Hunting the Jersey Devil

Until this week, I have known New Jersey only as a sprawl of suburbs across the river from New York. But beyond the strip malls and track housing there are still areas mostly undisturbed by man. The desolate pine barrens remain as dark and beautiful as they were before the first European colonists landed on nearby shores. These forests are the hunting ground for our first subject: the Jersey Devil.

The origin of the Jersey Devil dates back to the 18th century. The story goes as follows: A woman named Mrs. Leeds, lived in secluded poverty with her twelve starving children. When she found out she was to have another child, she said "Let it be a devil."

When the child was born it was horribly deformed, with hooves, a horse's head, bat wings and a forked tail. It crawled up the chimney and flew away into the night. The Leeds Devil, as it is also known, is said to have fed on small children and livestock while haunting the area ever since.

Off Route 72 is the small community of Brookville, New Jersey. We traveled here on a cold Saturday morning to interview local residents about recent Jersey Devil sightings. A subdivision adjacent to Wharton State Forest has been plagued by an unseen creature with an unearthly scream. Two dogs have disappeared, and the entire neighborhood is terrified. This weekend Lindsey and I met with several people who claim to have heard the Jersey Devil's scream, but only one is an eyewitness.

Ms. Harriet Carver claims to have seen a large creature with black bat-like wings flying from treetop to treetop in the nearby Pine Barrens. She says it swooped down towards her dog but flew away when she shouted at it. Ms. Carver's story sounds genuine, so I will interview her on camera this evening before we begin our hunt in the nearby woods. Stay tuned!