Wayne County's Mystery Animal

Wayne County News
2 January 1936
Source: Wayne County News Archives FB

MYSTERY ANIMAL KILLED AFTER ALL-DAY CHASE

Wayne County's mystery animal is dead!

The animal which has harassed residents of Grant district for more than six years was killed December 24 after an all-day chase by Will Spry of Milum Creek. Mr. Spry shot the animal in the shoulder after it had fallen into the creek when the ice broke in crossing.

More than a dozen men and several dogs chased the animal. It was discovered by Milton Nelson, who chased it with his dog all day. Other men and dogs joined in the chase but the dogs would quit when they got near the animal, except Rouster, Mr. Nelson's dog, which stayed in the chase the entire day.

Early in the chase the animal ran the ridges but in the evening, when the animal became tired, it dropped down to the creek level. 

Other men in the chase where Sammie Nelson, Norman and Boyd Finley, Fletcher Spry, Keither Caldwell, Charley Maynard, Ballard Finley, Max Lester, Noah Nelson, Carlos Nelson and Lindsey H. Perry, Jr.

It was not learned what kind of animal it is, but it was described by those in the chase as being about five feet in length, with the height of a sheep and feet and legs larger than those of a fox hound. Its weight was estimated at 75 pounds. It has a nose sharp and and long like a fox and its tusks are 1 1-2 inch in length. The animal is heavily furred, and tinted brown and gray. 

The animal was fond of pigs and sheep and several farmers have reported loss of their domestic animals during the past year or more. 

Several people saw the animal during recent years and it became almost a legend in that section of the county.

The animal, it was reported, is being mounted and will be on display in Wayne in the near future. 

Theresa's Note: I found this story in the January 2, 1936 edition of the Wayne County News, which was posted to the awesome Facebook page, Wayne County News Archives at the Wayne Public Library. The headline caught my attention immediately, because ya'll know I love me a good mysterious animal story! 

I was further intrigued when I tried to find out some additional information on the story and found the legend of the Booger Cat, posted to Wayne County History Portal website. The article states that during the early 1930's, the residents of southern Wayne County, especially around the area where Cabwaylingo State Park was currently being built, were being harassed by some weird animal that was eating up their livestock. A group of about 20 men finally hunted the creature down and shot it, but still could not figure out exactly what it was---it was black, had a bushy tail, and sported a snout like a dog's, only shorter. They sent the creature off to Charleston to be identified, where experts came to the conclusion that it was a...grey wolf.  The only problem was that grey wolves were allegedly extinct in that area. Could a small population still have been living deep in the dense forests of Wayne County for over a hundred years, mostly undetected? It is said that even after this creature was shot, other sightings of a similar animal continued. Perhaps the Mystery Animal shot on Christmas Eve was one of the last remaining relatives in a small family of wolves living in the area.