I recently came across a Reddit thread inviting people to post the scariest things that they have ever seen. One of the top scoring responses to the thread describes a mystery creature spotted outside the poster’s window in the night. I found the story interesting, and began to wonder what the creature could have been. So, here’s my thoughts!
First, the post. Reddit user Malarky_Bandini shared this post:
I’ve seen some pretty wild stuff in my life but most of it is explainable, the one event that comes to mind was witnessed by my dad, brother and myself and it’s a 2 part encounter but I still consider it 1 event.
(This is a bit long and I apologize but I feel it might be worth the read)
It was around 1998, my family and I had just moved into an old clap board house on the edge of town. It had a huge back yard with a 6 foot wooden privacy fence on one side and a metal chain link fence about 4.5 feet high around the other 3 sides of the yard. Neighbors on one side (the privacy fence side) a small grass alley that ran behind the back with a street light and then another yard etc. Our bedroom was an old converted sunroom on the back of the house that faces the back yard. It had floor to ceiling windows all along the back wall looking into the back yard. We didn’t have many options as to where to place our beds so my headboard was against the windows and my brother’s bed was about 8 feet away with his head board against the opposite wall with the foot of the bed facing the windows.
One night we were up pretty late, I was in my bed and he was in his just talking about random things when suddenly he got quiet. I figured he fell asleep but then I heard him whispering in a shaky breath, so I’m like “What?” And I hear him whisper again. So again I’m like “speak up I can’t hear you” and he goes “Don’t Move! And be quiet!” In a forced whisper but I, thinking he’s messing with me and like “Bitch, why?” And I’m looking at him and mind you, my head is to the windows and he’s pointing into the backyard behind my bed. So quickly sit up and turn around and see this HUGE dog head staring almost nose to glass through the window right behind my bed. I’m almost nose to nose with this thing, just a single pane of glass and about 10 inches of empty air separate me for this thing. Now when I say I screamed, I mean I screamed! Not my proudest moment but hey I was like 10 years old. Well anyways the thing quickly ducked under the window and then ran to the side of the yard and jumped the 4.5 ft chain link fence and bolted off into the darkness. My dad came running into the room with our mom right on his heels. We were able to get out that something was looking through our window. So dad ran back to his room and grabbed his shotgun and then headed out the side door of the house and into the back yard.
Unfortunately (or fortunately idk) he didn’t find anything, wrote it off as I had a nightmare and my brother wouldn’t admit to seeing anything so I took the blame and was told to quit messing around go back to bed typical parent response etc.. Well later that night (maybe an hour or so) after I begged my parents to let me sleep in the living room because leaving the house wasn’t an option and still being refused, I was made to sleep in my room. So again my brother and I are in our room with these floor to ceiling windows, we are just completely rattled. We are both huddled in his bed staring out the windows when we see this thing come walking along the chain link fence on all fours and the fence only comes up to its mid shoulder so this thing is HUGE. It sniffs the ground, does a few circles and then hops the fence into the backyard like it’s nothing. It walks over to the window and again gets nose to the glass like it’s trying to see in. We are panicking the whole time, well my brother is like “Fuck, This” and soon as he steps off the bed we hear this loud Bang and there is a flash of light. The thing at the windows gets knocked sideways and without even missing a beat it turns and runs across the full length of backyard jumps the back chain link fence, it cleared the fence the alleyway and then landed in the back neighbors yard. This is easily a 15-20 foot jump minimum clearing their fence like it was nothing and was gone at a dead run, up beside that house and off into the darkness on the other side. My dad comes tearing around the side of the house with his shotgun in hand and makes a mad dash for the side door and slams it shut behind him. He is screaming and hollering we gotta go, we pack up and head to a hotel that night. My mom absolutely refused to believe we saw what we said we saw and we only lived there for about 6 months. It rattled my dad so much he didn’t even want to come back, he told my mom that we were just gonna move that next day but she wouldn’t allow it.
After about 6 months she conceded and we moved. Mind you this is in the Coastal plains region of Texas we have no large wild canines here. We have stray dogs and coyotes but nothing that would even remotely touch on how big this thing was. My dad swears he shot that thing with a slug from about 15 feet away with his 12 gauge shot gun right underneath its left arm hitting it in the ribs where its vital organs are and nothing it just ran off.
He said the thing that freaked him out the most was that when he saw the thing jump the fence it walked towards our window crouched but still on its hind legs. It wasn’t walking on all fours and then when it got to our window it stood up straighter and he could tell that while it looked like a dog it’s body was shaped wrong he said it looked like a really stocky person wearing a dog suit but he could tell it wasn’t a suit. Also that when it was walking in circles sniffing the ground before coming into our yard the second time it wasn’t actually sniffing the ground like for a scent, it was staring at our window with it’s face to the ground like it was acting like it was sniffing the ground almost as if it was playing a part to see if anyone would notice it. He said he’s had dogs his whole life and everything about what it was doing was wrong.
Awhile later I asked my dad why he was in the back yard if he thought I was having a nightmare and he told me my brother is the one that gave it away. He said with how panicked I looked, that my brother was almost white as a sheet and wouldn’t take his eyes off the window. He said “your brother has never looked so scared and never been one with just making stuff up.” So after going back to his room with my mom as he was laying there thinking about it he decided that if my brother was a white as he was then we had to have seen something. So he grabbed his gun in case he had to scare some creeper out of our yard and figured he was gonna go through the garage and out by the far side of the house and sneak to the corner to see if someone was peeking in our windows or if someone was actually messing with us. He never actually thought we saw a huge Dog looking thing just that maybe with it being dark outside and us being kids with over active imaginations maybe we just mistook someone as something. But when he saw that thing come up the side fence and with the street light in the back alley lighting up the back yard he saw it and it freaked him out, he was gonna creep back inside until it went up to our window and he said as it stood up he just got this instant feeling of just dread like something was gonna happen to us.
What are the key themes here?
- Night-time
- Giant dog-like creature
- Creature looking through windows at night
- Dog-creature walking on two legs
- Children scared in the night, parents disbelieving
- Parent drives off the creature with a gun
- Family flees their home
- Feeling of dread
About the creature:
- Huge dog head
- Startled by scream
- 4.5 foot chain link fence comes up to its shoulders when on all fours
- Can easily hop the fence
- Takes a shotgun shot to the side, stumbles but easily runs off and jumps the fence again
- Snuffing in circles like a dog
- Walked on hind legs to window
- Shaped like a stocky person wearing a dog suit
- Staring at the window whilst sniffing in circles, attempting to mimic dog behaviour
- Appears “wrong” to a person with experience with dogs
- Induces feelings of dread with its presence
So, how tall is it?
The poster says that the 4.5 foot tall fence came up to the dog’s shoulder. I appreciate that the writer emphasised that the dog’s anatomy was wrong, but let’s look at a regular dog for comparison.
Based on this, the shoulder is about 64% of the height of the total dog. So for a dog with a shoulder at 4.5 feet, then the total height on all fours would be a touch over 7 foot tall. How tall would the dog be on its hind legs? Let’s look at the example of a super tall dog, (Zeus). He was 3ft8 from his foot to his withers (the point between his shoulders). Since the shoulders of the dog were level with the 4.5 foot fence, let’s go with that as being this measure. When standing Zeus was 7ft5, marking an almost doubling in shoulder height. So, we can assume our dog was about 9 foot tall on its hind legs.
What is it?
With Zeus being the world’s tallest dog at 3ft8 to his withers, this dog would have been significantly taller- making it unlikely that it was a dog. Adult bears can easily be of this stature, but the poster reports that the events took place in the Coastal Plains region of Texas. According to the Texas State Historical Association, this is the 100 mile wide region from Nueces Bay to Galveston Bay.
Are there bears here? Here’s the Texas Parks & Wildlife’s diagram of confirmed black bear sightings in Texas between 2000 and 2020:
So, no history of black bears in this region- and brown/grizzly bears are also not found in the region. Whilst we could use the excuse of it being a bear which has escaped from a zoo or private collection, let’s jump to the supernatural possibilities.
Cryptid candidates
Dogman
Perhaps the most famous Dogman is the Michigan Dogman. It was allegedly witnessed in 1887 in Michigan1, and is said to stand at 7 foot tall. In this initial sighting it was described as having the man of a body and the head of a dog. Whilst the Reddit poster did not describe the creature as having the body of a man, they did say that it was shaped like a stocky person wearing a dog suit (before saying that there was no way it could have been).
In 1937, a man shot and killed a wild dog which made up part of a pack seen roaming the Bowers Harbor2. One dog of the pack did not run away from the shotgun blast. It stood up on its hind legs, and glared at the shooter with yellow eyes. The man had heard the legend of the Dogman, and did not want to feed it. He did however concur that the dog looked like a man with a dog’s head. A fisherman saw a similar beast with a dog’s head and a man’s body swimming in a lake.
Various other stories report finding claw marks 7 foot high on buildings, and other minor sightings.
Could this be our beast, on vacation in Texas? Standing at 7 foot tall, the Michigan Dogman would unfortunately be too small. The writer also did not comment on the eyes of the creature despite being face to face with it, suggesting that its eyes were not as noteworthy as those of the Michigan Dogman.
What about a generic Dogman?
In analysis of tales of Dogman encounters, two different overarching categories have been defined: The K9-Type, and the Type-33. As the name alludes, the K9-Type is more dog-like. It is described as an upright canine, sometimes with a disproportionately large head. The Type-3 category are more humanoid, similar to Sasquatch. The presence of a muzzle, sharp post-canine teeth, and clawed fingers (rather than flat nails) lead to these being categorised as a form of Dogman instead of a Sasquatch. Type-3s also do not have a tail, whereas the K9-Type does.
Whilst people who have encountered a Dogman generally say that they thought the beast would kill them, less than 1% of eyewitnesses report having actually been attacked. The K9-Type is said to be more prone to aggression than the Type-34.
The K9-Type of Dogman seems like a stronger candidate for our beast than the Michigan Dogman did. This beast has a dog-like body, with the dog head seen by the Redditor. As some reports have said that the Dogman can walk on two or four legs, this covers off the described movements in the post. Something which looks like a dog or wolf yet can walk on two legs would definitely warrant the description of being “wrong” seen in the post. However, the dog-mimicry seen in the original post suggests a level of intelligence in the beast. The stories of the Dogman (or Dogmen) do not mention that the creature behaves intelligently. We should also consider its distribution in Texas:
The above diagram shows reports of Dogman sightings in the Texas area. The area of our initial Reddit poster is not within this triangle. There are no reported sightings within the Coastal Plains of Texas. That said, the diagram does show reported sightings of stragglers outside of the Dogman Triangle. Whilst there have been no recorded Coastal Plains sightings in this diagram, the precedent that the Dogman may roam across Texas is set.
Beast of Bray Road
A more recent creature, the Beast of Bray Road was first allegedly spotted in Wisconsin in 19365. The creature is said to be around 6 foot tall, with grey and brown fur. It’s body is described as furry although with the frame of a muscular man. It has been seen running on all four legs, and just on its hind legs. Interestingly it is also said to have been sighted squatting down and kneeling like a human.
Interestingly, a photo of this creature is available from an encounter in 2018:
The above photo was taken by a man who saw the creature as he was driving home one night. Another local spotted a similar creature in the middle of the day6. He witnessed the creature walk out of the woods, pick something up, then walk back into the woods. It was said to stand at over 7 foot tall.
Again, standing at 7 foot tall would make this less likely to be our creature. However, the more human-like behaviour of this creature makes it a more likely candidate. The dog in the Reddit post appeared to be mimicking dog behaviour, suggesting a more human-like nature. The body being described as looking more like a cross between a wolf and a human (leading some to say it may be a werewolf) also makes it more likely. However, we do again have the same issue as with the Michigan Dogman- Wisconsin is quite far from Texas. Perhaps both of these creatures are members of the same species, with the apparent dimorphisms being due to unreliability in human reporters and the long timelines which the legends have been told over.
Rougarou
In the neighbouring state of Louisiana, one may encounter the Rougarou. There are differing descriptions of the beast, but generally is is said to be wolf-like. The name has evolved from the original French “Loup-garou,” where “loup” means wolf, and “garou” refers to the transformation of a man into an animal7. So, a French werewolf (with some stories including the daytime human/night-time monster cycle). The legend is indeed cited to have followed French colonists into the New World, where the resultant Cajun dialect led to the name change8.
In medieval France, it was said that you would turn into a Loup-garou if you did not follow the rules of Lent for 7 consecutive years. If you disobeyed your parents, the Loud-garou would steal you away in the night. In general, it is said that a lot of crimes would be blamed upon the presence of a Loup-garou9.
As the name evolved to the Rougarou, so too did the modus operandi. Rather than being caused by not observing Lent, the Rougarou will hunt down those who do not observe it. Integrating with other Louisiana folk practice, one can be cursed to become a Rougarou for 101 days by a local witch or Voodoo priestess10. Don’t fancy waiting out 101 days? You can end the curse early by transferring it to another human.
An interesting point in the Rougarou lore is that there is information on how to protect onesself. The Rougarou is said to be unable to count past 12. As such, leaving a collection of 13 items by your doors will confound the beast until the sun comes up and it must flee11. Others say that the best protection is to simply not think about it- if you believe in the Rougarou, then you can be turned into one12. Others yet say that it is a familial curse, passed down from generation to generation13.
It’s possible that a Rougarou could have gotten lost in Louisiana and made its way into Texas. At that point, would it become a regular werewolf? The physical descriptions of the beast describe your run of the mill werewolf. Perhaps the defining factor between a werewolf and a Rougarou is intent. The Rougarou legends have strong religious and ritualistic roots, whereas werewolves have tended to drift fully into the secular supernatural world. To this end, it would be interesting to ask the poster if his family were Catholic, and if they had been good about observing Lent.
Standard Werewolf
Based on the above, I’m leaning towards the mystery creature being some type of werewolf. The attempts at imitating a dog suggests a level of intelligence, and that the being had a concept of how a dog behaves/their relationship with humans. Media provides a mixed take on how intelligent werewolves are. Sometimes they’re depicted as retaining their human intelligence, all the way through to being mindless creatures acting solely on their bloodlust.
As there are differences in the intelligence of werewolves, so too are there differences in size and durability. In more classical folklore, werewolves can only be killed with a silver bullet. The father in the original story shot the creature with his shotgun, which is seems reasonable may not have been using silver shot. Werewolves are also often depicted as having incredible healing abilities, perhaps contributing to the creature’s ability to slink off after being shot.
Conclusions
Everything posted on Reddit must be taken with a pinch of salt. There are plenty of reasons for people to lie and embellish for the sake of attention, or imaginary internet points. If we run with the assumption that this story is a correct and accurate depiction of a true event, then in my opinion the described creature would be your run of the mill werewolf.
Further reading
- Traveling Michigan’s Sunset Coast by Julie Albrecht Royce, page 419 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hMLjOnGC_pAC ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎
- About Dogmen, Dogman Encounters https://dogmanencounters.com/about-dogmen/ ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎
- The Beast of Bray Road, Wisconsin by Legends of America https://www.legendsofamerica.com/beast-of-bray-road/ ↩︎
- Lake Geneva resident claims he saw werewolf-like creature twice in one month by My Racine County https://www.myracinecounty.com/news/burlington/2020/man-says-he-saw-beast-of-bray-road-in-lyons/ ↩︎
- He creeps, he crawls, he conquers by Jaime Lugibihl https://thenichollsworth.com/103454/uncategorized/he-creeps-he-crawls-he-conquers/ ↩︎
- History of the Rougarou: Louisiana’s Werewolf by Frank Kerner https://pelicanstateofmind.com/louisiana-love/history-rougarou-louisiana-werewolf/ ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎
- He creeps, he crawls, he conquers by Jaime Lugibihl https://thenichollsworth.com/103454/uncategorized/he-creeps-he-crawls-he-conquers/ ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎