Footprints on the Roof | the Winter Bigfoot #1

Have you ever seen strange footprints in the snow? Ones made from a long, large foot and having three bulky, square-ish toes? If not, you may have known someone who has seen such a phenomenon. Known to be particularly active on snowy days, "Leaping Devils" or "Winter Bigfeet" make their visits known by leaving these strange tracks. They are a type of bigfoot only found in West Virginia.

CREDITS
This public broadcast is made possible thanks to these BCWPA Agents: Brandon Ruch, Colten Williams, Daniel Berry, Donovan Scherer, Kimberly Nichols, Layla Leutwyler, Madelynn ODell, Matthew Schang, Pyper Wilson, Lenin Roman, Ronald Miller, PHouseGames, Anthony Ferries, Dandan, Fox & Brambles, Jim Walke, Claire, Hallesy, Heather, HELGA, Kris Mitchell, Kylie Reed, Rick Belcher, Cryptid Clyde, T. Carter Ross, Agus Mercado, Ead Daniels, Elizabeth Lukjanczuk, Shelby Fulton, Veronica Mulvaney, Zodiac Gaming Industry, Mr. Blue Sky  

NOTE
In the Field and its free, public broadcasting are fictional and for entertainment only. Real life stories and events have been altered for storytelling; real life stories, myths, and legends are well-researched for each episode. 

Transcript

2008

Frametown, WV

It was a snow day, so my friends and I met up to go sledding. There’s a really big hill down the road that’s part of a farm and it’s the perfect place to go; you have to pass through this small section of forest to get to it from my house. I go this way pretty often by myself, so I’m used to the path and all the animals that live there.

Three of us were talking loudly and walking through the woods when we heard trees cracking, like something big was in them. We stopped talking and looked around; I can’t really describe it, but the air felt heavy and made me feel panicky. A small shadow passed over us and I looked up; I saw this huge person, or creature, covered in long, dark black hair jumping from treetop to treetop. It didn’t look like it had seen us. Then, it jumped onto the ground farther down the path before leaping off the cliff-edge and into the creek. It jumped a few more times on the ground before hopping back into the trees, swinging from the branches with its long arms.

We didn’t move or speak for a while, afraid it’d come back. After we were pretty sure, we went and looked where it landed and saw a weird footprint— it only had three long, big toes. We left pretty quickly and had my mom pick us up. I’m not sure what it was, but I’m really glad it didn’t see us because I don’t know what it would’ve done.

That same day, my dad saw something on his way home from work. Two shiny eyes were glowing on the side of the road; when he got closer it leapt away, into the forest. He swore that it looked like a large, hairy man with a monkey-ish face, naked in the snow.

That wasn’t all, though. We had several more snowy days after we saw the thing. Our neighbor said they thought they saw something too, once, but only briefly. A dark figure jumping out of view. She also heard strange screams late one night when she was taking her dog outside. Both times it was snowing pretty hard. She noticed weird footprints around her house; they stopped by her window, the trail suddenly ending.

The worst part, though, was the next day she saw scratches on the side of her house, where the footprints ended. Scared, she made her brother bring his ladder and see if he saw anything on the roof, before the snow melted, or before more snow came. On the roof were more footprints, but that wasn’t all–about a foot away, it looked like the creature had hunkered down and peeled back one of the shingles, scratching at the material underneath, making a deep, clawed out hole. We’re terrified that it is something dangerous. We’re afraid to go outside, especially when it's snowing.

- Hannah

There are some organisms that are bound to certain times of day, seasons, even months; at all other times, they are inactive, hibernating, or simply live short, brief lives.

Bigfeet are not widely known to hibernate like the bear. Some reduce their activity, subsisting from their own stores of food, or stealing from others’ carefully gathered provisions or kills.

The strangest bigfoot known to the BCWPA is a hybrid creature. It only wakes during the winter, ravenously eating all it can with its large, grubby hands and crooked teeth, watchful of anything around it with small, cold, black eyes.

While the details of this specimen are widely unknown to the public, their footprints are fairly common after decent snows in central West Virginia. Leaving behind strange, thick, three-toed footprints, they are often spotted crossing overall hiking trails, near human dwellings, and, most oddly, leaping from house roof to house roof.