French fur traders and woodsmen brought their traditions and lore with them to North America. One such belief is the French werewolf, the loup-garou. There was the belief that a sinful life caused one to be transformed into a black bear or a dog.
Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) Report #859 contains the report by a witness who along with his friend saw “a very hairy animal standing upright on the side of the road” while en route to a club in Turner, Maine. The long, light brown hair had the appearance of “hanging off of it.” The initial report ends with, “When we got to the club we told some people what we had seen and they said that others have also seen something in the area and even had a name for it. Loopgaroo.”
Shelley Martin and her husband Eric had a remarkable experience in Palmyra, Maine. Eric and Shelley’s residence was on Madawaska Road, and the experiences occurred on Labor Day weekend 2007. Their 18-year-old daughter was asleep upstairs while Shelley and Eric were on the porch when suddenly Eric told Shelley she should go inside the house immediately. Before going inside, the couple saw three large creatures whose pupil-less eyes reflected yellow-green and ran on hind legs shaped like a dog’s. Eric and Shelley were shocked. The creatures appeared to be about 7 feet tall and had short tails less than a foot long. The creatures were covered in short fur; one beast was light brown and the other two were dark brown. They had pointed ears that started at the jaw and ran up the side of their heads so that the inner triangle of the ear extended past the top of their heads.
Two more creatures were noticed which when first seen seemed to be attempting to covertly approach Eric and Shelley on their porch. When spotted, these two creatures also rose up and ran on their hind legs like the first three. The couple now raced inside the house. Shelley said they looked “sleek” when they ran on two legs, not at all clumsy, although their posture was slightly hunched at the base of the neck. Although their body fur was smooth, around their heads it “looked wilder and stuck out.”
Eric had guns stored in a barn and wanted to try to get them, an idea that Shelley flatly negated. While Shelley went through the house closing windows, Eric went outside to get the family car backed up to the house so the family could leave their besieged home. At a point in the yard, Eric set off the motion sensors and a light came on. Eric saw that he was face-to-face with one of the creatures. The creature appeared to try to move toward Eric but the light appeared to stop it. Eric hurried back inside.
The couple eventually went to sleep and in the morning they began to investigate their yard. They found tracks described as “over-large dog prints with a ‘hook’ on the end that made them longer.” Eric and Shelley had seen strange lights emanating from a swampy area near their home preceding the night encounter with the five creatures. Also prior to that Labor Day weekend, Eric had been seeing the apparition of a girl dressed in old-fashioned clothing in the house.
This tale of high strangeness comes from Shadows in the Woods: A Chronicle of Bigfoot in Maine by Daniel S. Green. You can also watch “Wolfpack” on Paranormal Witness (aired Wednesday, August 7, 2013), although Shelley and Eric were unhappy with the many embellishments and exaggerations producers made to their story.
Do you have a spooky story? Maybe you grew up in a haunted house or saw a UFO? Perhaps you’ve encountered a Bigfoot on a lonely trail? If so, please contact me at lisa.f.matthews@gmail.com - I’d love to hear your story. And if you enjoy mysterious stories like the ones featured in the 13 Days of Halloween Tales of Terror, look for our Mysterious Harbor Electric Bike and Walking Tours starting in Spring 2024.
