. If so, he was not fazed much, because he continued his assault, visiting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and West Collingswood, New Jersey, where he was hosed by the local fire department. The Devil prepared to attack nearby people, who threw whatever they could find at it. Right as he was about to strike, the Devil flew away. He emerged later in Camden and injured a dog, ripping a chunk of flesh as the dog's horrified owner looked on. This is the first Devil attack on a living creature that was witnessed.
• 22nd (Friday) — Last day of sightings. By now many towns were in a panic, with businesses and schools closed for fear of the creature. It was, however, only seen a few times this day and didn't attack anything.

     The origin of the beast is a grim tale. It is said that the Jersey Devil was the 13th child born to a Mrs. Leeds, a resident of the Pine Barrens during the mid-18th century. Mrs. Leeds was so upset at yet another pregnancy that after giving birth she exclaimed, "I am tired of children! Let the devil take this one!" What was once a human child immediately transformed into a winged monstrosity. It devoured all the other children and flew out through the chimney into the night.
     What manner of creature is the Jersey Devil really? What is its purpose for attacking the local residents and instilling in them a deep sense of fear and dread?  These questions might not ever be answered, though the beast lurks evermore in the shadows of the Pine Barrens.