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
after she gave birth to her 13th child it changed form, grew wings, hooves, and an equine head.” “ It then flew into the air with a bloodcurdling shriek.”( Jersey Devil; Par.2 ) After the creature changed form and fled the scene it was never forsure saw again. There have been plenty of people that called in and reportedly saw the creature over the last 250 years but nobody has any physical evidence of the devil creature. The alleged sightings of The Jersey Devil being called into local Jersey police department has largely declined over the last few centuries, after it was proven a hoax. The Jersey Devil symbolizes the fear of witchcraft and satanic activity in society.

The “mother” of the Jersey Devil, at the time, was rumored to be a witch and they believed that was the reason the “child” was mutated and changed into the form of a satanic creature.
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
woods.

The Jersey Devil not only left an impact on society but it also inspired motion pictures, t.v.
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
name.

This mythical creature, originating from an old folktale, has many unique features that make it hard to believe it is a real live animal. Almost all features described are unrealistic. Numerous wildlife experts have examined drawings and descriptions acquired from many alleged sightings of the beast and have drawn the conclusion that it in fact is not physically possible for this creature to fly or look as described. Due to the time period in between all the sightings reported, which was a span of about 200 years, biologist have concluded there is no way it could have a lifespan that long thus proving some of the sightings were in fact false accusations. Not to mention due to where the wings are anchored in its back and the size of the creature it wouldn't be physically capable of flying, because of its overall size. This doesn't mean that people don't believe in this wild creature though. Dr. Angus Gillespie, associate professor of American studies at Rutgers University, claims that “There is still a great deal of pride among old South Jersey Families about having something that's uniquely their own.” (Jerseyana: Par. 20)
The Jersey Devil symbolises the fear of witchcraft and satanic activity in society. Before i started conducting my research i had no idea that this mythical creature, this old folktale, had such an impact on society in southern New Jersey. This old wise tale also impacted the formation of the national hockey league teams. Not only did it influence a national sports team name, create fears of witchcraft in society, it also influenced the creation of a few horror films and many science fiction novels.