A Cryptid Story, written by Jaime de la Parra

This encounter is not of my own experience, but that of family and friends. I was first made aware of this incident in my later adult years, which is strange in and of itself. This story was told to me from my cousin’s perspective, since he was the primary witness and has been the most vocal about it. The location of the incident is approximately an hour north of Dallas, Texas, and occurred during the mid-1980’s at one of our family’s ranches. All names and exact locations have been withheld for the sake of privacy and anonymity.

While growing up in Texas, my family owned two ranches. One, a couple of hours south of Dallas, and the other which has already been introduced. Both hold fond memories of my childhood. For the sake of this story, when I mention the ranch, I will be referring to the one north of Dallas. Every time a trip to the ranch was planned, we would all go together, uncles, aunts, cousins. Although there were a few times that family members would visit the ranch without me. This was one of those rare occasions when I was not there…

For each of the two old photos: “Author and his cousin at the ranch pond, circa mid 1980’s”

There is a pond, sometimes referred to as a tank, that serves as a central point within the ranch. Directly to the west of the pond is a large, wooded area. This forested area covers almost half of the ranch on its western side. To say that my cousins and I are familiar with this environment would be an understatement. For we would spend countless hours deep in these woods. Dressed in camouflage and old military surplus gear, we would hone our hunting and survival skills while exploring the entire area. By the time we were in our teens we were already very comfortable spending time alone out in the country being self-reliant. This is something we were raised to strive for and to this day take great pride in.

Sandwiched in between this forested area and the tank is a spot that is regularly congregated by all visitors, which is at the southwest corner of the pond. It has an ideal area to set up camp for many while providing plenty of shade, as well as having easy access to the water and a beautiful view of the ranch.

On this particular day, my cousins and some family friends were accompanied by one of our older relatives visiting from Mexico. He was the acting adult (over 21 years old) during this visit, since all other members of the party were considered minors, mostly in their teens.

The events unfolded at dusk as the sun was setting behind the trees. All 8 individuals were at the pond, primarily at the southwestern corner of the tank in the area previously mentioned. The oldest cousin visiting from Mexico was fishing approximately 50 to 60 yards further north along the western shoreline with one of the accompanying friends.

The rest of the group was happily enjoying themselves skipping rocks on top of the water. It was at this time that my cousin (the one telling the story), and everyone independently for that matter, began to hear noises coming from the dense woods that were to their backs as they faced the pond. I say “independently” because later conversation amongst the group confirmed that all could hear the commotion from within the tree line, but no one wanted to voice their concerns to each another at the time.

My cousin described the sounds they heard as branches snapping and breaking, getting louder and closer to their location. Having grown up in these woods, we’re acquainted with the various noises animals make while traveling within them. But these sounds were those of a human moving through the forest. At one point my cousin and one of the friends locked eyes as if to mentally tell each other, “Are you hearing this?!” The look they gave each other was that of fright and bewilderment.

This next point is of interest. In attendance, one of the group’s friends brought along his brother that was of special needs. It was during this time of commotion that the special-needs individual was beginning to show signs of distress, despite everyone else acting as if everything was okay. But as the noises began to get louder and closer, the special-needs brother really started to freak out.

Having been raised to safely handle firearms and to always have one with us when out at the ranch as a form of protection, my cousin had with him a 20-gauge Winchester shotgun. Once the sounds coming from the woods started to get closer, he went for that shotgun that was leaning against a tree.

In an attempt to calm things down and display some comforting authority, my cousin yelled out into the woods to our relative from Mexico to stop messing around. He just assumed that it was him and the other guy that were fishing together, attempting to scare the bejesus out of them. As a matter of fact, the scaring of each other was not so uncommon at the ranch. I actually pulled a pretty good prank on the family one night at the ranch house. But that’s a story for another time.

My cousin yelled out in Spanish into the woods ordering our relative to cease and desist all disturbances. But to his horror, he heard our visiting cousin yell back that it was NOT him. For he was still at the very same fishing spot along with the other guy! Upon hearing this, everyone got chills as they realized something was terribly wrong. This is when the fear really set in, and everyone began to panic.

Standing 10 to 15 feet from the tree line, my cousin redirected his attention back to the woods and racked a round into the chamber of the pump-action shotgun, which also served as an audible warning. This time in English, he began to frantically shout to whomever was causing all the disturbance and commanded them to stop or be fired upon. Then, footsteps were heard coming from the interior of the forest, getting closer and closer.

The tree tops that make up the wood line are comprised mostly of cedars that average in height of 15 feet, give or take, along with some taller oaks and other tree species. Making note of that, I will quote my cousin…

“As I pointed the shotgun into the woods, it parted the trees with its bare hands and stepped out with a growl. It stood at about 9 feet tall. It looked like a huge, hairy, man-like being”

Due to the low light conditions of the ensuing evening, my cousin was not able to make out any facial characteristics or actual hair color. But he did describe it as a tall humanoid with a big head and massive shoulders.

As he stood there pointing the firearm at it, frozen in shock, he felt and described the noise this thing emitted as a deep guttural growl that reverberated throughout my cousin’s body and the ground he stood on. So scared of this thing, that despite having his finger on the trigger he was unable to pull it. He stated that his body simply locked up.

After a moment of disbelief and out of pure fear, my cousin turned to run in the opposite direction towards the pond. By that point the rest of the group was well on their way running frantically into the water. As he ran, he tripped over a small rock that caused him to fall and drop the shotgun. Upon impact, his left knee hit a large rock which ripped his pants and split his knee wide open. One of the guys saw him take the fall and came back for him to assist in the retreat. As they fled, my cousin never dared to look back at that thing.

Think about it. How scared would you have to be that you couldn’t pull the trigger at whatever monstrosity is coming out of the woods? And instead of shooting or running off to the left or right on dry land, you go straight into the water. Who or what could scare anyone like that?!

Once everyone was in the pond the group swam parallel to the shoreline to link up with our elder cousin, who was already walking towards the group with his fishing friend in tow. When everyone emerged out of the water and explained what had just occurred, our visiting relative from Mexico did not believe a word of it. What’s even more bizarre is that neither our visiting cousin nor his fishing buddy saw or heard any of the commotion that the guys had just experienced despite being no less than 50 yards away.

After the incident, it was 3 to 4 years before anyone involved in this event ever went back to the ranch. Of those that were present, some choose not to talk about the encounter. Although none deny that it happened. Sadly, one of our childhood friends that was there never spoke to our family ever again after the incident. To this day my cousin’s story has not changed, and he still has the scar on his knee from the fall.

And for the record, no one had been drinking. No one had taken any drugs, hallucinogens, or psychedelics. Everyone was stone-cold sober on that day.

According to some research, it has been noted that this part of Texas experienced a high volume of reported sightings similar in nature from the 1960s through the 80’s. Particularly around the Lake Kiowa area, which was considered a hot spot for this type of activity. And it just so happens that the ranch is not far from this lake. But turns out these types of incidents have plagued northeast Texas going even further back in time, according to various sources. And if one were to speak to the First Nations People, they will tell you that these entities have been here since the dawn of time.

In the years to follow and up to the present day, there have been unexplained signs in the woods at the old family ranch. These odd signs include breaks on healthy trees that make no sense as to how they occurred due to lack of storms or other natural phenomena. Tree-structures that have been found and then taken down by family members, only to reappear days later. And then there are the tracks that do not look like that of any known creatures.

Broken tree branch photo: “Healthy branch inexplicably broken off a living tree within the ranch, circa 2018.”

Tree structure photo: “Broken trees transported and arranged at a particular spot inside the ranch, circa 2018.”

For each of the two track photos: “Unidentifiable track from within the ranch, circa 2018.”

Despite countless reported incidents similar to this story, there are still many skeptics regarding the existence of these beings. And after retelling his story for the purpose of this writing, my cousin confessed that had it not been for this encounter he probably would not be a believer of this cryptid. Nor would I, for that matter.