There sure are a lot of cryptids, right?

The Jersey Devil, or Leeds Devil, is a cryptid in South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore. It is said to inhabit the Pine Barrens forest of South Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying bipedal creature with hooves. The common description is that of a bipedal wyvern-like creature with a horse or goat-like head, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, legs with hooves, and a forked or barbed tail. It is also reported that it has a strange, elongated body and a thick tail. It has reports of moving quickly and is often described as emitting a high-pitched scream.

The origin starts like this. A woman named Leeds, nicknamed as “Mother Leeds,” gave birth to twelve children. When she was pregnant with her thirteenth child, she was frustrated and cursed her child by saying, “Let the child be the devil!”  The child was born normally, but the child immediately grew wings, a tail, and claws before flying off into the Pine Barrens.

According to others, the child turned into a creature with hooves, a goat’s head, bat wings, and a forked tail. The child beat everyone with its tail before flying up the chimney and heading to the pines while growling and screaming. In some versions of the tale, Mother Leeds was supposedly a witch and the child’s father was the devil. Some versions of the legend state that clergymen attempted to exorcise the creature from the forest.