The Beasts of Bray Road

Six twenty-somethings are cruising along the Wisconsin back roads one fall afternoon in 2010. At approximately 1:30 in the afternoon on October 22, four members of this group of Union Grove locals, spotted two tall, brown furred creatures in the fields of rural Wisconsin. These creatures were said to have 'long, canine muzzles and tall pointed ears' and 'eyes that glowed a faint yellow'. The four witnesses claim to have seen both of these mystery creatures drop to all four legs and run off into the darkness.

This story, which was originally post on LindaGodfrey's Blog, snatched up my attention pretty quick for two reasons. The first of these being the simple fact that I harken from the backwoods of Wisconsin myself. The second being that this report may signal a new era into a Midwestern legend, now being called the Beasts of Bray Road.

Back in October of 1999, Doristine Gibson was driving home from work one evening, riding along Bray Road. As she was coming up to the intersection at Hospital Road, she decided to lean over and change the radio station. This is when her car gave a sudden jump, as if she had run over something in the road. Doristine got out of her vehicle and looked around to see if she had actually hit anything. She saw nothing in the road, but then, at a distance of about fifty feet, she saw something in the darkness. It was the form of some bulky, hairy creature racing towards her.

The fear of the unknown mixed with the sound of its 'heavy feet', made Doristine jump back in her car in an effort to speed away to safety. The beast suddenly leapt onto the trunk of the car, but thanks to a little rain earlier, the beast could not get a grip and slipped onto the pavement. While out later that evening, she happened past the same area and saw a large creature on the side of the road. Once this creature stirred, she quickly exited the scene.

Word of this encounter spread, and other residents came forward with stories and tales of their own. These stories dated as far back as 1989, when a young bar manager spotted a beast with grayish, brown hair, fangs, and pointed ears. She also claims the beast had eyes that glowed yellow, like an animals in headlights might. This incident caused the bar manager's mother to contact Linda Godfrey, a local reporter.

Linda Godfrey has since uncovered many incidents involving the Beasts of Bray Road, such as the one of Scott Bray, a dairy farmer from Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Scott had apparently seen a 'Strange looking dog' in the pastures of his farm on Bray Road back in 1989. He followed the beast to a pile of rocks where it vanished, but left behind large footprints, which ended in the grass of the pasture.

There have been several credible witnesses and accounts, all describing the same beasts. So my advice to you, is if you happen to find yourself out in the wild backwoods of Wisconsin, be on high alert, for any Beasts that may come your way.

Sources
Linda Godfrey; The Beast of Bray Road (2003)
Linda Godfrey; "Beasts of Bray Road?";LindaGodfrey's Blog