We received the following email in response to this story…
To begin with, I don’t feel comfortable talking about this. I don’t want to be thought of as one of “those” people. As I write that I feel bad for using a label like that after what I witnessed. A group of us were talking about camping at work and I told them a story that I was reluctant to tell. One guy spoke up and said that’s the bray road beast. I didn’t know what that was so he told me about it and I started looking it up. I don’t know how much I believe about what I read but all I know is this sentence instantly gave me the goose bumps…Bowey claimed the creature was able to leap “a bigger leap than dogs run.” That IS what I saw! Anyway…here is what I have to say:
It was about 2007 or 2008. I asked my wife last night and she wasn’t sure but that we were still living at our old house. She remembers because I came home that day. Why is that odd? Well because my son and I had planned on camping that night as well and she wasn’t expecting us home till the next day. She also remembers me telling her the story and she had never seen me act so scared. I wish I had the exact date but I don’t. I believe it was a Saturday morning at about 6-7am. I had just woken up and had to pee. I got out of the tent with our dog, put her on her leash and walked to the edge of our campsite to relieve myself. That’s when I seen my dog back up and growl…a second later I heard this sound. I don’t know how to describe it in words…kind of like a fast exhale of someone breathing hard but loud. Wow…I can’t even type this without feeling creeped out about it…that sound wasn’t normal. We were in a campsite kind of at the bottom of a light sloping hill with a tree line behind us. As I looked up towards the sound I saw it…it was big, very fast moving, on all fours and it was taking huge leaps and every time it leapt it let out that sound. It wasn’t coming directly at me, thank God! It was coming down the hill at an angle to my right. It was moving through tall grass so when it landed between leaps I couldn’t see it and when it leapt I only saw the top of it. What I saw was dark brown, close to black, long matted looking hair/fur. I don’t recall the face as much as I remember how big it was. It looked built, for lack of a better word; kind of dog like but way bigger than any dog I’ve every seen. A dog doesn’t leap like that either, or make that god awful sound. I didn’t see the legs or much of the back end. I don’t have much for details so I apologize. All I know is that I was frozen, I’ve never seen anything that made me freeze up like that!
I didn’t go back to camp Quad for a couple years after that. My son was only 12 or 13 at the time and he was still in the tent but I remember how freaked out he seemed to be because I was so freaked out. We literally packed up the site and went straight home. Thinking back I with I would’ve reported this when it happened, possibly could’ve found tracks. Could the tracks still be there? Probably not but I don’t think people walk through the area I seen it leap through so maybe it’s possible? All I know is that I saw something I can’t explain and I wish I hadn’t. I don’t like the thought of there being something out there like this. My only comfort is that it didn’t seem interested in me, or maybe it didn’t notice me. I also haven’t read any stories that it actually hurt anyone, only animals. I don’t know what happens now, I’m thinking about talking to the grounds keeper there. I worry about what people will think if they hear I’m telling this story. Is that stupid or what? I don’t care if you or anyone else believes me to be honest because I know what I saw.
Anyway, it kind of felt good to at least type this. I have camped at camp Quad more over the last couple years but every noise I hear now gets my attention. ~Bill