Rural Banter
Erica Goodman
Issue date: 11/11/04 Section: Local News
How about a new reality TV series? "When Farm Animals Attack." Lock your doors. Hold tight to your loved ones. The Pigman cometh.
That's right. The Pigman. You haven't heard of him? Well, that's not surprising. Lake Champlain's resident USC (Unidentified Swimming Creature) Champ seems to get all of the attention. Yet there are more mysterious creatures lurking in the nooks and crannies of the Green Mountains.
A cousin to the illustrious Bigfoot has made Vermont his home. In 1971, a farmer in Northfield, Vt. went to investigate some strange noises coming from his backyard one night. He turned on his outside light and peered out the kitchen window, expecting to see a raccoon or plump squirrel sifting through his garbage. Instead he met the gaze of a man-sized figure lurking along the edges of the yellow light. His body was covered in white hair and he had the facial features of a pig. A few seconds later, the being darted back into the shadows. A few days passed before the Pigman was spotted again, this time by a group of students outside of the high school during a dance. Reports are vague as to who ran away faster - the students or the creature - but both quickly left the scene. Since these initial sightings, the Pigman has become a sort of "rural legend" in Northfield, and more than one nighttime traveler has claimed he encountered the Pigman while driving his car along a deserted country road, the hairy white beast narrowly missing the front-end of the vehicle.
The Pigman is not the only livestock apparition that haunts the back roads of Vermont. Between nearby Shoreham and Cornwall, a certain irate bovine has haunted a patch of Rt. 74 since the mid-1950s. A cherished Holstein of the Farrington Family broke through the fence and wandered out onto the pavement, where she was struck by a bread delivery truck. Loaves of bread scattered across the macadam, and the poor cow was no more - or so the Farrington's thought. Although the farm is no longer operating, a mysterious, lonely cow is occasionally spotted near the same spot where old Farrington lost his roving bovine. Many a frightened driver has seen the white splotches and glowing red eyes of the "Midnight Cow" peering at them in the dark. Some even believe that they have collided with the ghost and driven on without a scratch.
The towns, villages and country roads are filled with even more tales of odd creatures and mysterious phantoms. Whether you believe these stories to be true or you shrug them off as silly folklore, they are at least a bit entertaining. But I will leave you with this warning: Beware. It's a crazy world out there.
That's right. The Pigman. You haven't heard of him? Well, that's not surprising. Lake Champlain's resident USC (Unidentified Swimming Creature) Champ seems to get all of the attention. Yet there are more mysterious creatures lurking in the nooks and crannies of the Green Mountains.
A cousin to the illustrious Bigfoot has made Vermont his home. In 1971, a farmer in Northfield, Vt. went to investigate some strange noises coming from his backyard one night. He turned on his outside light and peered out the kitchen window, expecting to see a raccoon or plump squirrel sifting through his garbage. Instead he met the gaze of a man-sized figure lurking along the edges of the yellow light. His body was covered in white hair and he had the facial features of a pig. A few seconds later, the being darted back into the shadows. A few days passed before the Pigman was spotted again, this time by a group of students outside of the high school during a dance. Reports are vague as to who ran away faster - the students or the creature - but both quickly left the scene. Since these initial sightings, the Pigman has become a sort of "rural legend" in Northfield, and more than one nighttime traveler has claimed he encountered the Pigman while driving his car along a deserted country road, the hairy white beast narrowly missing the front-end of the vehicle.
The Pigman is not the only livestock apparition that haunts the back roads of Vermont. Between nearby Shoreham and Cornwall, a certain irate bovine has haunted a patch of Rt. 74 since the mid-1950s. A cherished Holstein of the Farrington Family broke through the fence and wandered out onto the pavement, where she was struck by a bread delivery truck. Loaves of bread scattered across the macadam, and the poor cow was no more - or so the Farrington's thought. Although the farm is no longer operating, a mysterious, lonely cow is occasionally spotted near the same spot where old Farrington lost his roving bovine. Many a frightened driver has seen the white splotches and glowing red eyes of the "Midnight Cow" peering at them in the dark. Some even believe that they have collided with the ghost and driven on without a scratch.
The towns, villages and country roads are filled with even more tales of odd creatures and mysterious phantoms. Whether you believe these stories to be true or you shrug them off as silly folklore, they are at least a bit entertaining. But I will leave you with this warning: Beware. It's a crazy world out there.