About Nick Redfern
Punk music fan, Tennents Super and Carlsberg Special Brew beer fan, horror film fan, chocolate fan, like to wear black clothes, like to stay up late. Work as a writer.
May 11, 2012
It’s fascinating what you can find of a potential crypto-themed nature when you go delving into the pages of old newspapers – something I particularly enjoy doing.
Hunt for Phantom-Like Animal was the bold heading that leapt off the front page of the January 29, 1908 issue of the Dallas Morning News. The newspaper recorded that an unknown, large animal – that some described as a massive dog and others as a huge wolf – was causing overwhelming carnage across the city of Waco, and had been up to its infernal activities for at least four weeks.
Farm animals were being eaten by the dozens, and dark rumors began to surface suggesting that the creature might actually have paranormal origins, rather than ones of a definitively flesh-and-blood nature. A staff-writer for the Dallas Morning News recorded that one person whose path had unfortunately crossed with the animal said it seemed to pass “like a phantom, jumping fences from one lot to another, elusive and shadowy, except where the use is made of teeth and claws.”
The press additionally stated: “The McLennan County Fox Hunters’ Association with their best hunters declare that while they have been able to capture big wolves, red and gray foxes, bob cats and catamounts, they are baffled by this peculiar beast.”
Despite an intense search, the creature was never caught or firmly identified. And, soon after, it evidently moved on to pastures new, as the slayings came to an abrupt and mysterious halt.
As for me, I think I’m going to dig into all this a bit deeper…
About Nick Redfern
Punk music fan, Tennents Super and Carlsberg Special Brew beer fan, horror film fan, chocolate fan, like to wear black clothes, like to stay up late. Work as a writer.
Filed under Cryptid Canids, Cryptozoology, Eyewitness Accounts, Lair of the Beasts, Weird Animal News