Exploring Maryland's Weird Creatures: Myths and Legends of the United States

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:05]Howdy duty folks and welcome back to our journey across the United States. Today we're leaving the mundane behind and we're venturing instead into the world of Maryland's cryptids. Today, we'll be talking about everything from shape-shifting mad scientists who've become something less human to flying beasts that have a hankering for humans, and of course, some odd miscellaneous characters along the way. Now, quickly, as always, we're trying to reach a million subs here. Thus, if you want to see some more weird lore for your state, all you've got to do is like this video, comment, and subscribe to the channel.

[00:00:40]It'll never cost a dime, and it's a very quick way to say, "Hey, YouTube, this guy's all right." With that, come with me and let's explore some of Maryland's weirdest creatures.

[00:00:57]Okay, so maybe this is biased by the fact that I've got a thing for Goatman, something I say in the most platonic way possible, but I must say when I think of Marilyn Cryptids, I think of Goatman. As for the legend here, well, it varies a bit, but the real creepy thing is that there's truth to this tale to some extent. And this truth is pretty well documented. See, pets in the area around Hyesville, Beltsville, Bowie, and other Prince George County communities genuinely began going missing. And the most famous of these pets, a puppy named Ginger, would also go missing a couple of days later. This was in the 1970s, and she would be found. She was just missing something, her head. And as sad as that is, that's not even the most interesting part. See, a woman named April Edwards, a teenager at the time of Ginger's disappearance, would report that on that night, Ginger, her dog, disappeared. She heard a strange noise, and in her backyard, she saw a large unidentified creature. And again, let me reiterate, Ginger the dog, and April Edwards, her then owner, were very much real. April, as well as other early observers of whatever this creature was, would claim the creature they thought was about 6 ft tall, hairy, bipedal, and that it made a high-pitched squealing sound. Further, in a 1994 follow-up with a then adult April Edwards by Strange magazine, April would say, I quote, "People came here and called it folklore, and the papers made us out to be ignorant hillbillies who didn't know any better." She told him, "But what I saw was real, and I know I'm not crazy.

[00:02:42]Whatever it was, I believe it killed my dog." So, does this sound strangely reminiscent of Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington's first run-in with the demogorgan back in Steve's backyard when the show was good? Yes. Yes, it does.

[00:02:55]But real or not, this sighting and the pet's disappearance were the real world anchor that Goatman needed to become more than a simple urban legend. Soon enough, people were telling a more in-depth story of Goatman. According to these individuals, Goatman wasn't born a mythological creature. No, he was no fawn, no devil. Rather, he was a scientist named Dr. Steven Fletcher at one point. A man who worked at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, or bark, as some call it, and he worked there in the 1930s. Dr. Fletcher, they say, was your typical lab rat for the most part. He wore lab coats. He had a run-of-the-mill job in said lab. And he generally just tested new vaccines for side effects on livestock, tracked the weight of goats and cattle, and modeled the spread of disease among them, etc. You know, just typical scientist stuff.

[00:03:49]That said, over time, stories diverge, but they arrive at a similar endpoint.

[00:03:55]Some say that Dr. Fletcher made a mistake. Others claim that he was gradually driven mad by his ambition to improve livestock. This guy must have taken 4 seriously. Whatever you believe though, they say that one day Dr. Fletcher would somehow end up injected with one of his fourgoat concoctions, perhaps something including goat DNA, and that he himself would mutate into this halfman halfgoat creature. After this, of course, he would no longer be employed at Bark for a number of reasons. Principally, because he was halfgoat and insane. Rather, he would escape into the nearby woods, particularly those near Fletchertown Road in Bowie, Maryland, or Tucker Road in Clinton, Maryland. And on these roads, individuals would begin to report tall bipedal creatures, describing them as muscular with horns protruding from their head. And further, the creature boasted furry behind legs, hooves, and in some stories, they say that this creature would shapeshift before their eyes into this beast from something more pedestrian. Perhaps most notably is that the Goatman would often be seen crying, as if his human parts remain trapped inside of an animal body that he no longer had agency over. The most frequent haunts of Goatman vary, though he's principally seen along Bowie, Maryland's Fletchertown Road, along Tucker Road in Clinton, or in the woods behind the St. Mark Evangelist Middle School in Hyetszville. Poor kids. And of course, near Governor's Bridge in Bowie, the most famous landmark associated with the Goatman that is often now called Goatman's Bridge. In these areas, Goatman would manifest as a superstition most often seen in ghost stories. For instance, in the case of Governor's Bridge, they say that if you park on the bridge at night, you roll your windows down and you shut off your vehicle, leaving yourself mighty exposed to the quiet night air, you at first might hear the sound of a crying baby, a sound that will eventually evolve into that of a brain goat. Goatman too has quite an affinity for couples, it said as folks that come to this area to do their lovers lane business historically have reported hearing the sounds of something large moving around and possibly watching them from the surrounding forest. And now we've reached the point where we ask, where did this legend come from? Well, unlike some more handwavy cryptids, Goatman, while definitely having his uncertainties, has a somewhat defined origin. For starters, though, even before he was named, there were legends on these more scarcely traveled roads of something nefarious calling quiet roads home that might pop out and get you if you traveled them at night.

[00:06:39]For instance, in the 60s and 70s, before Goatman, there were rumors that at one point, some sources say in 1962 specifically, 14 hikers were found deceased in these woods surrounding Prince George County, Maryland. Rumors that, to be clear, were very much untrue. But that gained popularity by virtue of teenagers talking about them and proposing a strange man, maybe a hermit, was dwelling in these backwoods, doing away with anyone close to discovering his dwelling. This said, the real explosion and notoriety started with a man named George Lazama, who in May of 1971 completed an undergraduate folklore project at the University of Maryland on the Goatman. work that wiggled its way into the Maryland Folklore Archives, eventually being found by one Karen Hosler, a reporter for the Prince George County News, who actually published an article about Goatman and another figure named Boa Man that was published on October 27th of 1971, being perfectly timed for Halloween in the midst of the 1970s satanic panic and these pet attacks. In this work, she would place Goatman near Fletchertown Road in Bowie, Maryland, telling of this large creature that stalked the woods.

[00:07:56]And then later in 1971, the Washington Post would amplify the story further, reporting on these goat-like creatures seen in the woods, sharing the story of the poor dog Ginger and generally portraying Goatman as a local oddity and possibly a bit of local hysteria. Though to be clear, they also totally conveyed the narrative that it might have been possible that a Beltzville mad scientist from a longgone era was now roaming the forests of Maryland wielding an axe.

[00:08:24]Anyhow, what happened in 1971 was certainly not confined there. To this day, the goat man of Prince George County, Maryland, is essentially the Maryland equivalent of Virginia's Bunny Man, just without a real life whackadoo behind the stories. Anyhow, I told you a story. Now it's your turn. Have you seen the Goatman or had an unfortunate interruption from a creature in the woods on one of these lovers lanes? Let me know down below.

[00:08:56]Goatman is an urban legend rooted in semifactual events that are documented with names, locations, and various breadcrumbs to help you digest and understand the story. In contrast, the tale of the Wakamo Catman is something that veers largely into legend territory. It's less mature, and this story, while still making the rounds in the community, hinges pretty much entirely on an encounter by a group of teenagers that go unnamed in the fall of 1980 near a landfill in Wakcomo County.

[00:09:28]So, for starters, the location in this is the Wcomo County Landfill. Our four protagonists, four teenagers, likely looking for a place to either diddle or drink because God knows bored teenagers didn't do anything else before Tik Tok, decided on hanging out at this landfill for the evening on this autumn night.

[00:09:47]I'm sure it was stinky, but it was secluded and there were no adults around, which is probably in some ways an upgrade from their homes. That said, as they sat in their vehicle on this dark night, it said that one of these teens spotted a pair of yellow eyes in the distance. something that caught their attention. And eventually, as it moved from tree to tree, it freaked these teens out. Thus, hopefully sober, they decided to drive away from the landfill. That said, despite their better judgment, they'd returned to the scene with another car of bored teenagers. Now, not necessarily to embibe ethanol, but to look for the source of that yellow eye glare. Now, at first, they saw nothing. But after 30 or 40 minutes in these cars parked side by side to maximize their potential for catching whatever this was, they would notice not eyes, but a dark silhouette crouching at the edge of the woods.

[00:10:41]Thus, the occupants of these cars would pay attention. And soon enough, this figure was slowly meandering from tree to tree again. And then it began to make its way out of the darkness closer towards their cars. This creature, they said, was something unlike one they'd ever seen before. It was larger than a dog or a cat, semi- bipedal at the time, and moved in a graceful way, in a way that a human couldn't have. And while they at first felt safe inside of their cars, this would rapidly change because, according to the teens, this cat-like beast would in one motion turn and stare at their running vehicles, take to all fours, and sprint at one of the cars.

[00:11:22]This creature, now darting rapidly towards them, was clearer to see. It had a thick black coat of fur, a long thin tail that whipped back and forth, and apparently sharp claws on each paw, and most chillingly, it had a semihuman looking face, or at least one that was part human. Now, as this was happening, the drivers tried to escape as best they could. However, it said that this catman was able to dig its sharp claws into the driver's side door of one of the cars, using the claws on its other hand to break the window. Luckily though, as the teens rapidly pulled away, the Catman lost its grip and fell off the vehicle.

[00:12:01]Once back in town, the story says that the teens, emulating those of the Moth Man saga, went straight to the authorities to report what happened to them. And I hate to be a bummer, but that's sort of the story. These days, and since this 1980 encounter, there have been some rumblings of a catman in this quiet community south of Washington, such as halfeaten deer found lying around and other sightings of strange lanky feline beasts. But largely, this 1980 story is the extent to which it entered public consciousness. And on that topic, let me be clear. This story seems to be, at least to me, firmly a legend. This exact tale is passed around all over the internet these days. But honestly, I could find no primary sources, no police reports, and no nothing otherwise prior to this, with weirdly a bunch of references to the Catman popping up on Reddit and the Cryptonont podcast and Pinterest simultaneously around August 12th of 2018. Thus, if I had to guess, maybe around that time, there was a local newsprint that shared a story or something. But otherwise, the only real reference to a Catman I could find in Maryland were those to a professional driver named Cat Manzy, who heralded from New Jersey. In short, I think this is firmly a legend and maybe one that was invented around 2018 because I can't find a single mention of this Catman prior to that. But regardless, it circulates the internet. And these days, I've found plenty of modern Reddit threads and Tik Toks of kids going out in this county looking for the Catman.

[00:13:40]Every now and again when you're doing what I do, you come across a very strange footnote in a forum post that leads you to a very strange account of a very strange crypted. And in this case, I was scrolling an early 2000's Google group. And I came across an account of something called an egg person in the Pokémon forest. To be clear, this lore is scarce at best, but I'm going to try to piece together everything I can to tell you about these so-called egg people. The story goes that in 1971, a local journalist in Maryland was told about one Mr. Wood, who told stories that he and his friend Dan Long met people in 1965 in the Book Forest. Mr. Wood was, and this is a direct quote, on a beer blast with some friends in that forest around Westover in an area where a Purdue poultry farm was located and where there was one spot near that farm where the company would dump all of their unfertilized or otherwise faulty eggs. Mr. Wood and his friend while near the dump would be startled though this night when their dogs barked and they saw I quote four or five egg people that he described as whitish in color and glowing with large egg-like heads appropriately walking in their direction from the egg dump and the men as you should promptly ran away from the scene as fast as they could. That is the entire story to be clear though there are a few others as well. There was also a two or three week period around Halloween in 1968 or 1969 when other witnesses observed these egg people.

[00:15:17]Though these accounts are scarcely documented and it's mostly just referenced that people reported seeing these egg people. There's no real story attached. These 1968 and 1969 accounts were reported about 4 to 5 years after the original sighting. And while I couldn't find these documents in any contemporary reporting, it was supposedly noted that these egg folk were seen shortly after the observation of a flying saucer by many other locals or possibly that a flying saucer was seen shortly after the egg people. The timing isn't exactly clear. There's also a bit of wrap-up and wonder about whether these egg people could have been a misinterpretation of Sasquatch, as the Pokémon Forest is well known for being haunted in more ways than one, with phenomena ranging from Goatman himself to the ghost of a little girl looking for her lost red shoes to, of course, Bigfoot. So, some interpret these egg people as being the Sasquatch munching on some discarded eggs.

[00:16:20]The duo, short for duo sapion therapaus rexus, of course, just like we learned in biology class, is sort of the lesserk known enemy of Maryland's most famous and racist crypted, the snallyaster.

[00:16:35]This creature inhabits a similar region, too. Dwelling in the mountainous region in the western tip of the state, the Duo has a vague history at best, which could be considered a flap more than a proper detailed history of sightings. However, this short flap was enough to leave the Duo imprinted on the minds of many locals. This duo saga begins on November 29th of 1965 when a newspaper story ran in the Frederick newspost detailed a run-in between the Duo and a man named John Becker who to be clear is the only real named witness in this entire saga.

[00:17:12]Jon didn't just see the creature though.

[00:17:14]He apparently fought it in his backyard.

[00:17:16]And the details he gave were later described in a November 29th of 1965 article by the news which recounted that this creature was 6 feet tall with feet like a dog and a big bushy tail and black in color. John said this encounter took place of course in his backyard off of Fernrock Road about 10 miles from Frederick in an unspecified direction.

[00:17:41]Now, it bears noting that one Sergeant Clyde B. Tucker of the state police was actually contacted about this and he'd make it clear that this Fernrock Road didn't exist, nor did any Frederick County resident named John Becker, noting to the news that he thought this was all a fabrication. Thus, when asked, the police would literally tell the newsprint that they had absolutely no recommendations for what to do if the locals were confronted by a duo. Good to see. In the 1960s, America's lawsuit heavy culture was not yet developed.

[00:18:11]Funny enough, the officer would begrudgingly note though that he had to write up a report on the incident because if he didn't, I quote, "Sure enough, some grunter would call the police barrack saying he had just killed one." They also noted that they expected the Russians would soon come forward and claimed that they had the duo first.

[00:18:29]Proper good stuff here. Following this, more articles would come with one in particular drawing the duo based on John Becker's account claiming that now a hunter had come forward claiming he saw the beast and that other residents were suddenly concerned and calling the police in droves asking for duo facts.

[00:18:48]Many other residents expressed that they thought this Becker character was just good and drunk, perhaps a bit too eager for the upcoming Christmas holiday and drinking in celebration ahead of schedule. On December 2nd, there was a similar article published, and this one noted a recent large bear encounter which frightened a Cumberland couple earlier in the year, noting that the bear had charged a couple's car while they were parked in a picnic area off of US 40 at Bradock Mountain. And then on December 6th, we'd see an article titled, "Duo hunt planned." This article claimed students in the area were anxious to catch a duo. And thus, some Frederick Community College students made a signup sheet for a hunt, posting it on a bulletin at Frederick High School and gaining 50 to 100 signatures for the hunt the following Wednesday.

[00:19:37]This hunt actually almost proceeded, too, as the following Tuesday, things got a bit heated when a local woman claimed she saw a a quote dog shaped animal chasing cows on a farm near her house. That said, perhaps on account of the fact that exams were soon to come, nobody showed up at 5:00 p. p.m. at Frederick High School for this hunt. As was detailed in another article the next day titled, "Duo Hunt flops," which recounts that nobody came, though one resident did observe a pickup truck full of boys with helmets and machetes on West 7th Street in town that drove by Hudin and Hollering. Around this time, too, this Becker character would write back confirming John Becker was an alias and that he just didn't want to expose his identity. He was basically Spider-Man. Regardless, Becker would say, I quote, "In the best interest of the public, I suggest there be a search party organized to hunt this creature and destroy it before it really hurts someone." Then, the final news article I found was called Duo for Christmas. And most notably, it likened the Duo to the Snarly Yao, referencing someone we talked about in our last video, Miss Meline Dolrren, who wrote South Mountain Magic and owned the South Mountain Inn, noting that her book referenced something called the Snarly Gao, likening it to a dog, sometimes calling it the dog fiend. And that was kind of the flap. Admittedly, from what I can tell, dueos have fallen out of fashion a bit compared to Bigfoot or other cryptids. However, sightings of the beast aren't completely gone. In 1976, a duo was seen by two men driving on Route 77 in Frederick County who claimed they saw a large creature run across the road in front of their car, describing it as a large wolf-like creature with dark fur that had striped barring on the lower half of its body. Further, in 1978, two park rangers literally saw a large hairy creature running on two legs near Cunningham Falls. So whether or not John Becker was real, it sounds like the Duo is alive and well.

[00:21:47]So back when I wrote my first Maryland video, not the one from a year ago, but rather the one from multiple years back, I have to admit I totally botched the Snyaster. Did I paint it correctly as Appalachia's own dragon of sorts and perhaps Maryland's most recognizable crypted? Yes. But what I missed is perhaps equally notable. That the Snyagaster may very well be the most racist crypted on the planet. And no, I'm not being woke, as I've been called in the past for pointing out facts. This thing, pretty much from the moment it gained its name, was solely designed to scare Maryland's recently freed black population. Anyhow, taking a step back, let me take you to where this thing is from. the Middletown Valley area in the early 1920s, particularly the hills around Washington and Frederick counties. This area back in the 1700s was chalk full of German immigrants. And these Germans, well, they brought an urban legend with them from Germany of something they called a schnellergeist, something that translates to quick spirit and something they described as being akin to what the Snyagaster would become. Something birdlike, large, and with features from their cultures, demons, ghosts, and sirens. All of this said, this nice little folktale would change dramatically on February 12th of 1909 when the Valley Register ran an article titled, "The colored people are in great danger," which recounted one eyewitness, James Harding, describing an enormous winged creature with a long pointed bill, four legs with claws like steel hooks, and an eye at the center of its forehead. Oh, and also it screeched like a locomotive. This creature would swoop down on one Bill Gerson, a local African-American man, and it would suck the blood from his neck like a vampire.

[00:23:34]This article pretty much barged in like the Snyagaster had always existed, claiming that it only attacked the local African-American population because it was a recent transplant from the Sinigambia region of Africa, the geographical region in West Africa that stretches between the Sagal River and the Gambia River. Further, the article claimed that the creature's hide was highly valuable, that the Smithsonian wanted it alive, and that the USA was building a gatling gun to shoot it down.

[00:24:03]It even posited that Teddy Roosevelt was debating cancelling a hunting trip to go after it. This, of course, was not the end, either. Soon there were reports in Cast Town, Ohio, that the city's only black resident was taken by the Sny Gaster, and that it was spotted drinking 100 gallons of boiling water before remarking in plain English, mind you, to another local black man, "My, I'm dry. I haven't had a good drink since I was killed in the Battle of Chikamaga."

[00:24:31]Which seemingly implies this Snyaster may have been a reincarnated Confederate soldier. Hence its disdain for African-Ameans, I suppose. All of this 1909 nonsense though would conclude on March 5th of 1909 when the register newsprint reported that local residents and sheriff deputy Norman Hul fought the fire breathing creature off driving it into the nearby Carol County. This initial saga, by the way, I should note is clearly fictional. Not only am I yet to come across racist animals other than my dog, who by virtue of growing up in Michigan is scared of people with any sort of accent. I swear I didn't train her to do this, but it's fairly well documented that all of these Snalley stories were written by one Thomas Chalmer's Harbaugh, an old nickel novelist who lived in the Middletown area. Further, there are two more important points. One, Sny Gastro legends followed right in the heels of the 1909 discovery of, I quote, Jersey Devil footprints, which sort of lit New Jersey on proverbial fire with sightings of their own flying creature, perhaps enticing Maryland to jump in. And two, this snally gaster was clearly a reflection of the Maryland Jim Crow segregation in the state, particularly in the area around Middletown, where fear of black populations frequently led to attempts to squash any potential political power they had. All of this said, though, even to the contemporary black population, it was clear that the snaggastaster was an attempt to scare them out of the county, this creature would return in the 1930s with no shame whatsoever. This iteration of the creature was upgraded. Now, on November 18th of 1932, the paper reported that the hatchling of the original Sny Gaster had taken to the skies with new and improved racist superpowers such as Lovecrafty and tentacles that would make a D&D fan smile and an anime enjoyer blush, the ability to change color and shape, and of course, a propensity for consuming African-Ameans, noting in particular that African-Ameans who voted Democrat largely because of their contemporary promises of labor protections championed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt were the target of the snallyastaster. So yes, a crypted that was literally just a veiled threat of lynchings on the front page of a newspaper in Maryland. Extremely disappointing. Regardless, the snaggast wouldn't be around much longer. Much like the first time it circulated the press a bit. And on November 25th, for instance, the news reported two men, Charles F. Maine and Edward ML Lighter claimed that this gist swooped down on them and stole Maine's hair. I quote, "Forever, however you may go about doing that." And this time, there was even some feedback with one white resident of the valley, one R. Austin Stein, clearly realizing this monster was meant to send fear through the hearts of African-Ameans. As she wrote, "Given the colored race is superstitious, the item, no doubt, will have the desired effect."

[00:27:30]in a passage in which she condemned the newsprint for spreading these rumors.

[00:27:35]Ultimately, while the beast would pop up here and there throughout the 1930s in supposed real accounts, it was on December 1st of 1932 that for most, the Sny Gaster literally and proverbally died when it was reported by the evening sun that while flying over Middletown, Maryland, it took a whiff of some alcoholic vapors coming off of a moonshine still, after which it would become instantly hammered and would fall from the sky into a 2500galon vat of boiling moonshine which dissolved it leaving only its skeleton to be found by two prohibition agents who were there to dispose of the shine operation. So is this snally extremely interesting? Yes, in some ways. But it's also hacking racist and sadly that makes this creature far less cool to me this time around than I thought it was originally.

[00:28:28]That said, it does gain some points.

[00:28:30]Given in the articles that referenced the Duo that we discussed earlier, they noted that the Snyaster and Duo had it out for one another and would frequently engage in clashes the likes of which you can otherwise only find in the pages of Jiujutsu Kaizen domain expansion, Jim Crow era newsprint office, you get it.

[00:28:49]Regardless, the Sny Gaster to this day, largely because its true history is seldom talked about, is extremely popular in the DMV area with festivals continued in its namesake, whiskey named after it, ice cream recipes following in its honor, and of course, its presence in Fallout 76.

[00:29:13]In the quiet woods of Sykesville, Maryland, where the Papskco River winds through dense forests, lurks a legend, as eerie as it is elusive. The legend of the Sykesville monster. This monster was described to be a towering ape-like creature with dark fur over it that sort of looked akin to our ancestors and was spotted beginning in the 1970s with tales as amazing as they are mind-boggling that suggest that possibly these encounters were of something that the feds and local law enforcement were all too aware of and that they didn't want locals privy to what was going on in that area. This is the story of the Sykesville monster. The first reported sightings of this creature date back to the early 1970s when a truck driver who apparently preferred to remain anonymous had a bizarre encounter one Friday evening. He claimed to have seen a figure at least 7 ft tall covered in dark brown fur. At first, he wasn't sure what he was looking at. In fact, his initial theory was that he saw a man on stilts. a particularly muddy man on stilts to be exact. Because, as he put it, the figure was, I quote, caked in mud from the waist down. And when he spotted the creature, it was just sitting there minding its own business.

[00:30:28]But as soon as it noticed him, it bolted into the woods, again, on its stilts, I guess, leaving behind more questions than answers. The sighting stirred up quite a bit of commotion, too, in the small community just a few dozen miles from Baltimore. And to be honest, the reactions were all over the place. Some were convinced it was just a guy on stilts pulling a prank. Others speculated it was an escaped patient from the nearby Springfield State Hospital because I guess insane people are really tall now. And then there were those who labeled it a prowler, which as far as I can tell just means a guy wandering around at night, which is hardly a crime, though the locals did seem oddly offended by the idea of someone taking a nighttime stroll.

[00:31:09]Regardless, this first sighting appears to have been an isolated incident, ending as soon as the truck driver laid eyes on the creature. The most well-known and far more dramatic encounter with the creature was still to come, though, and this would involve a man named Lon Strickler. In 1981, this fisherman named Lawn Strickler made a discovery along the Papskco River that would change everything. This was the sighting that solidified the Sykesville monsters place in local legend, ensuring its eerie legacy would live on to this day. According to Lon Strickler, on the morning of May 9th of 1981, he was fly fishing on the Papskco River about a mile from Route 32. It was 10:00 a.m. on a cool, breezy 60° day. The kind of weather that's perfect for waiting in a stream if you don't mind a bit of a chill. That is worth mentioning, this wasn't new territory for Lawn. He'd fished this spot plenty of times before, but on this particular day, he was about to catch something far stranger than a fish. Something, you see, caught his attention about 50 yards away. A stray dog was nosing around near the riverbank. Nothing unusual, just a dog doing dog things. But after a few minutes, the dog started to bark and growl, clearly agitated by something.

[00:32:27]Again, my own dog, Toffee, will lose her mind over a deer in the woods. So Lon probably wasn't too concerned. But when he glanced back at the dog, he saw something else. A large hairy figure moving through the trees. Whatever it was, the dog immediately stopped barking. And then came a loud yelp followed by silence. Now, if you're like me and already worried about the dog, don't panic. Spoiler alert, the dog is absolutely fine. He'll show up later.

[00:32:53]But in that moment, Lawn had bigger concerns. The massive furcovered figure stood up and for the first time he got a sense of its height. It wasn't just big, it was huge. And thus, intrigued, Lawn decided to follow it. He did his best to keep up, but his heavy waiters weren't exactly built for pursuit, and the creature eventually outpaced him. That said, as he trailed behind, he noticed something. A strange musky odor in the air. Lon later described it as being similar to fox urine, which thankfully I cannot personally attest to, but strong foul smells are a recurring theme in Sasquatch lore. Whether it's the massive forest dwelling Bigfoot of the Pacific Northwest or Florida's skunk ape, these creatures all seem to come with their own built-in stench. After losing sight of the creature, Lawn headed back to his car, intending to drive into town and call the police. On the way, though, he spotted the dog again. now with a little bit of blood on it, but it was still moving fine. So, he figured it was all right. So, that crisis was mostly averted. Thus, he drove to a local bar to use the pay phone where he actually admitted he briefly considered grabbing a beer because honestly, who wouldn't want a beer after seeing a 7-ft tall hairy forest monster, but Duty called, so he made his report instead. Thus, the police told him to return to the area to meet them. So, he did. When he got back to the river, though, things took a weird turn. The state police were already there and they immediately ordered Lon to leave. They insisted that whatever he saw might be dangerous, completely ignoring the fact that he was the one who called them in the first place and that they asked him to join.

[00:34:30]Despite his protest, they weren't interested in hearing his side of the story. So, Lon left, sort of. See, an hour later, curiosity got the better of Lon and he returned to the scene. This time, the place was swarming with state police and some other vehicles, too.

[00:34:47]whatever that means. He just called them other. When he tried asking questions, nobody would give him any answers. And the only thing he managed to pride of anyone was that hair samples had been found in the forest, which, you know, raises more questions than answers. In the years following this incident, Lawn kept trying to follow up, but all he got was radio silence. Every time he asked, he was either told that no further information was available or even more suspiciously that no record of the incident existed at all. Thus, frustrated and apparently unwilling to let a good mystery go unsolved, Lawn decided to take matters into his own hands. If nobody else was going to investigate the Sykesville monster, then Lawn would. During his investigation, Lawn uncovered some pretty intriguing details. First and foremost, he received a message from someone who claimed to have been on the response team that shut down the road after his call. According to this individual, not only were hair samples definitely found, but the feds also showed up with helicopters, no less, to search for what was apparently being referred to as Bigfoot.

[00:35:53]Unfortunately, this same source also claims that, I quote, "None of our guys would see it." And by our guys, I assume he meant state troopers. And by it, well, it sounds like they were hunting for something big, hairy, and very much not a bear. Beyond this, Lawn managed to track down the truck driver from the 1972 sighting, and began compiling reports of other strange encounters with this mysterious large hairy figure.

[00:36:19]These included an alleged home invasion, which frankly again raises a lot of follow-up questions, and an incident where a creature was supposedly caught raiding a chicken coupe because even cryptids apparently love a good snack.

[00:36:32]Interestingly, most of these events took place near Papskco State Park.

[00:36:37]Determined to bring this creature to life, metaphorically, not literally, let's hope, Lawn then decided to have a composite sketch made. He reached out to a retired police sketch artist, providing multiple witness descriptions, including his own. And when the artist finished the sketch, he reportedly asked Lon, "Are you sure this is what you saw?" and added, I quote, "This looks like a rendering of early man." And according to Lon, that was pretty much exactly what he saw in the woods this day. The story doesn't end here, though.

[00:37:08]See, a few years later, while Lom was out fishing again, because you know, someone's got to catch the fish, he met a man named Phil, who shared an unsettling discovery. According to Phil, large skeletal remains had been found along the south bank of Piney Run. The bones were discovered by another fisherman off a nearby trail. And when Phil and his friend went to check it out, they quickly realized that these remains weren't your average human skeleton. The bones were just far too large and there were no clothing or any other identifying marks. Naturally, they of course called the police and when authorities arrived, they quickly again roped off the area with crime scene tape. It wasn't long before helicopters and unmarked vehicles showed up too, much like the ones that Lawn had witnessed all those years ago. Shortly after, the remains of course were taken away, leaving behind more questions than answers once again for like the fifth time in the saga. To make things even stranger, just a few miles down river at the Liberty Reservoir in 2001, a handful of people claimed to have seen something similar, a large hairy figure roaming in the woods. And that, folks, is the gist of the story. Do I know what to make of all of this? Honestly, I'm not sure. But according to several witnesses, there seems to be a large hairy figure wandering the forests of Maryland near Sykesville. Possibly even a breeding population. Who knows? Maybe it's just a legend. Or maybe there's something more to it. So, what do you think? Have you seen this critter? Heard a weird story about it? Maybe even had a relative encounter one? Let me know in the comments below. Or even better, shoot me an email with your story. Who knows, maybe I'll feature it in a future video.

[00:39:02]folks. Thank you so much for joining me on this trek across Maryland and your strange and sometimes racist creatures did not disappoint. Again, if you enjoyed this video, it would help me out a ton if you liked it, subscribed, and commented. It's always free and it'll help propel me to my goal of a million subs one day. I hope further. Follow me on Spotify, Teespots, my other channel, and Threads for more random stuff. For instance, I'm probably going to start training for a race this summer of some sort again. And I thought I'd take you along for the ride with me on Threads and maybe on the shorts on T-Spot. As for what's next, next week, I think we're going to take a trek into either Nebraska's weird folklore or maybe Wyoming's. Sort of depends on how I feel. Got to have some freedom, you know. So stay tuned. The Midwest is ripe with lore, and I'm excited to cover it.

[00:39:50]Otherwise, without further ado, I hope you're having a great day. And whether you just got in a fight with a bipedal dog in your backyard, or if you thought you saw a caveman in the woods only to realize that it was your homie and in the right light, he is hecking ugly, don't you ever forget, it's always story time.