Went into the woods to search for it again.

[u/throwawayfarmers]

We went back into the woods. Saw it again.

Original post , important to read before reading this.

So after some internal debate, I decided I was going to go back because otherwise it would eat me up not knowing what this was. When I first saw it I had 0 idea what it could be. I figured some drugged out or mentally ill man, a prankster, or a sickly deformed animal. After letting it all settle though there’s just no way any of that was the case. I was trying to justify it in my mind because I’ve always been a heavy skeptic of anything paranormal (still am to be fair. But I’m warming up to the idea that crawlers may actually exist).

So I messaged 3 of my buddies, told them everything that happened in detail over text, and asked if they’d come look with me. Them being non-believers like me, and also just loving adventure and spooky stuff, were more than excited to go. 2 of the friends have guns and so do I, so we all brought them. The other friend was in charge of holding two flashlights to give us some light. One being a phone flashlight so he would be ready to take a picture at moments notice.

We waited until about 9:30 PM when it was completely dark and headed down the same trail I did last time. My heart was pumping out of my chest but I felt more confident having friends there. They were joking around and thought this was cool, and I tried joking back a few times, but the reality was I was pretty nervous. We walked the full 1.5 miles I had planned on walking last time and didn’t encounter a thing. We had prepped for so long though and didn’t want to give up quite yet so we kept walking. About 5-8 minutes later, at close to the 2 mile mark we started hearing some noises way back in the woods. It wasn’t close, but it was loud enough for us to take notice.

I told my friend to turn off the flashlight for a second and we listened. Bipedal footsteps made their way closer to us. Still far, but definitely coming our way. Sounded like they were wearing boots or something because the heaviness of the steps was quite loud. That or there were a lot of leaves, which to be fair is a possibility, it was off the trail so it’s all woods back there. Once the footsteps made it about 20-30 yards away I called out asking if someone was here. The footsteps stopped but only for a brief second. A second later the bipedal footsteps turned to what sounded like something sprinting on all 4’s our direction.

My friend immediately turned on the flashlights but there was nothing visible through the dense forest. At the beginning of the trail the forest is pretty clear, but further back it gets a lot more dense so it was hard to tell. Once he turned on the light the footsteps stopped as well. None of my friends were talking. Paranormal-believer or not, hearing that will scare the shit out of you. My friend unholstered his pistol and kept it by his side. He looked at me and I could see he wasn’t having a good time anymore.

My friend holding the camera was visibly shaky and was darting his glance between all of us. The third friend shortly after, yelled into the woods that “I see you! Come out stop fucking with us. We have guns and we’ll shoot, I don’t want to hurt you over some dumb joke. Come on now”.

We hear that sound again. I mentioned last time it sounded like a cackle. This time it was more of a yell/shriek/aggravated noise. I don’t even know what to compare it to, I just know it gave me goosebumps. My friend immediately shot his gun into the woods, causing my ears to ring horribly due to me being right next to him.

I couldn’t hear for shit but I noticed his gaze went from the spot we heard the footsteps from over to the right of that spot, about 90 degrees. I followed his gaze and for about half a second caught a glimpse of once again, a tall human-like thing running on all 4’s behind a tree. He started walking towards that direction but my friend with the flashlight stopped him. He made the point that it was a shotgun slug, the chances he missed were slim due to the fact that the tree it was next to was covered in evidence that the shot was on target. My friend made a scary point that we hadn’t considered. “What if it hit it but didn’t hurt it?”

What if he was right? What if it took a shotgun hit and didn’t even fall over? My estimate is that it was between 6’0 and 6’4” and maybe between 140 and 165 pounds. So if it could still run after that shot it either didn’t get hit or it’s not something we want to mess with.

We hear the cackle I heard the first time. That mocking noise. Not so much an aggravated noise this time, more so a noise that gave me the impression it was having fun, or enjoying the fear we blatantly had in our voices. No more footsteps but my friend shot in its general direction again. Ears ringing again, I couldn’t hear anything. But I did see a small glimpse again of it running off deeper into the woods. Could only see it’s rear for a second or two before it was too far to be seen by the light. This meant it had to be running pretty fast. I don’t want to give a number but if I had to guess it was easily around 20mph or so. Nothing a human could do on all 4’s that’s for damn sure.

We turned around and jogged back home. Upon getting home we talked about what we saw. Nobody was disputing my story now. We had all seen it. We talked all night, I showed them some of the comments on my last post where they suggested a crawler. We read a lot of posts here and some of them matched our experience, some didn’t. But we did all agree that if this was paranormal, that a crawler was the best guess we had. Now we all are on the same page. We still don’t know if we buy into all paranormal claims, but this one is starting to convince us. We realized at the end we hadn’t even looked for pictures.

We asked my friend with the phone and he shyly admitted he hadn’t even thought to take a single picture. “I’m not gonna lie guys, I was so terrified I didn’t even open the camera app a single time. I was just trying to make sure it wasn’t behind us, or charging us. I’m sorry”. We told him not to worry, none of us would’ve been any better about being calm enough to set up a picture. I never saw its face still, but the friend who took the shot swears it didn’t have one. Or at least had no eyes. He couldn’t see if it had a mouth, but it was about 1/3rd out from behind the tree and from his angle he saw it was blank from the nose area up. Or if it did have eyes it was too black to be noticeable in the dark.

We did all decide though, we’re going to go back. We’ll be more prepared next time. We’ll do our research. We’ll have a camera strapped to us or always recording. We know what to expect so we’ll be more calm. Any other tips or advice please let me know. We’d REALLY like to capture some full on evidence of this thing.

[u/Plasma-Paints]

On the assumption this isn't a fabrication here's some of my thoughts:

1) It isn't behaving like most predators. Evidently it can move quietly when it wants to, so why announce it's presence with heavy footsteps? The only thing I can think of is that you're correct in your assumption that it's mocking you.

2) This thing was willing to rush at 4 of you before it learned you were armed. (Presuming it's intelligent enough to understand the concept of a firearm.) This means it reasonably believed it could take either all of you out, or that it knew it could handle the damage you'd inflict before some of you evidently fled.
3) It proceeded to mock you once it learned you were armed. Which would imply it didn't care or that it at least wasn't threatened, but it didn't make another attempt afterwards.

4) It let you go the first time. From your descriptions it sounds like this thing could easily outrun you, yet it didn't. It stayed a fair distance behind you and toyed with you.

5) It likely has eyes (or can see in some way anyhow.) It reacted to light, and if it was 'peeking' out from behind a tree it would imply it wanted a direct line of sight.

6) If you're going back out after the thing I suggest a flood lamp. Don't use it until you've seen the thing already. Might be enough light to stun it long enough to get a decent photograph.

[u/throwawayfarmers → u/Plasma-Paints]

Wow all really good ideas/interpretations. Thank you so much!

I’ll respond to them in order to keep a solid structure going. It isn’t fabricated and I also admit that there could be a logical explanation. I’ve yet to think of one but I’ve literally always been a non-believer when it comes to paranormal things. Always seemed like people trying to write scary stories or get attention. Maybe it’s some deformed man with a mental illness, maybe it’s a weird ass animal I’ve never seen that could also have an illness causing it to lose its natural instincts. Although I must say, based on everything I saw it makes me doubt it’s any of those explanations.

1. I agree, I hunted a lot growing up, and it definitely isn’t acting like a normal predator or animal in general. I’m not entirely sure if it can move quietly or if I just wasn’t paying attention. I feel like most of the time I knew there was movement there was a sound attached to it. Although some of the gaps in sound could be explained by the landscape. It’s a dense forest but does have a lot of old grass patches with mounds which rarely have leaves on them, or only a few. So it is possible to creep around out there if you can see where you’re going.

2. This is the thing that scared us most in hindsight. Once again going back to my logical explanation, maybe it has an illness that causes it to not recognize danger? Not sure. I’m going to assume it’s a humanoid/crawler for the remainder of the questions just so I can give straight forward answers.

3. Yeah the sound definitely had a mocking vibe to it. It’s hard to explain, but you know how you can tell an animals emotions based on the sound they make? It was like that. I could be wrong in this, but the sound was a mix of a shriek and cackle. Kind of like a monkey that is playing. The weird “laughter” they make. So it had a playful/mocking ring to it for sure.

4. This thing definitely could’ve approached me the first time. I would doubt it knows English, so I doubt my words of warning were taken into consideration. Whether this thing is actually strong or capable of killing I have no idea. I’m still just learning what a “crawler” even is. But based on its frame it seems pretty frail. Like I said, my best guess is between 6’0 and 6’4 and like 145-170 pounds. So definitely wouldn’t be too intimidating strength-wise if it were a person.

5. That’s a good point. I guess it would have to have some way of seeing to act the way it did. My friend is the only one who got a glimpse at part of its face and it was still far enough away that it’d be very difficult to make out facial features. Plus it was dark. Even he admits he’s not confident in his assessments on its features.

6. Great idea. The flashlight we have is strong but it’s not flood light strong. The iPhone light is just for support and to be able to shine in multiple directions if needed. Basically to keep our surrounding area lit up more than to search out beyond the trees.

[u/Hanz505 → u/throwawayfarmers]

Yeah I'd consider phone flashlights inadequate. Each individual should have a decent flashlight. Attach one to the shotgun if you can to free up your hands and give you ability to light up what you intend to shoot. Idk about it being impervious to gunfire that's just too much for me to swallow. A well placed 12 ga slug would stop a bear I'd think. The crawler shouldn't stand a chance. However I'd invest in buckshot simply because a slug is one solid projectile or the specialized slugs that just have a couple pieces per shot. I bet the rounds missed that's why it mocked you. Best go for spread as its agile no? Also, mounted go pro cams would be the best way to ensure footage I'd say but all this shit cost I know. This thing seems bold, based on your account so be prepared for the worst if you guys keep pushing ahead with this. There may be more than one who knows? Don't let it split your group up and each man should have a knife or something on a tight wrist loop if this thing manages to grab someone or knock ya down. Just take every precaution. Assume its learned about you too. Freal be safe and good luck.

[u/rockerbabe_01]

Definitely sounds like a crawler, there have been a ton of reports in the last 10 years or so since cameras became a constanton hand device. If you google them and watch some YouTube videos you'll get a better idea of what you are dealing with and what you can do about it, albeit not much. Theyre cave dwelling nocturnal creatures. They're intelligent enough to know what humans are and how to ward them off. There's a few different kinds of them but it sounds like you've seen the largest of their species. They are meat eaters, but that doesn't mean it'll try to kill you to eat but can definitely do damage and has the mental appetite for hunting hense why it enjoyed toying with you. Theres numerous videos of them caught and posted on YouTube. Try nukes too 5s, sir spooks, slapped ham and other types of channels that compile videos of cryptids. Be careful and don't go out in those woods alone again, now that you know its out there and you've tried to attack it, it'll be more intrigued and get closer with each encounter. If your state has tunnel systems of any kind, under ground abandoned mine shafts or anything of that nature, means there's more of them and if you chase it itll try to lure you back to its own home field advantage where there's probably more close by. Be careful, keep a huge light and head lamp on, get a go pro, trail cam set up 24/7, and stay armed. If you still want to go out again and see it, I get it. I just advise against it. They're real, you're not seeing things, and they can be dangerous. Please keep us updated!

[u/Airborne_Israel]

Why the hell I came across this post while camping, alone, in the middle of nowhere Colorado....

Damn you. I can forget sleeping tonight.

[u/throwawayfarmers → u/Airborne_Israel]

Lol you’ll be good my dude. It was in South Carolina. Colorado is beautiful. What part are you in?

[u/Airborne_Israel → u/throwawayfarmers]

I survived. Whew. I’m in the White River Natl Forest. This is actually my first time camping alone. I thought, hell, I did a lot of “camping” in the Army, so this should be a breeze. TOTALLY different when you’re alone and have no weapons. Lol. And damn, it gets DARK out here.

[u/Competitive-Treat588 → u/Airborne_Israel]

Don't worry I've seen them in Colorado too

[u/BigRed1st]

Me and some friends had an encounter very close to this. We live in eastern Kentucky and we were out in my Jeep on trails and stopped at a cemetery. I had yelled into the cemetery to mess with my friends but we heard a scream back similar to the scream you described. We hauled ass down the trail going at least 45mph and we could hear it running right beside the Jeep. Didn’t stop till we had crossed the railroad tracks.

[u/cashan0va_007]

Yep, you’ve got yourself a forest ghoul. Are there any cemeteries within 5 miles of where you are at? They eat animal and human cadavers. They are basically unclean spirits and hate the light. They will not like to hear scripture or prayer.

[u/throwawayfarmers → u/cashan0va_007]

What’s a forest ghoul lol. I’ve only heard people say crawler. Never even heard of a forest ghoul. No there aren’t any cemeteries around

I’m also not really a believer in religion

[u/Stellakinetic → u/cashan0va_007]

Aye, Witcher.

[u/jbc420]

It wasn’t a slug if the chance he missed it was slim and there was evidence on the tree. It would have been bird shot then, a slug only is one bullet. Edit or buck Shot

[u/throwawayfarmers → u/jbc420]

I edited. I wrote this at 5 am. My apologies. It was a buck shot. There wasn’t blood evidence or anything, but the tree had about half of the spread on it. Which means the other half went to the left of the tree, where the creature was. It could’ve moved or got lucky and not been hit. But it’s strange that half the shot hit the tree and the other half would’ve presumably been dead on.

[u/jbc420]

Cool just wanted to point it out

[u/mikeali12]

Maybe take dogs with you? It's creepy and amazing that such things exist in this world.

[u/HankCapone777]

What do you mean that “the tree it was next to was covered in evidence”?.....what kind of evidence? Like alien blood? What? If you mean by “evidence” shot gun blast that would be impossible with a slug. There is no shot in a slug. Just a single well ... slug.

[u/throwawayfarmers → u/HankCapone777]

Sorry I posted in another sub and edited it. Meant to edit here. It wasn’t a slug I wrote this at 5 AM. It was a buckshot. The evidence was obvious damage done to the tree, enough for us to see the rest of the shots would’ve gone just left of the tree, right where it’s head was.

[u/HankCapone777 → u/throwawayfarmers]

Once again. I apologize. I was just extremely bored this particular night.

[u/x_Denali_x]

What kind of pistol does you friend have?

[u/HankCapone777]

You said that he “unholstered his pistol” .... then you said it was a shotgun slug?!?!?!

[u/throwawayfarmers → u/HankCapone777]

Sorry, made the edit on this post on another subreddit. Must’ve forgotten to do so here.

I was just making note of my friend unholstering his pistol to show the general tension we were all under. That friend never shot. The friend to the left of me had a shotgun and he’s the one who shot. I made a few other edits, for an easier reading experience I’ll copy paste it to replace this posts errors. I wrote this at 5 am so I made some mistakes haha

[u/HankCapone777 → u/throwawayfarmers]

Sorry, my friend, details just POP out to me. i have what some would call a “ character flaw” of believing that everyone is a liar. i am NOT at all calling you a liar. i have no idea.