Maryland's Modern Day Wolfman

Stories of the wolfman appear throughout history across our planet.  The best known is Hollywood's representation in the movies.  A man is bitten by a werewolf and becomes one himself.  The only way to rid himself of the curse is to be shot with a silver bullet, due to the Lycanthropes' allergy to that metal.  Lycanthropy has been a popular subject since that first offering in movies and shows like American Werewolf in Paris, the Underworld series and SyFy's Bitten.

Where do the stories come from?  Is there something out there that made nightmare reality?  Did the wolfman come from a primal fear of the wolf packs lurking in the darkest shadows at the edge of the campfire?  Has another creature emerged from the darkness to frighten us in our sleep?

Photo from darkstories.info

In my own backyard, we have the Dwayyo.  This bipedal monster reportedly has shaggy black fur, a bushy tail and the head of a wolf.  It is as capable of walking on its hind legs as it is running on all fours.  The creature lives and hunts in and around Frederick and Washington Counties in Western Maryland.  It is supposedly the mortal enemy of the Snallygaster, also sighted in that region.  Students of the University of Maryland have traced its origins back to the Dway, a wolf-like creature that hunted the upper Amazon River, and the Yo, an Asian creature that came across the glacial bridge spanning Russia to Alaska.  If this is true, it would explain the nationwide sightings of similar creatures through history.

The majority of the reports concerning the Dwayyo are from late 1965.  Individual citizens from Ellerton, Jefferson and near Gambrill State Park reported seeing a large dog-like creature hunting or lurking in the area, sometimes on two legs, sometimes four.  The man from outside Gambrill State Park said he had been attacked by the monster and had to beat it off to get back to the safety of his house.  Stories were even printed in the Frederick News Post until the creature sightings died off at the end of the year and it was believed to have moved on to different hunting grounds.

The earliest story of the Dwayyo goes back to the 1890's, in which a farmer saw a 9-foot tall dog-like creature at Camp Greentop, near Camp David (yes, our presidential retreat Camp David) in Catoctin Mountain National Park.  Reports surfaced again in 1944, when residents of Carroll County reported hearing the beast's screams and found footprints.  This is also the first reported time that the name, Dwayyo, was used.

Photo from devids.net

Since the multiple sightings in 1965, the creature seems to have disappeared until the mid-70's.  In late 1976, a couple of men out spotting deer between Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin Mountain National Park reported the creature running in front of their vehicle.  According to an article by Pittsburgh Paranormal Examiner, Robin Swope (http://www.examiner.com/article/the-dwayyo-werewolf-of-the-northeast), they described it as:

“at least 6 ft tall but inclined forward since it was moving quickly. Its head was fairly large and similar to the profile of a wolf. The body was covered in brown or brindle colored fur but the lower half had a striped pattern of noticeable darker and lighter banding. The forelegs (or arms) were slimmer and held out in front as it moved. The back legs were very muscled and thick similar to perhaps a kangaroo.This was not a hominoid type creature; it did not have the characteristics of an ape. It was much more similar to a wolf or ferocious dog however it was definitely moving upright and appeared to be adapted for that type of mobility. I was particularly impressed by the size and strength of the back legs, the stripes on the lower half of the body and the canine-wolf-like head.”

I don't think there are many people with better powers of observation than a hunter with a spotlight.  They definitely saw something out of the ordinary.

In 1978, two park rangers also witnessed the monster running on two legs in the vicinity of the previous sighting near Cunningham Falls State Park.

A sighting as recently as 2009 is, to me, one of the most fearsome.  A woman was driving on Coxey Brown Road on the outskirts of Gambrill State Park.  She was off to visit a friend in the area.  As this woman was driving, she had an eerie feeling that she was being watched, which grew as the forest grew denser.  After turning onto Hawbottom Road, where her friend lived, she caught sight of something moving through the woods alongside of her old rusting Subaru.  Out of the corner of her eye, she was able to see a brown blur between the trees.  Wondering what it could be, she slowed down to get a better look to her right.  As she did that, the creature jumped out in front of the car.

This scared woman remembers seeing its sharp fangs and the saliva dripping from its huge mouth as it growled deeply at her.  Its eyes were a deep black with no white showing.

When the monster leaped at the car, she hit the gas and didn't stop until she reached her friend's home.

For a more detailed rendition of the story, click the link for Robin Swope's article.

Since this story included specific roads this woman was following, I wanted to see where it happened.  Thanks to Google Earth, that's possible!  Now, it doesn't say which direction this young lady was coming from - only that she was travelling on Coxey Brown Road.  That's not a very long stretch of roadway, only 1.92 miles with a 749 foot climb from its Westernmost point at Harmony Road to its Northeastern point emptying out at Gambrill Park Road.

The only clue to her direction I have is that the forest started to get thicker as she drove.  That leads me to believe that she was coming from Harmony Road.  From this direction, she would have had some farmland on the left and forest on the right until gradually, the forest overtook both sides of the road.  It would also make sense from this direction as she felt watched  and the creature jumped out from the right after she turned onto Hawbottom Road.

That's a lot of details, but bear with me.  I'm only setting up the scene.  Coxey Brown Road is an unlined narrow two lane road.  I would bet that two vehicles could pass each other, but barely. Most cars probably drive carefully down the middle, until they meet traffic - which would be doubtful.  Once the woods take over, its a lonely drive as there are very few homes along that road.  Below is a picture from Google Earth of the turn she would have made onto Hawbottom Road.

I'm not kidding when I say she turned off the paved road.  This witness would have been driving toward us on Coxey Brown (to the right) and made a sharp right turn onto the one lane unpaved road.  Yes, that is Hawbottom Road.  It does eventually have a paved surface (I was curious and had to look), but it seems to me that, shortly after the bend to the left, she would have seen the Dwayyo.

Her story in the article says she thought she was travelling around 25 miles an hour down that road.  I doubt that.  Maybe on Coxey Brown, but she couldn't have done more that 5-10 mph down that dirt road.  That would also explain how it was so easy for her to notice a creature pacing her car.  Certainly this monster wouldn't be able to pace her at 25 mph while dodging trees and bush.

Regardless of whether this story is true or not - only the woman knows for sure - this would make a very spooky drive at night.

Be careful when you are out driving through the dark wooded mountains between Gambrill State Park and Catoctin Mountain State Park.  Keep your eyes peeled, for you may catch a glimpse of the Dwayyo on the prowl.

Notes taken from http://en.wikipedia.org, http://www.examiner.com, http://www.mapmyride.com