A mystical creature with hooves and its tracks. United States

An article about the “Jersey Devil” encounters in the newspaper Trenton Evening Times, of Trenton, New Jersey, USA, for January 22, 1909, on page 1 and 3, reported: “In Burlington, at 6 o’clock this morning, Mrs. Michael Ryan, of Penn street, saw the creature on the fence in her back yard. She said it is broad across the shoulders, has wings, and small legs, and when seen, was crouching as if about to spring at her window. She hurriedly drew in the blinds and jumped back in bed but had not succeeded in pulling the covers over her head before there were three distinct taps on the shutters. Mrs. Ryan’s son, Edward, was called from another part of the house, though a thorough search of the premises failed to discover any other evidence of the ‘Flying Hoof’s’ visit beyond the strange, weird footprints seen in so many places.”Later Jersey Devil literature told it happened on January 21, 1909, a normal, cold, and snowy morning, that Mrs. Ryan froze in fright, that the creature had a head like a horse’s, its short wings seemed to be partly spread, that Mrs. Ryan collapsed into a chair, not her bed, saying: “For some minutes I was so frightened I was unable to scream. My husband and son had already gone to work, and I was finally able to waken my youngest son, Edward, who was asleep upstairs.” Edward found no creature in the alley, and left to catch a train. As soon as the light was good enough, neighbors searched the place and observed small pony-like prints leading to a fence. Mrs. Ryan and many neighbors were distraught for a considerable time thereafter.