On the night I had my brief encounter, it was unusually slow. During slow parts of my night, I park outside the facility I work out of and watch the wildlife. It’s abundant, with a mixture of fox, coyotes, raccoons, and every once in a while, I’ll spy a red wolf breaking the wood line, trotting across an open field, in search of small game. Our facility is located on a dead-end street, which backs up to a major creek and to the left, we have a smaller creek that breaks off of the larger one. Both creeks are fed by a large river, about a mile away. I should also mention that we have large patches of woodland that lead to our facility and that the area does not have a lot of light until you turn into
the parking area.
About a week prior to my encounter, I would sit at the end of the road, to complete my paperwork and wait for the next call to come. As I parked there, I would get a sense of being watched. I would look up, almost expecting someone to be standing in front of my truck.
Let me say that darkness or the woods do not spook me or make me jumpy. I was raised in the swamp, close to a river and rather enjoy the solitude. Not only did I have a sense of being watched and sharing my space with someone, I noted that there were no normal night sounds, such as crickets and frogs. I also found it baffling that all the wildlife seemed to be gone from the area. This really bothered me. I couldn’t figure it out.
On the night I had my encounter, I decided to leave some wet dog food at the edge of the woodline, hoping to entice a family of raccoons out, so I could at least see that they were okay. This family of raccoons, I had watched grow up from kits and not seeing them bothered me. Also, I didn’t see a gray fox that would hang around that area. This fox would come within four to five feet from you but would be guarded all the while. He would hang out with certain people and then retreat back into the woods. Anyway, I popped the top off of some smelly dog food and as I was pulling the top off the can, I heard a deep growl come from out of the edge of the wood line. I had never heard an animal growl with such force and so deeply. At first, I thought it could have been a Jake brake, from the interstate. That can be heard from our facility but that’s not what it was. I could feel hear it from the woodline, hitting my face and felt the growl inside of my chest, pretty much like a vibration. I knew this was not a bear, the same as someone knows their left hand from their right. You just know. And yes we do have bear here, but I can tell you quite bluntly and very firmly, this was not a bear or any other wildlife that was normal to the area. I dropped my head down and refused to look up. I dumped the can of food on the ground with one hard thump, hoping whatever was in the woodline would rather have the can of food, instead of me. I backed away with my head down until I reached my truck. My instinct told me to drive away and so I did. About half an hour later, I returned, due to my curiosity overruling my common sense. Being a natural skeptic, I was prepared to figure out the earlier event. I parked in the same place and this time had walked to the back of my truck to smoke. While standing there, I observed a dark mass come across the road and disappear into an open field, that is mostly overgrown with wild blackberry bushes and grass. I have a trained eye. I take in a lot of detail, and still, I admit to suffering from short-term memory loss, due to a TBI that ended my law enforcement career. What I saw at that moment, though, will be in my memory forever. I can only describe this creature as what I took at the time to be some kind of a hybrid. Although it was on all fours, to me, it did not appear natural. It moved with very quick, fluent motions. Looking back, I was most surprised by the creature having the intelligence to attempt to appear natural. Something was off with its gate, though. It was kind of like the front legs were pulling its body forward. The back was hunched at the shoulders and it had a long back. The creature was black, which I can only describe as a dark mass, with no reflection. I also noted it had a small animal in its mouth. The strange part was that I could see the definition of most of the small animal, compared to the darkness of the creature that I now believe to be a Dogman. The snout was long but fit its body. What struck me most were its ears. They were folded back like you might see on a Dutch Shepherd or German Shepherd. I guess, with my background, working with dogs, the ears were clearly defined to me. I can’t say what kind of tail it had or what color its eyes were. I just know it was there one minute and gone the next. When daylight came, I looked for tracks, but listened to my gut and did not enter the field looking for it. The ground leading out of the smaller creek was covered in grass and what dirt was there was hard. I was left baffled but more amazed than anything. I sat on my experience for several months. I didn’t tell anyone about it. I then started searching the internet for what I had seen. I guess, in my mind, I wondered if it was some type of hybrid created by man and had escaped. I found several sites on the internet, but none seemed to come close to what I had seen. Nothing until I came across a picture of a Dogman. If you take what I saw and stand it upright, instead of being on all fours, well Vic, that’s what I saw. With a doubt. I’m pretty sure this Dogman was a young adult but it wasn’t overly massive. What I ponder the most is the fact the Dogman had to catch my scent before clearing the woodline. I know scent. I know how it works. The Dogman knew I was there before coming out of the woods. I suppose that will be the answer I will never have.
After a few months of keeping my experience to myself, I spoke with a few of my co-workers. Of course, they told me it was a bear or a large wolf, but they did acknowledge that the wildlife had disappeared for a while. I was told to share my story but I think it was only so my co-worker could get a good laugh at me behind my back.
I stand by what I saw, although I don’t speak about it much, because of people like him. I did reach out to you a few months ago and you kindly responded back. For that, I thank you. I have never been fascinated by Bigfoot or other similar creatures ( although I did
respond to a Bigfoot call, off the record, for a law enforcement friend) but at this point, I am consumed with what I saw that morning and learning more about it. I am grateful that you are around, for support, for people like me. Thank you for allowing me to share my encounter. As I write this, I am once again on night shift, parked at the same spot where I had my encounter. I’m pretty sure that Dogman has left the area. Wildlife is back and the night sounds are all around. I guess I will always wonder if it will come back again, but I can’t say I will ever walk the woods at night again, looking for animal tracks by myself.
Thanks, Vic. Keep up the good work.
Anonymous
Time: 2:30 AM
Date: April of 2017