Bigfoot in the Pine Barrens? The Jersey Devil would like a word

Bigfoot? In the Pine Barrens?

Hold on a minute. That’s Jersey Devil territory.

What they saw

A husband and wife say they saw Bigfoot cross Route 542 near New Gretna on a rainy night last month, as Joe Kelly reported for our sister station Cat Country 107.3.

It happened around 10 p.m. on Oct. 11, near Loveland Lane, not far past Batsto Village.

As they came around a bend, their high beams lit up a figure stepping onto the road. They described it as:

• About 8 feet tall and bulky
• Covered in black fur that looked soaking wet
• Long arms, human-like hands and a slight hunch

It crossed the road in just a few steps and vanished into the woods.

“We know what we saw,” the wife wrote in her report to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.

The investigation

The couple first reported it to the State Park Police and the state Department of Environmental Protection, which sent them to BFRO.

A BFRO investigator met them at the spot. He found game trails on both sides of the road, some broken branches and a few impressions, but nothing he could tie to the sighting. Heavy rain may have washed away any tracks.

Using a nearby telephone pole, the team estimated the figure stood 7½ to 8 feet tall. BFRO called the couple credible.

Wrong neighborhood, big guy

Here’s my problem.

I can’t imagine the Jersey Devil is too happy about this.

The Pines are his turf. Always have been. And for the past few days, I’ve been wondering: who would win in a fight?

🔗 The Pine Barrens ghost towns that made cannonballs for America

Me with the Jersey Devil himself at Albert Music Hall in Waretown. | photo by EJ

I know the Devil

The Pine Barrens are in my DNA. My family’s history there goes back more than 200 years.

When my kids were little, we’d take overnight canoe trips and set up camp along the Mullica River. After dark, I’d tell them the story.

Mother Leeds had 12 children. When she found out she was pregnant with a 13th, she cursed it. The baby was born a devil, let out a terrible screech and flew out the window.

That’s when I’d let out the screech.

My kids would freak out every time.

Funny thing is, they’re in their 30s now, and they still ask me to tell it.

Tale of the tape

Bigfoot

• About 8 feet tall, if this report is right
• Big, strong, long arms
• Not much of a thinker, if you ask me

The Jersey Devil

• Wings. He can fly.
• Hooves, a tail and that screech
• Centuries of home-field advantage
• Crafty, strategic and a whole lot smarter

My call

Bigfoot is massive and strong. I’ll give him that.

But he’s never struck me as all that bright. And he can’t fly.

The Jersey Devil can. He’s crafty, he knows every inch of those woods, and he’s been scaring the daylights out of people in the Pines for nearly 300 years.

The Devil wins this fight easily.

Sorry, big guy. Stick to the Pacific Northwest.