Welcome to #WeirdScienceWednesday! I am here to talk about the strange and unusual because let’s face it, I am strange and unusual lol Paranormal, aliens, conspiracies, Bigfoot… I am here to bring you some information! Enlighten you… maybe make you a new believer! I have studied all things weird since I was 8 years old. It’s time I shared my knowledge with SOMEONE!
Hellhounds of Appalachia
Last week, I touched on the Black Dog myth that lent rich mythology to the source of hellhound creation. The Black Dog of the Blue Ridge is one tale many that are native to Virginia have read and heard as a tale urging them to be safe while in the woods. In Botetourt, Virginia, there is a path that many would use to travel to Bedford County. In 1683, after the whispers had spread throughout that there was a beast guarding the path from passage, a group of young cavaliers decided to take the beast head on. Their horses refused to go anywhere near the dog and no one would believe them. So they went back with intentions of killing the dog and taking his hide as a prize. However, no matter how many times they shot the dog, he acted as if none of the bullets had stricken him, and there wasn’t any visible evidence to say that had either.
A beautiful woman came forth years later looking for her husband that had used the path to try and make a new home for them. She was met with the tale of the Black Dog but did not care. She knew the dog wouldn’t hurt her. So, men led her to where the black dog had been witnesses and she walked alone until the dog appeared, benevolent. The dog led her to a shallow grave where she found the bones of her husband and the bones and hair of the dog. Since she was able to lay his bones to rest, no one ever witnessed the apparition of the dog again. However, that is just one story of many of the Black Dog in the Appalachia.
Many stories stem from the Blue Ridge, through West Virginia, and even down into Kentucky about seeing the devil dog that was larger than any normal dog. I have seen many different breeds of large dogs that are European. Those who lived in early America were from Europe. They had seen the size of dogs there. To imagine a dog larger than a Neapolitan Mastiff, the Great Dane, the Irish Wolfhound, or even a Newfoundland begs to wonder how much larger dogs were in the earlier centuries prior to watering down their blood lines to create specific breeds.
In Pike County, Kentucky, there have been sitings of a dog that is 4 feet tall at the shoulders and 7 feet in length with a hump on its back. The Discovery Channel has a show called Mountain Monsters that have captured the creature on film.
Based on these images, the siting of the hellhound looks nothing like an actual dog, but rather a hyena mixed with some sort of wolf breed. Are Hellhounds, or even Black Dogs, actually dogs, or another breed yet to be discovered? What are your thoughts? Have you ever witnessed one of the devil dogs of the Appalachia?