S18 Ep42: Super roaches, giant turtles, mysterious beasts and ghostly pets (Sn. 18 Ep. 42)
01:06:33 Share

With the Redfin app, you'll know the moment your next place hits the market, whether you're looking to buy your dream home or rent a sweet apartment. Give Redfin your gotta-have-it wish list of property features, and you'll receive real-time notifications tailored just for you. Ready to see it up close and personal? Scheduling a tour is just a tap away. Don't wait to find your perfect match. Download the Redfin app and start searching today.

At participating U.S. restaurants.

Good evening and welcome to Monsters Among Us. I'm your guide, Derek Hayes. Hello again everyone and thanks for swinging back for another installment. Boy do I have something fun lined up for you tonight. Now being that it's a Tuesday, tonight's episode will be themed, per usual. But a loose theme it will be.

Tonight's stories are all animal related. Pets, wildlife, the insects living in your walls, and maybe even a few animals you've never heard of before. So join me in the deepest, darkest parts of our planet as we share spooky animal stories. Beginning with Vince from my boyhood home of Ohio.

Hey Derek, Vincent Ohio here. I was listening to your most recent podcast. You're talking about the catfish as big as a Volkswagen Beetle and I'm in Richland County, Knox County, Ashland County area.

We have a similar reservoir, and I've actually heard almost the exact same story from my own grandfather about our local reservoir as far as divers going down and seeing catfish as big as, I think he said Volkswagen Beetle, but I think it was as big as a man or bigger than a man or something along those lines. So, yeah.

Yeah, I just thought that was cool and kind of interesting. You know, I don't know if it's a variation of the Crybaby Bridge, just on a lesser scale, kind of like in our locality here. But I just wanted to give you a shout. I thought that was neat. All right, man. Take it easy. Thanks. Bye. Thank you, Vince. Not the first time we've shared a story like this on the program. And not the first time that I've told this story either. But my grandfather was chief of police in our tiny hamlet growing up.

And apparently there was some missing car or something in the area. And he was asked to check our local reservoir. Well, this lake isn't very big. There's a trail that surrounds the entire lake. And that trail is only a mile long. So that might give you an indication of how small it was. Not big enough to impress anyone. But apparently big enough to hide a monster or two. Because when he sent divers down behind the dam...

they quickly came scrambling back out of the water. They claimed that they were harassed by quote-unquote catfish as big as a VW Beetle. Now it's pretty incredible that so many people have heard the exact same story from their hometowns. Like Vince had mentioned, it's almost like a crybaby bridge. It seems that almost every town has one.

But before we pass these stories off as gospel, we must first see how realistic the claims may be. So I had Delaney look up the record catfish in the state of Ohio. And while what she sent back to me was a monster, it's not exactly the monster we were looking for.

On April 7th, 2024, 15-year-old Jalen Parker of New Richmond, Ohio, snagged a 101-pound blue catfish in the Ohio River, setting a new state record. The fish was enormous, measuring in at 56 inches long and 39 inches around at its widest point. Like I said, a monster for sure, but not the monster we're looking for.

So naturally next I was curious about the national record because surely they get bigger in other places. Well it turns out that the largest catfish ever caught in these United States was by a fella named Richard Nicholas Anderson. He currently holds the all tackle world record with a 143 pound monster that he caught in Virginia's Kerr Lake on June 18th of 2011.

Now Anderson's fish measured 57 inches and a whopping 44 inches in girth. That sure would make a lot of Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. But you know, even those behemoths would pale in comparison to the fish we all heard about back in the 1980s. And beyond, probably. So what gives? What happened to those monsters? And why is it that no one ever could seem to catch one? Like I said, the story pops up from time to time.

And hopefully the next time that it does, we get some more answers. But until then, thank you again, Vince, for sharing the phone call. Now, folks, let's do one more before we take a break. Patty, also from Ohio. Welcome back to the show.

Hi, this is Patty from Toledo, Ohio. And I was just listening to season eight, episode three and a half. And this young lady was telling her story and she mentioned that she felt a cat walking on her bed and she didn't own a cat. It reminded me of many experiences that I had at my parents' house, mostly between, I'd say, 2012 to 2016 or so.

And we do have cats and we had a dog up until a couple of years ago. She passed away. But in the middle of the night, I'd be sleeping and I would feel either the dog or one of the cats jump up in the bed. And like the young lady, I could feel them walking across the bed towards my face. Normally when I would feel them, I would just, you know, reach out and pet them.

And there were quite a few times where I would feel something jump up on the bed. I knew for sure it was either the cat or the dog. It was quite a big weight difference. We had a lab shepherd mix, so she weighed a good amount. And I would reach down to one of the animals and there would be nothing there. The fact that I would feel nothing would actually make me wake up and look and there would be nothing there.

It was just really creepy. Anyways, just wanted to tell that. It reminded me of this young lady's story. Maybe there's other people it's happened to as well. Thanks. Thank you, Patty. Now, like so many of you, I too have lost pets recently. And it's an incredibly difficult thing to go through. So I'm one of those people that would gladly welcome a visit. There's nothing freaky about that to me.

But I must admit, if it were someone else's pet making a spiritual visit, I don't know how I'd feel about that. No, I don't think fear would be the correct word to describe my emotion. But you can bet your bottom dollar that I would be a little bit disturbed. And thank you again, Patty, for calling in and sharing your tale. Now, folks, you'd have to be disturbed yourself if you didn't want more of these animal stories. And luckily, I have the cure for you.

right on the other side of this short break. We'll be right back. But at the same time, it's... Airport vibes got you stressing? Step out of the lines and into relaxation with the Platinum Card. Swap the noisy, crowdy gate for cozy chairs in that...

Wait, am I famous kind of treatment? Rest, recharge, or catch up on that to-do list with complimentary access to over 1,400 airport lounges with the American Express Global Lounge Collection. Learn more about the Platinum Card at americanexpress.com slash explore dash platinum. Terms apply. Now, not all of these stories are larger than normal animals and heartwarming pet hauntings.

And I have some nightmare fuel to share with you as well. Like Chevelle's story from up there in Big Sky country. Hello, this is Chevelle just from Billings, Montana.

A while back, I believe it was a month ago, we went to this cabin out in Red Lodge. Now, Red Lodge, as you may know, is a very wooded area. There are lots of trees. There are lots of mountains. And what we did is we went out to this log cabin and it was snowy outside, of course, so it was pretty cold.

Now, the house is fairly large, and I was with a wide array of family during the time this happened. So I don't know why this happened. It's a bit odd. So I was in the hot tub with, I believe it was my sister, my uncle, and my two cousins. And this is around 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., somewhere around that time, so fairly late.

I was sitting there with my aunt and uncle. I was talking about how cold it was. I'm pretty sure we could see the steam rolling off the water because it was so cold. I looked to the woods and it's nighttime, so it was fairly dark except for where we were, where the lights were. So I looked out and I was just sitting there for a while, seeing the moon kind of shine in on the wooded area.

Right where I was looking, a little bit to the left, you have another cabin. These are rentals. And right by it, I saw this little shift in movement, and I was wondering what it was. So I got curious, and I was just wondering, oh, it might just be some other people. So I kept looking, and not even a second later, it started coming out from the brush a bit.

Because there's a little river right where the cabin is. And right next to it is a tree line. So in this tree line, I saw what looked like a buck of some sort. And I was like, oh, there might be some deer here. But it looked like it was walking on its hind legs. And what's weird is it was...

walking like a human. It wasn't walking normally like a deer would if it was just standing on its hind legs for a second. It was walking on its hind legs and then it disappeared behind the brush.

And it freaked me out, but the kids were there and I didn't want to freak them out, so I didn't say anything. And I didn't know if the neighbors just maybe put on something related to a buck and just walked out in the woods or something, but it didn't look humid at all. It looked like a complete...

Buck, antlers, ears, all just walking like a human, kind of like how you see in a cartoon, kind of walked like that. But it was pretty odd, and it just went off in the bush, like it was casually walking. And I thought that was a bit weird because nobody else noticed it but me, probably because I was looking and everybody was distracted and talking with each other. But I just wanted to call into that experience, and I love the show, and keep up the good work.

Thank you, Chevelle. Now, I've heard plenty of stories about upright ungulates being reported in parts of Montana. But typically, it's a goatman-type creature that's been reported. Six to seven feet tall. Horns. Fur. Feet that resemble a goat. Backwards bending knees the whole nine yards. But you know, it certainly is worth mentioning that these types of creatures, these upright walking deer, have been reported in other parts of the country.

And most witnesses seem to refer to them as not deer. N-O-T-D-E-E-R. Creatures that seem to be mimicking a deer's appearance. But when you get up close, you notice something is not right about that particular animal. And walking on their hind legs is probably the description that is given the most regarding these infamous not deer. So like I've told so many others in the past, Chevelle,

I certainly can't tell you exactly what you saw, but I can tell you, you're not the only one that's seen it. So thank you again for taking the time to share your unsettling entry. And folks, if you have a story you would like to tell here on the show, call our hotline at 888-608-NIGHT. That's 888-608-N-I-G-H-T. Or shoot me a voice recording at monstersamonguspodcast at gmail.com.

Now, next up is an unnerving account about man's best friend. Please welcome Amanda from Illinois to tonight's program. Hi, Derek. My name is Amanda, and I'm calling from a suburb about 20 miles north of Chicago where I am currently dog-sitting for two very good boys. We'll call them Benny and Oliver.

to protect their identities. My best guess is that Benny is a boxer lab and Oliver is a pit mix, maybe. Benny is a little larger and older than Oliver, but they're both about the same size and they're both mostly black.

Also here with me is my own little dog, Nuggets, who is a dachshund mix. She's sitting right next to me, so you might actually hear her snoring in this recording. I've sat for Benny and Oliver several times over the last few years, and they moved into a new house over the summer, and this is my second time staying here in their new house. We have our routine worked out pretty good.

All three dogs insist on sleeping with me in the guest bedroom. And I put a doggy gate in the door at night. Because it's tall enough that it keeps my little dog from wandering during the night and getting into mischief. But it's short enough that the bigger dogs could jump it if they wanted to. So last night, after 2 a.m.,

I was woken up by one of the dogs scratching at the gate, like the sound of the dog scratching at the gate. I opened my eyes, looked over, and I could see Benny was standing a few feet away from the door. And he had this funny, worried look on his face. And he's looking at me, and he looks to the other dog who's standing on the other side of the gate, waiting to be let in.

So I'm like, okay, Oliver must have jumped the gate and got out and didn't feel like jumping it again to get back in. And even though it was like dark in the room, I could see him out in the hallway on the other side of the gate because there's motion activated nightlight in the hallway, which was right behind him. So I could see him like illuminated, but kind of backlit at the same time. It was just a black light.

shape, the size and general shape of a dog. So it must be Oliver. Okay, fine. I rolled out of bed and as I got up close to the door, I could see Oliver kind of back up down the hallway. When I poked my head out of the door, I didn't see him even there. So I just assumed he decided to go sleep in his parents' room instead. He got sick of waiting for me to

get my butt out of bed and let him in. So he went to sleep elsewhere. And I was like, fine, it's your house. Sleep where you want. So I left the gate up, never took it down. I turned to Benny and I said, all right, let's get back in bed. Benny still had this weird look on his face, but he's like, all right, jumped up on the bed. As I was trying to get situated and I'm kind of fighting for blankets with Nuggets and Benny. And then I try to pull a blanket out from under Oliver and

Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Oliver is in the bed? Oliver was just in the hallway. Oliver has been in the bed this whole time. There's no way he could have snuck in. I never took the gate down. I would have noticed if he jumped it to get back in bed because he's kind of big and it's hardwood floors and everything. Just flat out, Oliver was in the bed this whole time. So what did Benny and I see out in the hallway?

I don't know if it makes me feel better or worse that Benny also saw it, but now I know why he looked so confused. He was like, I don't know what to do about this. So anyway, I saw a shadow dog, maybe, and I just thought it was Oliver because, you know, Oliver's black and the same size. So of course I assumed it was him.

Like I said, I didn't take the gate down, so it's not like he just snuck back into the bedroom. Or I'm thinking, like, was something imitating the dogs? Because it was this dark figure and the same size. If something really wanted to get in the room, it could have easily just gone over the gate. So it feels kind of like something was trying to lure me out of the room, and I don't like that thought.

The dogs do take protecting the house seriously, so I do have to think that if it was something malicious, they would have acted aggressively. But I just don't know. Maybe it's something benign that just lives here, just has lived here all along and just came to see what was going on? Because I'm newish?

I'm here for another two nights, so we'll see what happens. I did have a question, though. I don't know whether I should say anything to the homeowners. Like, hey, just wondering if you've seen anything weird here. This is a relatively new house to them. So, like, I personally, I want to talk about this stuff, get it out in the open. But I also don't want to freak out my clients, right?

So I'm wondering if you or any of the listeners have any advice, just a gentle way to bring up the subject that's not going to freak them out. Thanks, Derek. Love the show. And I agree with all the other callers when they say, keep it up. This is important work you're doing. Thank you, Amanda, for calling in. Now, I don't know if I have any advice per se, but perhaps you can do what others have done in this situation.

They simply casually ask if the homeowner's ever seen any strange shadows or felt anything off about the house. Leave it vague like that. Don't get into too many details. Just yet, anyway. If they take the bait and run with it, well, great. You can continue on. But if they bottle up and they don't say anything, you can always play it off as, well, I was watching something scary on TV and I might have freaked myself out.

Something to that effect. Either way, I hope you get the answers that you're looking for, Amanda. And I thank you again for calling in. Now sometimes these stories involve animals that we already know about. But what makes them unusual is that the encounter takes place somewhere that the animal should never have been in the first place.

Take Tyler's story out of Ohio, for example. Hi, Derek. This is Tyler. I'm from Ohio, Cincinnati area, but my story is taking place out in the Gallenberg area of Tennessee.

probably about the beginning of October of this year, me and my fiance had decided we were going to drive up the mountain in Gatlinburg to go up to the newfound gap, the tip of the mountain right there. And while we were driving through the mountains, we see something run across the road. And at first we're like, oh, yay, a bear. But then we see it was just like a

like a dog creature. Nothing like a dog man or anything like that or a Bigfoot. Just kind of looked like a German Shepherd. We just assumed it was a coyote. Like, wow, that was a really big coyote. And we just go on the road during the night. We're like, oh, that's really cool. We saw a coyote. Then a couple days later, we go out to eat at Bigfoot Philly Cheesesteak down there between Pigeon Forge and Townsend. I decided to follow them on Facebook and they had posted something about

the red wolves coming into the park i thought that was really cool because probably going on 15 years ago me and my grandfather and my family had seen two what we believe were two red wolves running around in gates cove the picture that the bigfoot philly cheesesteak place used looked dead on what we saw that night so i believe we saw a red wolf in the great smoky mountains a national park

I don't know if this fits your theme of the show. I just thought it was really cool, and I thought you and maybe your listeners would like to hear it. I think it's just pretty cool that nature's taking back their world. Anyway, love the show. Thank you. Bye. Thank you, Tyler. You know, I've heard rumors that there's a small population of this southern wolf species in and around the Ozark Mountains, so finding them in the Smoky Mountains seems like the logical next step.

And it's also worth noting that conservationists have been working to reestablish populations in the state of North Carolina. They've been releasing wolves back into the wild since 1987. And it's known that a few of those wolves have ventured as far as the Smoky Mountains. Now this animal is hardly a monster. But like Tyler said, it's great to see nature get a victory every now and then. So thank you again, sir, for calling in.

with what appears to be good news. Now again, although these creatures aren't monsters in the sense that we typically use, they can be terrifying. Take this adrenaline-filled entry from Dennis in Georgia as an example.

Hi Derek, my name is Dennis Jackson. I'm calling from Dahlonega, Georgia. And I know you said you like the big cat stories. Granted, mine ain't a black panther or anything, but here in North Georgia, DNR says that mountain lions are not around here. Now, granted, locals and everything will tell you different, and...

And when I was growing up, my uncle and parents would, you know, tell me if there was mountain lions up here, and they would describe the call, I guess, that they'd do as sounding like a screaming woman. Well, one day, when I was riding with my dad, we were going down Highway 19, kind of going towards Cleveland, Georgia, I saw...

I'm out in line, and this was a great, big, beautiful cat. And it was digging through the trash can at this person's house. So it was up on its hind legs, digging into this trash can with the tail. I swear it was probably about three foot long to four foot. And head in the trash can.

Thank you Dennis. Now this is a subject that we hear about so often that it's impossible not to take it seriously. And basically anywhere east of the Mississippi River

And realistically, the Rocky Mountains, save for a small portion of Florida, are said to be areas where the eastern cougar or mountain lion has gone extinct. The animals once lived there in high populations pre-1800s. But when settlers moved in, they were killed off and eventually went extinct. But there have been so many sightings, and I've even had one of my own.

that I can't help but think that there might be a few rogue cats out there, testing the waters back east, pushing the boundaries of their range, searching for food. And those states east of the Mississippi are chock full of the mountain lion's favorite dinner, the deer. So we thank you again, Dennis, for adding yet another piece to this panther puzzle. We can't thank you enough for calling in.

Now, if you will, let's play another mysterious canine story. A Nightmare of an Encounter by Jackson from South Carolina. Hey Derek, this is Jackson from Palooda, South Carolina. Probably about two hours from Charleston, you know. And it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere. But I live on a farm. And one night in July, about five years ago,

And I'm just a big dog. Like, we have a cattle farm. So we have two Great Danes and about five Great Pyrenees. But I'm no stranger to big old dogs. So one night, we just got done cutting hay. And me and my cousin, Darrell, he was running the tractor and I was running the truck. And we were taking the load back to the barn to put up at the barn.

And we're kind of in the stretch between two woods from the pasture to the barn, you know. We got a big old farm, so you know, it takes about five feet and that to get to the barn, you know, from the pasture. And we're driving down, we got our big dog, we call him Tot. He was a good old boy, he was a great guy. And all of a sudden, we hear this loud, one of the loudest howls we ever heard.

And all of a sudden, I'm like, what the f*** is that? You know, it's already dark because, you know, we just got done cutting hay and everything. We're getting it up. All of a sudden, I'm like...

five or ten deer just ran across that little path and like that doesn't happen you know like you see deer but like usually they're not like running in packs around big old loud truck you know what I'm saying and we're just like kind of like it was just really strange and then all of a sudden the biggest I don't know what you call like a hellhound or it wasn't a wolf it was nothing like I'd ever seen

and this is an F-350 and like our dog Todd he only goes about halfway up the brush guard but this thing was towering over the hood of this truck it was like cow just about well you know it was a dog it was the biggest thing I've ever seen and our dog on deck after that thing ran across the road it was like went for him and then like

That is exactly what I'm talking about. Thank you Jackson for the nightmare feel. But what the hell was that thing?

There's not much in South Carolina that we know of that can reach that size. Big enough to tower over a pickup truck's brush guard. Now maybe a wild dog could grow that large. Many areas, especially back east, have trouble with packs of stray dogs that run about harassing wildlife, pets, and people alike. But I have my doubts that a wild dog could grow to that size. So could it have been something exotic that either escaped or was released?

A hyena, a jaguar, timber wolf, something along those lines. Or you know, wild pigs can certainly grow to that size. But you know, I don't know that they're known to chase deer. Though I'm pretty sure a pig would eat a deer if it ever caught one. And of course, there are plenty of black bear in South Carolina. And they likely do chase deer around. And they certainly can grow to that size. But outside of all of that, Jackson...

I can't help but think of a cryptid creature that has stalked that general area for nearly a century. They call it the Beast of Bladenboro, a monster from a small town in southern North Carolina. A large, dark creature that's left a trail of mutilated pets, livestock, and even vehicles in its wake. But realistically, Bladenboro is at least four hours away from Jackson's location.

And I have no doubt a creature like that can move that distance, possibly in a day or two. But can it do so without being detected dozens of times as it crossed over the countryside? I, again, have my doubts. But those are my thoughts on this one, Jackson. And of course, if you happen to see it again, we want to know all about it. And I'll be sure to keep my ears open as well. So thank you again for the phone call.

Does all of that work together? There are not enough things in basketball to get this thing moving and moving now. Gold medal game? That's face of the week. And speaking of unidentified animals, who can tell me what Kenny in New York laid eyes on? Hi Derek, it's Kenny from Clarence, New York, about 20 minutes outside of Buffalo. I wanted to share this story because it really is paranormal in that it's just...

Weird enough to be outside the normal, but definitely not super natural. So I was going out to the Tuscarora Indian Reservation to get some gas and going down this road. And it was about one, two o'clock and a warmer day in the early spring out here.

I was going down this road, and this house is on this road. It's not exactly a forest around it. It's not exactly a swamp either. Whatever you want to call that, a marsh maybe? I don't know. But I'm driving down the road, and I look down, and there is what appears to be a fox-colored raccoon.

What I mean by that, it was exactly the size of a raccoon, but was colored exactly like a fox. And it moved like a raccoon. Now, I know some raccoons can get some orangish golden fur at different parts of the year, but this was not that. This was an exact color match of a fox, but as a raccoon. And, you know, I had asked my brother about it. He was quite an avid outdoorsman. He said the thing about the golden colored hairs, but I

Thank you, Kenny. A fox-colored raccoon.

Now I did some digging around and there is a thing known as the Raccoon Dog. They're a canine from East Asia and now parts of Europe. So they've been introduced there. But it looks exactly like it sounds. As if it's part dog and part raccoon. Now I've posted a photo in the show notes at MonstersAmongUsPodcast.com. You can look at it if you click the show notes tab. But the chances of one of these creatures finding its way to the states...

Then to get loose and end up down the hill for Kenny to see. I just think those odds are pretty bad. But I certainly can't dismiss that theory. Because believe it or not, someone else saw something just like it. And believe it or not, they shot and killed the creature. Now the following article was found in the November 14th, 1931 edition of the Daily Banner out of Greencastle, Indiana.

Kill strange animal south of Cloverdale. Hunting party runs down unidentified animal Thursday night. Attacks man and woman. Raids chickens at home of Mr. and Mrs. Mac Fur Wednesday night. A strange unidentified animal with the body of a wolf in the face of a coon, which attacked humans and animals with terrible ferocity, was killed by a hunting party south of Cloverdale Thursday night.

None of the hunting party has ever seen an animal resembling the creature, and no one was able to give it a name. It was said to have fur of a gray-reddish tinge, a face resembling that of a coon, and to be about the size of a dog. Now you can find the rest of that article over at our show notes, but if I'm honest, it all sounds a bit sensationalized to me. A woman accidentally dragged the creature into her home, where it lunged at her husband's throat.

in his own kitchen. Sounds a bit far-fetched to me. But the part we're focusing on here is that it seems to be a mix between a raccoon and some sort of canine, just like Kenny reported. So go ahead and take all that for what it's worth. And thank you again, Kenny, for calling in. Now this next tale will have you checking every dark crevice of your house this evening. Please welcome Bonnie from Arkansas.

Hello all, this is Bonnie from Arkansas. This I'm going to tell you today has got to be one of the most creepiest things that has ever happened to me. It's a little different than most of your stories. Warning, anybody with a weak stomach might want to skip this one. I'm going to take you back to 1987-88. I was about 17 and me and my friend decided that it was time for us to get our first apartment.

I was living in my hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas at the time. And it was summer and we decided we'd get jobs. And we both got a couple of little jobs at fast food places. Wasn't making much. So we pretty much needed a cheaper place. And like all cities, most of the cheaper places were down by the river.

which was fine with me because most of the older houses down there had been made into apartments and there was some pretty neat turn-of-the-century houses there with all the old fixtures and I really liked that. So...

I went looking and I found a perfect place really close to the river, a huge Victorian-style turn-of-the-century house that had been turned into apartments. I bet it was so neat. Very high ceiling, tall windows with the old velvet dusty curtain, a metal ceiling fan that was hanging low and it had a cord to it. There was overhead lighting. I couldn't really tell you where the lighting was coming from. I don't remember.

I remember we did have a lamp. This will come into play later. So we got the apartment and it was on a Friday. So that weekend we moved in some furniture and just a few supplies we needed. And I was really excited to get in there. And I think it was that Sunday night that I had worked that day and my friend was working that night. So it was my first time alone in the apartment. I was really excited.

And I spent the evening going and getting some groceries and just putting things up. And I was just really enjoying myself and really content and just exploring the place. I decided about 9, 10 o'clock I was ready to get comfortable in bed and got into bed and pulled the covers up and was just very content and happy with my new place and felt very independent and had the place to myself for a while and was going to enjoy it.

And I remember having the lamp on and I was reading in bed. And at one time I fell asleep. As I fell asleep, I kept hearing this noise. It sounded like something was hitting the ceiling fan. But I thought, oh, it's just that long cord and it's a metal ceiling fan. And it's an old place. I'm going to hear things. Didn't think twice about it. Just sort of fell back into sleep.

Well, about 10 minutes later, I felt something scurry across my leg, and it seemed like it weighed too much to be like a bug. It was more like a rodent or something, and I thought, okay, well, I better get up and I better explore this, see what's going on. So I turned on the lamp, and when I turned on the lamp, all I could see was a bunch of water bugs all over the bed and all over the floor.

Now anybody from the South knows what a water bug is. It's like a roach on steroids. They're very ugly, they get very big, and they're just disgusting. So I just tried not to panic. I was like, okay, I'm going to defend my place. Went and got a broom and just started trying to clean. Well, there was more than I thought. They started screwing everywhere. I was very disgusted, but I tried not to panic, tried to stay rational.

At this time I went and I looked on the overhead light. And when I did, I realized it wasn't just a bed. It was the floor. It was the walls. It was the ceiling. So at this time, I still had the mindset I was going to defend my place.

They weren't going to take it. And I got the broom and I just started trying to kill them, step on them, anything I could just to defend my territory. Well, at this time, I felt something hit me on the side of the head. And I was thinking, what in the world? What could that be? And I turned around to look. It was on my right side. And I had to bend halfway in the room from the wall to

And when I looked at this wall, I was looking at the biggest water bugs I'd ever seen in my life. I mean, bigger than my hand. And I know these things had heads on them. Now, I don't know much about roaches. I mean, somebody tell me, are they supposed to have heads? I don't know.

All I know, these things were evolved enough to where they were using strategy. They were positioning themselves on this part of the wall, positioning themselves, facing me and projecting themselves at me.

I want to stress the fact I really felt like there was an intelligence behind it. It was a strategic move. They were in parallel coming in two at a time to project themselves at me. You know how in the old Superman movies he'd like get into position before he'd fly? It seemed like that's what these water bugs the size of my hand were doing and projecting themselves towards me.

They were aiming, like, two at a time, like they were at war. Now...

That was enough. I had it. I was almost in tears at this point, and I ran out screaming. I was shaking. I was screaming. That was it. That was the worst thing I'd ever seen in my life. Luckily, there were some neighbors there. They were calming down after a few minutes. I got my wits about me, and I turned from an independent teenager to a little girl, and all I wanted was to go home to my mommy.

Later years, I started thinking about this. And, well, number one, no, I never went back. I never went back to get my stuff. My friend went in there. She got what I needed. I'm out. But later on, I started thinking to myself through life, what in the world happened? I had never seen, after that, bugs that were so smart that they were literally...

I mean, putting themselves in a position to where they were strategically projecting themselves at me. Do bugs do that? Somebody tell me because I didn't think they were smart enough to do that. And if they were that evolved to do that in the 80s, what can they do now? So,

Now, this is not just a young lady in panic who was...

over animating the situation. I am the type that when I go into panic mode, even at that age, I get very rational and very lucid. I know what I saw and I saw these bugs strategically try to get me out of that place and they did. So if anybody else has had an experience like this, I feel for you. I've been there. I'd really like to know

Thank you for your time, and I love the show. You guys take care. Bye-bye. Thanks, Bonnie. Well, you know, if you tuned in to the episode previous to this one, Season 18, Episode 41, you would have heard an anonymously submitted entry that takes place down in Texas. And in that story, a gigantic bug or beetle is reported to have run up to the witness and screamed in her face. Now, I'm not going to lie.

What Bonnie is reporting sounds an awful lot like the creature in that previous call. But instead of one behemoth bug, there were dozens, or maybe even hundreds, and a coordinated attack. I've never heard of such a thing in the insect world, but maybe you have. Maybe you out there listening have some information that both Bonnie and I would love to hear. If that's the case, give me a call. 888-608-KNIGHT

or shoot me an email at monstersamonguspodcast at gmail.com. And don't worry, Bonnie. I'll be sure to let you know what I learned. Thank you once again for calling in. Now, if you would, please welcome Alex from Illinois to tonight's program.

Hi Derek and fellow Amongsters. You guys could call me Alex. I live in Illinois. Very small town, southern Illinois. This kind of takes place down in Texas. I don't remember where exactly. I was about three years old and this is like my oldest memory. Half of my family can attest to it because they were there.

I apparently have an affinity for horses, of all things. Like I said, I was like three years old, so this was 22 years ago. My parents, one of my aunts, my grandmother on my dad's side, my brother and myself all went down to Texas for a trip to visit one of my other aunts.

My brother was five, five and a half. I remember getting out of the car. I remember seeing this big, beautiful, I mean stunning, just awe-inspiring, gorgeous horse, solid black. And my dad said, if he remembers correctly, it was an Arabian horse.

His name was Smart Alec. Kind of hilarious. He didn't like anybody, like ever. The two people in this world that he would like near him would be my father, my aunt's now deceased husband. I remember crawling under the bottom rail of this fence surrounding the area that Smart Alec was enclosed in. I don't know if y'all know

just how big an Arabian horse is. I'd say pretty close to a Clydesdale in height, just not quite as stocky. Huge. I mean solid black horse charging full tilt at me and within some say five to seven, some say eight to ten feet away from me. This horse

drops flat on his belly and skids to a halt right at my feet. He just laid there and let me feel his nose because I'd never seen a horse before. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I had no idea that my uncle was about to shoot this horse because he thought I was about to be a blonde. The puddle of gore.

For now, this horse, he would not let anybody near me. I would just sit around his legs and, you know, he was very mindful of me. He never stepped on me. He was a stud, so he was very protective of his mares. He wouldn't even let them near me. Anytime I'd try to walk out to some of the other horses, he would grab me by the back of my shirt and pull me back.

And ever since that day, I swear to you, every time I come into contact with horses, they're immediately just drawn to me. Even the ones that tend to shy away from people. So I guess I have an affinity for horses. I'm a horse whisperer, I guess. I've loved them.

for as long as I can remember and it's, you know, I wish I could be around them more but, you know, time, money, space that I don't have. If anybody else has any kind of experiences like this with horses or any other animal, call it in please because I would love to know that I'm not alone in this weird phenomenon. Bye. Thank you, Alex. You know, if I'm honest, it sounds like horses have an affinity toward you rather than the other way around.

But this reminds me of a podcast that Sarah and I have been listening to a lot lately. This is not an ad, by the way. Just wanted to share about a program that blew both of our minds. Now, it's called the Telepathy Tapes. And it's mostly about how nonverbal autistic people seem to be able to communicate via telepathy. And I'm talking 100% accuracy here. Mind-to-mind communication.

And I mean it when I say that the information shared in this podcast is nothing short of amazing. And I highly recommend that you give the series a listen. And if you do listen and you end up leaving a review or something, be sure to tell them that old MAU sent you. I'll certainly take the brownie points. But like I said, it's very much worth a listen. And I'll link to it over in the show notes.

But the point here is that at the end of the season, Kai, the host, introduces us to a woman that claims to have the ability to speak with horses, using only mind-to-mind communication. Again, with wildly accurate results. So maybe you're just one of those people, Alex. You have an easier time making that invisible connection. Maybe you have an ability that even you don't realize you have.

And you know, I'll tell you what, even if half of what that podcast is claiming is true, it still shatters what we thought about life and death, and apparently, communication with the rest of the world. Now that's great stuff, Alex, so thank you again for calling in. And like I said, I'll link to that show in the show notes, the telepathy tapes. I suggest you check it out. Now, I have a couple more calls before we duck out of here for the evening.

So up next is a ghost cat story by Jay from Parts Unknown. Hi, Derek. This is Jay from Montreal, Quebec. And I have two little stories for you guys. The first happened in about midwinter. So, you know, it's like minus 15, minus 20 degrees.

So my windows are all closed. And I was working on a project in the Etsy store. And I was sitting in kind of a corner of my apartment. While I was working on it, I feel this cold brush of wind touch my left arm. Kind of like if someone had sat down next to me and blown on my arm.

This was kind of impossible because the left arm was facing my bookcase and my wall and there's no real space there for wind to happen. And again, my windows were closed and my fans were all off, everything. To this day, I have no idea where that came from. And it's happened a couple of times while being in this apartment, which is a fairly new building. I'm not sure how old though.

So is a spirit messing with me? Entirely possible that I'd be interested to hear your take on that. And my second story also takes place in my apartment. I was getting up from my workstation, walking across my apartment. I live in a bachelor's so I can see everything from wherever I am in the place. And I'm heading towards my bathroom and I'm maybe two feet from the door when suddenly

A white silhouette of a cat comes walking out of the door. I blink and it's gone. The cat was kind of like a reverse of a silhouette, like a white cutout of the shape of a fluffy cat.

It was really perplexing because my own cat is orange, so she wouldn't really fit the bill. And my own other cat, who has unfortunately passed away, looks nothing like that, never had that shape. So I have no idea what to make of that. If it's maybe a spirit animal or something, I don't really believe in angels or guardian angels or any of that stuff. It's not really in my belief system. So

So I'm a bit reluctant to apply the term guardian angel. But considering I have a big obsession with cats, it wouldn't surprise me if a spirit guide would come to me in that form. Though if it was just stopping to use my bathroom, I don't know why. But maybe you guys would have some insight on that as well. Thanks, Jay. Thanks, Jay.

Now you know I'm not sure what to make of all that Jay, but it does sound like you had some sort of four-legged visitor. You lucky duck you. Because as far as ghost experiences go, I would think that something like this would be one of the more enjoyable ways to encounter a spirit in the form of a good boy as he was slinking by. Again as a pet parent, that is a touching notion. And we thank you again Jay for taking the time.

to share the tale. And folks, that brings us to tonight's final entry. And for this one, we head all the way up to New England. New Hampshire, specifically. Christina, welcome to the show. Hi, Derek and mobsters among us listeners. This is Christina calling from New Hampshire.

I'm calling today because I'm sitting here listening to season 17, episode 22, in regards to a giant turtle, about 20 foot in size, that used to haunt some lake or river. Anyway, the reason I'm calling, when I was 11, I used to visit my grandparents up at their house on Lake Winnipesaukee.

and there was this boulder that would jet out of the water. It kind of looked like a humpback whale reaching the surface, and I used to like to sit on this rock and just sunbathe and relax in the waters because you would just sit there about up to your waist if you were sitting on the rock on a good day. This day, I jumped out of my grandmother's canoe while she was talking to her neighbors and swam over to Whale Rock. I sat down,

Stuck my foot in the water and started playing around with this buoy that we had to let other boaters know not to get too close. I remember letting go of the buoy and I wasn't really paying attention, just kind of grabbing around with my feet in the water and I thought I felt the rope wrap around my foot again. I thought that was odd. There was a different pressure. Looked down into the waters. All I could see, now mind you, I am

pale as the day can be, basically a ghost in terms of my complexion. I saw half of my foot completely engulfed in blackness, right up almost to my ankle. I freaked, yanked my foot back, looked down, my foot's fine, which prompts me to look into the water again, and what I see is this mass of blackness move to my right,

and start to crawl its way up the rock to get back towards the tasty little morsel that had just flown out of its mouth. Next thing I remember basically is running on water to get away from this turtle, which is what I realized was coming at me. It was a giant snapping turtle with a shell that looked to be about six, six and a half feet long. Beast of a snapping turtle.

My grandmother and neighbors hear all the commotion, come over. I'm frantic. I try to explain what happened. They tell me there's no such thing as a turtle being that large. I'm like, okay, fine, whatever. Cut to the next morning. My grandmother gets a phone call. And I just remember looking out at the water as the steam and vapors just drifted above and hearing her go, you're kidding.

Apparently, the neighbor had seen what they thought was one of those big, giant, black trash bags just loading out in the middle of the lake and decided to take his canoe out to go get it. He assumed it was probably like a careless boater, only to be confronted by the giant snapping turtle that had tasted my foot the day before.

While this thing may not have been a cryptid or Loch Ness monster type beast, the fact that there is close to a six and a half, seven foot long snapping turtle in Lake Winnipesaukee just makes me wonder what other lore is kicking around because of an obscure random animal like this. Thank you again, Derek, for all that you do. Please keep this podcast going. Thank you, Christina.

That is how we close out an all-animal episode with a giant snapping turtle. I loved stories like this growing up because it meant there was still a little bit to be discovered out there. And if a giant snapping turtle can live right under our noses, just imagine what else might be out there. And speaking of giant snappers, there are legends about them strewn across the country. I'm sure most of you already know about the Beast of Boosko over in Indiana.

said to be a 500-pound snapping turtle inhabiting a small seven-acre lake. And on down the I-80 is a small pond a mere 34 feet deep, known locally as Big Blue, and it's a favorite hangout for fishermen and scuba divers alike. But according to Jim Wall, a biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources,

A massive snapping turtle, affectionately named Big Blue, is said to comb the bottom of the quarry pond. Now rumor is that Big Blue is about the size of a Volkswagen hood and routinely attempts to bite the toes and legs of any unlucky diver or swimmer. And as someone with a fear of water, these stories make me sweat. Even as a kid, I couldn't bear to have my feet dangle beneath me in deeper water.

because I knew for certain that something, likely something akin to what Christina experienced, was down there, ready to take a toe, a foot, a leg, or even pull me down into the darkness with it. Either way, it's not my idea of a good time, but it is my idea of a good story, Christina. And I thank you once again for taking the time to share yours here with us.

But I'm afraid that story takes us to the end of the program. A Monsters Among Us podcast was written and produced by me, Derek Hayes. Copyright Red Crow Media. Additional support is provided by Sarah Carter Hayes, Delaney Bowers, and Connor Ryan. All audio used in this production is done so under the protection of fair use. Be sure to like and follow our social media pages.

Give us a like and follow at YouTube. And leave us a rate and review wherever that sort of thing is possible. Now don't forget you can catch the show every Saturday night at 11 p.m. Eastern on the Unexed Digital Network. Just visit unexednetwork.com to tune in. And finally, tonight's score was provided by Iron Cthulhu, Apocalypse, Co.ag Music, and Carl Casey at White Bat Audio.

Well, that's all that I have for you tonight, folks. But I'll be back here on Thursday with a brand new installment. Tell a friend about it, then be sure to meet us there. Until then, thanks to all of tonight's callers. A big thanks to you for tuning in. And an even bigger thanks for keeping it spooky. Y'all have a good night now, and I will catch you all later.

♪♪♪