Devil Creature: The Jersey Devil

For many decades a so called “Devil Creature”, named The Jersey Devil, is thought to roam the heavily wooded pines of southern New Jersey feeding off of small animals such as dogs, chickens, and other small wild animals since the beginning of the early 18th century. This creature has pretty abnormal and diverse features. Many people that claim to have spotted The Jersey Devil say that it has a kangaroo like body with a horse like face and antlers sprouting out of the top of its head, not to mention pig or horse like hooves and large wings that carry it like a bat. The Jersey Devil is believed to have originated when a woman named Mother Leeds gave birth to her 13th child. According to livescience.com the old folktale goes as followed, “ Shortly
This belief soon spread around the town to the townspeople and in turn circulated fears that witchcraft and/or satanic activity was present in the pine barrens of southern New Jersey. The Jersey Devil remained undiscovered and all the so called “sightings” inspired a businessman from Pennsylvania to create quite a stir about this unfamiliar topic. According to livescience.com “ The man had painted a kangaroo green, then attached fake wings, and had it exhibited to the public.” (Jersey Devil Par. 5) This thought out hoax caused people to become skeptical about the topic of witchcraft and the existence of The Jersey Devil in the southern woods of New Jersey. Also creating fears that maybe this isn't the only thing like this happening around their part of the
shows, documentaries, novels and professional sports teams. There have been numerous horror ( and one comedy ) films produced that relate to The Jersey Devil. Imdb.com has 5+ motion pictures on record relating to this creature, originating anywhere from 1998-2014. Also there are 75+ novels, or kids books, that were created due to the large impact that this whole folktale left on society. Another area that the tale of this creature made quite an impact, was the creation of the National Hockey League teams. The Colorado Rockies, their name at the time, moved from their hometown of Denver, Colorado and migrated to New Jersey and in turn needed a new team name. A newspaper contest was held in 1982 so that people were able to create and vote for the team's new name. On june 30, 1982 the team was named The New Jersey Devils and still to this day they still carry the mythical creatures