256. Woods Devil of Coös County, DOC SERIES

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Welcome to Project Jackalope.
My name is Jeremy and this is

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where we document entities that
share our reality, the

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documented encounters with
creatures we are not supposed to

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see.
For our first ever file, we're

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heading into the dense, silent
heart of northern New England to

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confront one of the most
chilling and unique entities in

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American folklore, the woods
devil of Coos County, New

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Hampshire.
It's a terrifying story and it

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is a story that I know
personally, from the distinctive

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horse like face of the monster
to the documented brutality of

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its predatory nature.
This is Project Jacklope, File

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001 The Woods Devil of Coos
County, New Hampshire.

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Enjoy it.
The Shadow in the Northwoods

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Coos County The very name
carries a weight, a feeling of

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vast, untamed wilderness.
Located in the northernmost

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reaches of New Hampshire, this
region is dominated by the

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majestic yet imposing White
Mountains.

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It is here, in the secluded
expanse of these Northwoods,

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that one of New England's most
chilling and compelling cryptids

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is said to dwell.
The Wood Devil.

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The legend of the forest entity
is not the story of a clumsy,

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lumbering beast.
It is a tale of stealth, terror,

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and almost supernatural
elusiveness.

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Witness description spanning
nearly a century are remarkably

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consistent.
The figure is reported to be

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tall, typically standing between
7:00 and 9:00 feet in height,

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but it's not bulky.
It is described as rail thin,

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lanky, slender, almost gaunt for
its massive stature.

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It's coat or thick hair is
consistently described as Gray

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or ash colored.
Witnesses note it possesses

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large, oversized hands and feet,
often complete with long claws

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or nails, adding to its
generally described quote UN

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quote devilish appearance.
Furthermore, it is said to emit

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a powerful, unpleasant odor, a
trait it shares with the Skunk

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Cape and many other bipedal
primates found throughout the

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world.
The creature is a confirmed

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carnivore, praying on small
animals and frequently

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scavenging carrion in the deep
woods.

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Perhaps the most terrifying and
unique aspect is the face.

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All documented reports share the
same unsettling characteristic,

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a roughly 8 foot tall silhouette
with Gray shaggy hair and

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critically, a horse like face.
Witnesses clarify that this

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refers to a face with a long
elongated muzzle, large non

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primate eyes, and a smooth with
hairless area around the mouth

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and nose, giving it a decidedly
uncanny equine appearance that

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is inconsistent with a standard
8 like Cryptid.

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It's locomotion and sound are
what truly inspired fear in

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those who claim to have
encountered it.

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The Cryptid is reported to be
incredibly fast and nimble,

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moving through the dense
underbrush with a speed that

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defies its height.
It is said to move perfectly

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silent, a ghost among the trees.
This silent approach is

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contrasted by the entity's
alleged vocalization.

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If startled, injured, or feeling
threatened, the Coos monster is

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said to let loose an awful,
blood curdling, heart wrenching

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scream.
Witnesses mentioned in the BFRO

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or Bigfoot Field Researchers
Organization Report 1192

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specifically detailed this.
This documented report notes

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that old timers recounted the
creature quote makes awful

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screams and has a semi human
shape, but it's face quote

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doesn't look at all human.
Tracing the footprints.

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Unlike its generalized cousin
the Bigfoot, the Wood Devil has

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left behind remarkably little
physical trace.

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While early sightings like
George Lavoie's in 1948

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mentioned finding enormous
footprints, subsequent

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expeditions and investigations
have failed to recover

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definitive physical evidence.
No reliable casts, no hair

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samples, and no clear
photographs have ever cemented

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the Wood Devil's existence in
the physical record, enforcing

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its reputation as a true phantom
of the Northwoods.

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The origins of this chilling
saga are traceable to the early

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20th century, with reports
becoming more frequent in the

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1930s and 1940s.
This was the age of the lumber

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industry in northern New Ham.
Many sources speculate that the

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Wood Devil was an invention of
the lumberjacks themselves.

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It's thought the story was part
of a pantheon of fearsome

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critters used to scare new or
inexperienced workers deep in

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the isolated woods.
The name is believed to have

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originated from these same
lumberjacks sometime in the

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1930s, who also gave the
aggressive creature descriptive

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nicknames.
Those include Glutton, Indian

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Devil, Arcaju and Skunk Bear.
While the story circulated

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through the camps, specific
undocumented encounters began to

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cement the creature's place in
folklore.

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One of the earliest named
reports occurred in 1942 near

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Dixville Notch.
Hunter George Wentworth claimed

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to have shot and wounded a woods
devil, described as 8 feet tall

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and 400 lbs.
Before losing the blood trail.

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One of the earliest, most
referenced documented sightings

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occurred in 1948.
A hunter named George Lavoie

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reported a startling encounter
near his hunting camp.

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Lavoie described seeing a tall
Gray haired creature with a

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horse like face standing behind
a tree.

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Lavoie fired his rifle but
missed and the creature

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vanished.
This pattern repeated in 1952.

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Another hunter, this guy Robert
Goulet, was near Dixville Notch

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as well when he heard the
infamous loud scream.

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Goulet followed the sound of the
quote UN quote otherworldly

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screech and he came across an 8
foot tall raggedy hairy entity.

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Goulet, like Lavoie, took a shot
at the beast and missed and the

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thing quickly quote ran off into
the night.

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The devil in the details.
While the historical accounts of

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Wentworth, Lavoie and Goulet
establish the Wood Devil's

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identity, later encounters
illustrate the creatures

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extraordinary stealth and speed,
painting a picture of an entity

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that is actively and
intelligently avoiding

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detection.
Perhaps the most famous semi

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recent sighting occurred in 1997
near the small town of Errol on

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the busy Route 26.
This sighting is frequently

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cited in articles and others for
its clarity and setting.

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A driver, Bill Driscoll, was
reportedly driving on the route

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when a massive 9 foot tall
creature with Gray fur darted

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across the asphalt.
Driscoll described the figure as

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running like a human, its size
and height undeniable even in

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the brief moment it was visible.
The giant disappeared into the

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woods right in front of his
eyes.

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This sighting is critical
because it moved the encounter

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out of the deep, quiet woods and
places the Phantom of Coups in a

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more populated Rd. accessible
area.

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The final piece of testimony
highlights the creature's

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supernatural stealth.
This account was provided by an

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amateur photographer known only
as Will, and was originally

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shared on The Phantoms and
Monsters blog site as well.

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As mentioned in the book
American Monsters by author

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Jason Offowit, Will detailed an
encounter that occurred in 1991

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while he was setting up camera
equipment in a low light area of

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the Berlin Dam near Pontuk
Reservoir, which stands as the

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reservoir within the
Androscoggin River.

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Will began hearing strange non
animal noises, then a distinct

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cracking sound behind him,
suggesting footprints without

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any associated rustle of leaves
or broken branches.

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This supernatural silence
immediately heightened his

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alarm.
Will told the website that the

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mystery beast seemed to be using
the trees as cover, moving only

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in the moments when his
attention was diverted.

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As he started to move toward the
sound, he saw something quote

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tall and thin dart from behind a
sugar Maple tree and quickly

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disappear.
The description Will gave was

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consistent quote about 7 foot
tall, dark, thick fur or hair,

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and then much thinner than a
normal man at that height.

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This encounter, where a trained
observer attempted to capture

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photographic proof was entirely
outmaneuvered.

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Powerfully underscores the
creatures mastery of

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elusiveness.
The fact that the observer heard

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footsteps but never the
associated secondary noise

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speaks volumes about the Wood
Devil's silence and agility.

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This incident illustrates the
creatures primary defense

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strategy.
Stand perfectly still against

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Tree Drunk, relying on its thin
profile and Gray coloration to

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vanish into the natural
background, giving observers the

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chilling sensation that they are
almost walking directly into the

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monster before they ever know
it's there.

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My own story, this particular
creature, holds my interest and

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my conviction perhaps more than
any other Cryptid in North

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America.
There is, of course, a reason

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for that, as well as why I chose
it to be the first installment

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in this series.
That is because the area it

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roams is the very same area
where I had two experiences that

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shaped my life.
The first was subtle but

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terrifying, approximately only
80 miles as the crow flies, to

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the southwest of Coos County,
New Hampshire.

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I was 7 at the time.
It was the middle of the night

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and ATV, which I always slept
with powered on, was off.

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It was absolutely dark and I was
sleeping next to a big sliding

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glass door.
I got up to go turn the TV back

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on and I saw what I thought at
the time was a man running into

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the woods in the backyard.
The closest point that the tree

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line is to that glass was only
about 15 feet.

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All I was able to make out was
the shape of a person running.

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Instead of making it to the TVI
ran back on the couch, threw

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myself underneath the blankets,
and that was the first time I

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felt absolute terror in or near
those woods.

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Two years later, the ambiguity
vanished.

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I was only nine years old.
The encounter began as I

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approached the edge of a large
field on the very same property

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as the incident just two years
prior.

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Walking just within the wood
line the clearing, I began to

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make my way around the field I
feel in hopes of finding a dove

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or a quail, but to my surprise
the critter I found was much

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bigger than anything I was
expecting.

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A doe stood with its right hind
corners facing my direction out

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in the middle of the tall grass.
I raised my BB gun to my eye and

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then all of a sudden the deer
was gone.

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As I lowered the barrel of my BB
gun, I looked to refined my

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target only to discover that
something was carrying it over

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its left shoulder as it walked
on 2 legs away from where I

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stood.
It was very tall, but much

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thinner than the traditional
most famous image of Bigfoot.

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That image of course, taken on
October 20th, 1967 by Rodger

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Patterson in Bluff Creek,
California depicts an unknown

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bipedal primate now known
throughout the cryptozoological

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community as Paddy.
But the creature I saw was thin

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and covered in brownish, almost
dark Auburn colored hair, not

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the bulky behemoth represented
in the Patterson Gimlin film.

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The most disturbing part of the
encounter was the sound.

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The deer was making a scream
that told me it knew it was in

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horrible danger.
The thing which carried it took

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the hand that was holding the
deer on its shoulder, grabbed

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its neck and smacked it against
a tree, instantly silencing the

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animal before continuing to walk
off into the woods.

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Was this an encounter with the
Wood Devil?

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I can't cannot be certain.
Crucially, I never saw its face

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so I cannot confirm the reported
horse like structure.

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Furthermore, I didn't smell
anything, nor did I witness as

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attempting to camouflage itself
near a tree.

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What I saw was brown or reddish
brown, not Gray, and considering

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I was nine years old at the
time, I was almost certainly not

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being silent.
The creature had to have known I

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was there.
According to legend and most

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reports, a traditional wood
devil would have hidden itself

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rather than revealing itself in
such a way.

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Despite these inconsistencies, I
include this story because the

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structure of the entity I saw
matches the spirit of Coos

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County more closely than that of
a traditional bulk Sasquatch.

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The nature of the Beast To
understand the deepest possible

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roots of the Wood Devil legend,
we must turn to the original

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custodians of the northern
woods, the Abenaki people.

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The Abenaki, whose name means
People of the Dawn Land,

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traditionally inhabited the
entire region where the Wood

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Devil is said to roam, a vast
territory known as the Keena,

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encompassing modern Vermont, New
Hampshire, Maine and Quebec.

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For centuries, the Abenaki have
held deep rooted spiritual

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beliefs about the dangers hidden
within the deep forest and the

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high mountain.
One of those most terrifying

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figures in their traditional
narratives is the Kewok.

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The Kewok is often translated as
quote ice giant or winter

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spirit, and it is an Algonquin
mythological figure similar to

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the Wendigo but with regional
variation.

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Crucially, the Key Walk legends
were active in the very same

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forest that eventually housed
the Wood Devil sightings.

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The Abenaki believed that the
Key Walk is a being created when

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a human transgressed a great
spiritual taboo, often by

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resorting to cannibalism during
times of severe starvation.

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The act of eating human flesh
was thought to warp the

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individual soul, transforming
them into a terrifying a

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monstrous giant cursed with an
insatiable, endless hunger for

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human prey.
The descriptions of the Key Walk

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00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:11,240
vary, but they all share
features that resonate eerily

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00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,920
with the Wood Devil's profile.
The Key Walk is frequently

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00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,320
described as towering, sometimes
reaching heights of 10 to 15

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feet, far beyond human scale.
Despite its size, the giant is

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often described as skeletal,
gaunt or extremely thin,

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00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:32,440
mirroring the Wood Devil's quote
rail thin build, a visual

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testament to its ceaseless
unfulfilled hunger.

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00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:40,240
The Key Walk is known for its
terrifying non human cry, which

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often preceded its attacks.
Aligning with the Wood Devil's

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unique blood curdling scream.
The Abenaki legend of the Kiwok

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offers a powerful cultural
foundation for understanding the

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00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,280
Wood Devil.
Researchers hypothesized that

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00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:58,640
the contemporary legend is a
corrupted, modernized echo of

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those ancient warnings when
early European settlers in

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00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,600
isolated lumberjacks encountered
something large and frightening

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00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:09,960
in the New Hampshire Shadows, a
fleeting tall, thin figure with

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00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,120
an unnatural cry.
They likely adopt the framework

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00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,520
of the Kiwok myth.
Stripped of its complex

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00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,520
spiritual context, this
terrifying entity was given a

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00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,440
simpler name, the Wood Devil.
This historical link suggests

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00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,800
that the fear of a large, gaunt
man eating entity in the woods

259
00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,680
is not a modern invention, but a
terror that has haunted the

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00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,080
region for centuries.
With its unique characteristics,

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the Wood Devil presents a
challenge for the modern

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00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:39,040
cryptozoologists.
While the creature is often

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00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,840
grouped with Sasquatch, its
appearance is notably different.

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00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,440
The great coat, the slender
build, and the disturbing horse

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00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,040
like face.
These distinctions lead some to

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00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:52,040
believe it may be a unique,
highly specialized North

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00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:56,640
American hominid, entirely
separate from its bulkier, more

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famous cousin, the fabricated
legend.

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00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,319
No discussion of the Wood Devil
is complete without addressing

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00:17:05,319 --> 00:17:08,040
the significant skepticism
surrounding the legend.

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00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:11,880
For many lifelong residents of
Coos County, the story of this

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00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,599
creature is not an old world
legend, but a modern invention.

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00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,280
Several residents have voiced
this sentiment on local forums.

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00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:24,200
One commenter on Reddit, a quote
UN quote lifelong resident of

275
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:28,760
Coos County, stated that
empathetically they never once

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00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:34,560
growing up here of this supposed
legend, nor has any other local

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00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,120
they have ever asked.
They suggest the first

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00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:40,640
verifiable trace of the specific
story may date back only to the

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00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:45,120
year 2000 and could be found in
a single online BFRL report,

280
00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:48,600
which just so happens to be the
previously discussed report

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00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,280
1192.
This counter narrative frames

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00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:55,080
the Wood Devil not as a genuine
product of the 1930s lumberjack

283
00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,400
lower, but as a piece of
cryptozoological fiction

284
00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,680
retroactively applied to the
region, a product of the

285
00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,280
Internet age rather than true
historical folklore.

286
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,080
And yet, this is the very beauty
and reality of Cryptid lore.

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00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:11,520
Legends evolve.
They capture the essence of a

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00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:13,360
place.
The story of the Coos County

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00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:17,400
Wood Devil, whether invented by
a logger in the 30s or a Blogger

290
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:21,880
in the year 2000, now holds an
undeniable place in New

291
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,560
England's mystery landscape.
It embodies the fear of that

292
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,440
silent Gray figure standing
motionless just beyond the edge

293
00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:32,560
of our vision, perfectly
camouflaged against the dark

294
00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:34,680
wood.
It is a testament to the fact

295
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,720
that even in a world
meticulously charted by GPS and

296
00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:42,000
satellite, there remains the
vast, dense and remote expanse

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00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,040
of northern New Hampshire where
something tall, fast and

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00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:49,600
unsettlingly horse faced can
still move in perfect silence,

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00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,560
waiting only to let out that
blood curdling scream that marks

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00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,160
the ultimate terror of the
Northwoods.

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00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:02,040
Sources for the research
conducted for this file include

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00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,960
websites such as
newenglandhistoricalsociety.com,

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00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:10,320
legendsofamerica.com,
cryptids.fandom.com,

304
00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:16,720
phantomsandmonsters.com, and The
bfro.net, as well as books

305
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,880
Chasing American Monsters by
Jason Offwit, Mysterious

306
00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:24,400
Creatures by George Eberhardt,
and Hidden Animals by Michael

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00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:24,960
Newton.