Is this the Jersey Devil???

Just wanted to bump this, as it's likely a case of one of our own members solving a cryptid case....and new members may have never seen it...

awww there kinda cute, big ears and all Makes sense that someone would think the poor thing is a monster if they have never seen it before

[edit on 8-9-2006 by nastalgik]

Wow, this thread is still here.
I was just checking in to see if there were anymore theories on this. If somebody could find an audio track from the hammerhead bat that would be awesome.

I have to give credit. Even if this doesn't explain it, it certainly shows you were keeping your eyes & mind open, which I think is key for both gathering evidence of cases, as well as finding possible explinations...

It does actually look kinda like it, but I don't think its big enough in my honest opinion...

There really havent been much Jersey Devil sightings in the 20th century as far as I know. I live in New Jersey and I've honestly never seen it. >_>;

Originally posted by Jonna
What would be interesting to see is if Jungle Habitat (an abandoned zoo in NJ) ever had one of these as it is rumored to have been closed down with animals still roaming around.

www.weirdnj.com...

I think you've made a great connection there Jonna. I bet you that when Jungle Habitat failed and grew into dissaray that a bunch of these bats got set lose in the Pine Barrens.

Nice Pic do you no where it was takin? its a nice closeup

yes i've seen pics of the JD before, the bat looked A LOT like it, the shape of the head and the general shape of the body

but still that bat's only 150mm or so, the jersey devil is 3 to 4 foot. big difference, and the JD has a tail and bigger wings

More info on the hammerhead bat.

It says that the average height is actually 250mm and it has a wing span of up to 970mm. Things tend to get exagirated in folk tales. 10 inches could easily become 3 to 4 feet.

It also says that they can live for 30 years. And there is also a picture that looks even more like the classical Jersey Devil drawing.

Well, I live in New Jersey, and Jungle Habitat was quite far away from the Pine Barrens. JH in North Jersey, PB in South Jersey.

I once wrote a letter to Weird New Jeresy (which they were kind enough to print) about a visit my cousin and I made to the Jungle Habitat grounds long after it was abandoned. Pretty cool place. Stuff was just left there.

One thing we did see were these huge millipedes crawling around. They were the size of drumsticks.

Originally posted by Kacen
It does actually look kinda like it, but I don't think its big enough in my honest opinion...

Have you ever been walking home, late at night and alone?
Have you, while walking hom late at night and alone, had a cat jump out of a fence in front of you?

If you don't have enough control of yourself you would empty your bowels.
When you're alone and its dark, you're mind is the most threatening thing you have ever encountered. It twists anything you see into something malicious.

So that hammer-head bat flying low along the ground near a wall would have a streched shadow, the wings becoming long thin black lines, its actual wings wide and then (like all bats) it would let out a huge scream.
In addition to that it would be emitting its echolocation which some people are unusually sensitive to and may believe they are in some way suffering an attack.

Based on the reports I've been listening to and reading about, I think the Jersey Devil is not a bat. In fact I believe it may be either two things, the result of a horrible experiement that got loose, or it could be a "Draconian". There is a true report of a group of teenagers driving home in their car, when all of a sudden a large winged creature begins to chase them. The driver sped up and they managed to get away. They described the being having illuminated red eyes, large wings, and a horse-dragon like snout.

To me, because I have been studying "Reptilian humanoids" or whatever you may call them. It sounds like a Draconian entity. The Jersey Devil has many legends surrounding it and also relates to the famous "Mothman mysteries" which were also true. People would see these creepy monsters with wings and could only remember a strong red light.

Regardless of what this creature is, I don't think it's an animal that we know today.

If the Jersey Devil is one of those bats, it sure has to be tough as hell - didn't the son of the notorious Napoleon shoot a cannon ball through it only to have it scream and fly off?

Originally posted by NotTooHappy
Could a misplaced one of these be the Jersey Devil???

The single species, H. monstrosus, is found from Gambia to southwestern Ethiopia and south to northeastern Angola and Zambia (Hayman and Hill, in Meester and Setzer 1977; Koopman 1975; Largen, Kock, and Yalden 1974).
Head and body length is about 193-304 mm, there is no tail, and forearm length is 118-37 mm. The wingspan in males is as much as 907 mm. This genus has the greatest sexual dimorphism in the Chiroptera; Bradbury (1977) found that males, which averaged 420 grams, were nearly twice as heavy as females, which averaged 234 grams. The coloration is grayish brown or slaty brown. The breast is paler, and the lighter color extends up around the neck, forming a sort of collar. A white patch is present at the base of the ear. Shoulder pouches and epauletlike hair tufts are lacking in both sexes.
Male Hypsignathus may be recognized in flight by the large, square, truncate head. The muzzle is thick and hammer-shaped, hence the common name. Other distinctive features are enormous and pendulous lips, ruffles around the nose, a warty snout, a hairless, split chin, and highly developed voice organs in adult males. Females have a foxlike muzzle similar to that of Epomophorus.
In referring to this genus, Lang and Chapin (1917) commented: "In no other mammal is everything so entirely subordinated to the organs of voice." The adult male has a pair of air sacs that open into the sides of the nasopharynx and can be inflated at will, as well as a great enlargement of the voice box (larynx) and vocal cords. The larynx "is nearly equal in length to one half of the vertebral column," actually filling most of the chest cavity, pushing the heart and lungs backward and sideward. The voice thus produced, a continuous croaking or quacking, is quite remarkable and probably attracts the females. The gregarious chorus reminded Lang and Chapin of "a pondful of noisy American wood-frogs, greatly magnified and transported to the treetops."
The hammer-headed bat inhabits forests, being most common in swamps, mangroves, and palms along rivers. It usually roosts in foliage but has been found in a cave. Bradbury (1977) stated that Hypsignathus roosted at a height of 20-30 meters during the day and would forage up to 10 km from the roost at night. With the ripening of certain fruits, this bat often seeks the high forest or native clearings to feed. It may take the juices of mangoes, soursops, and bananas. Van Deusen (1968) reported that Hypsignathus killed and ate tethered chickens.

More info






[Edited on 3/30/04 by NotTooHappy]

That can't be it! It looks like an deformed bat.

NotTooHappy,I have to say that you are brilliant. To me, they look exactly alike. Now as for the reported size differentiation, it could be exagerration,or, perhaps, there was some mutant form of this species that grew to huge proportions. Who knows? However, I must say that that looks awfully similar to me.

[edit on 12-1-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

[edit on 12-1-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

what about all the unexplained killing of animals... the single puncture wound could be cause by a bat but apparently (if i remember correctly) all of the blood had been drained and some of the organs had been liquidized and sucked out through the hole. that must be one really weird bat. what's the research like on it. or is there any? Is the JD be the same as the Chupacabra?

The more likely explanation there is likely similar to cattle mutilations (or at least many cases of them), and then the bat may have been seen near the corpse, and someone added 2+2 and got 5......at least as a possibility.

Or the bat could be carrying a type of bacteria that turns some of the organs to mush.

The resemblance between the bat and the Jersey is too close to be just coincidence.

My personal opinion is that there was no mutation, no monster, just something that can be explained. I don't know if the bat is the Jersey Devil but, it fits the bill.
Sometimes, the mundane explains the fantastic. More often than not, a mystery can be solved with a simple explaination.
If you look too hard, you might miss what you are searching for.

reply to post by Woodside


i have a camper in a camp ground thats smack dab in the middle of the pine barrings where the devil lives. hes been there for 30 years and the house he was born is is 2 miles away(bout 10 min.)

my uncle and grandpa heard sommin in the woods and went to go see wat it was but they backed up. it was a gargling weird sound and there was a figure moving around in a cloud of mist.

and down the road, a girl and her bf broke down, and he went to check under the hood, and it shut and his head rolled across the top of the hood. they found his body 5 miles away with teeth marks in it. theres a bunch of things like this down near my camp ground. 9 people have been found dead and they find animals with their stomachs ripped out but theres no bears. they also find human feces all over sometimes.

its creeps