The mountainous wilderness of “By-God” West Virginia has long been rumored to be the home of werewolves. Native American tribes that lived along the Appalachian Mountain trails centuries ago told stories of beasts of great size, with snarling jaws and razor sharp claws, which would rip apart anyone foolhardy enough to get too close. However, the origin of these creatures is shrouded in a fog of mystery. In the wilderness area of Raleigh County, there are rumors that such a beast is still lurking behind the trees in this modern era. For the last several years, the mutilated carcasses of bears have been found all over the mountainous terrain by hunters and campers. These discoveries beg the question: What sort of a creature possesses the lethality as to rip apart a bear? One man believes he has the answer based on what appears to be a picture of a werewolf he captured.
Jake, a hunter and trapper who lives in Raleigh County, West Virginia, asked the same question. He was complete baffled after finding several bears completely shredded; their remains were left partially devoured in his hunting area. With that question in his mind, he and a friend grabbed some game trail cameras and set out to find the creature responsible for slaying the bears.
The images they captured sent chills down their spines.
The body of the elusive “bear killer” beast was massive and long; much like that of a bear, but with different proportions. The size difference compared to the surrounding terrain ruled out the possibility of this being another bear with a cannibalistic taste for its own kind. It had to be something more. Experts agreed the neck and ears were definitely not those of a bear, but those of a canine species, while the body and fur did resemble that of a bear. A canine/bear creature…? A very strange idea, indeed…
Jake was clearly convinced by the photos his camera had captured that whatever it was, it wasn’t a bear. “I freaked out… I had never seen nothin’ like that before in my life.” Jake stated, with a look of concern on his face and with fear in his eyes. That fearful look is well warranted because he still must hunt in those hills to feed and support his family. The idea of coming face to face with “the bear killer” would be enough to make anyone think twice about heading out into the woods but some people, however, just don’t have a choice.
Jake’s story is one of many that have surfaced in the West Virginian mountain area. These tales stretch from one end of the state to the other. There are stories of strange and monstrous creatures lurking in the darkness and howling at the moon, werewolves prowling the farmlands near the Appalachian Mountain trails, and unknown creatures leaving the mutilated remains of their prey for hunters to find. The question remains as to what the creature is. Could the terrifying legend of the West Virginia werewolves be more than a fairy tale or is there perhaps another unidentified cryptid roaming those mountains?