A Wisconsin resident rents a camping spot near Lake Delavan to be alone and grieve his grandfather's passing. What occurs while he is there may be connected to the Chicago Mothman phenomenon.
I received the following account:
"My grandpa told me to watch the crows, that they're guardians of the forest. He said they'll tell you if a predator is out there. My grandpa was fascinated with them and therefore I was too. Grandpa passed away in the early Autumn of 2002 and I took it pretty hard. I didn't go to the funeral because I just knew I would be a mess and I didn't want anybody to see me like that. He used to take me fishing when I was a kid to Lake Delavan in southeast Wisconsin.
There was a campground just across from the lake. After my grandpa passed, instead of dealing with it along with my family, I decided to rent myself a campsite and I took off. It was strange being there without him and I hadn't been on the lake since I was a kid. It seemed like I was the only person there but that wasn't too surprising given the time of year. It was starting to get cold so while the lake did have a few other visitors during the day I had the campground all to myself at night.
When I arrived I noticed a group of crows hanging around in the trees above me. Crows don't typically like people in the woods. I survived the first night but I didn't get much sleep. I was feeling pretty alone so I ended up keeping a fire going through the night. The fishing was good, so good in fact that I kept a couple of fish to feed the crows. I wasn't sure if they would take them since they seemed to distrust me but I thought that maybe they would make a little less noise. They did feed on the fish that I left for them.
This went on for a few days. I fished all day and I came back to camp to make something to eat and feed the crows. These crows had a habit of making noise at night. Then, on the 4th night, they woke me up again, but it was different. The sounds were different. There was a sense of urgency in their caws. I thought back to what my grandpa told me about the crows and predators in the woods. I thought they were squawking at me but suddenly I realized they might be alerting me to something else out there.
I grabbed my flashlight, and my knife, and unzipped the tent. I was greeted by a pair of red eyes from up in the trees directly across from me. I could almost see the outline of the creature but it didn't look right, it was too big. Birds weren't that big. The crows were cawing like crazy. I shined the light towards the creature and I don't even know how to explain it without sounding crazy. What I saw was a bird the size of a man. It had a dark-colored body and wings that were either black or brown I couldn't tell. Its eyes were red and large, that much I know for certain. The red brightness from the eyes seemed supernatural. Very weird! It appeared to have the proportions of a man, like it was half man half bird. The wings were huge and looked like those of a dragon. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy. I began to yell at it. At the same time, the crows continued harassing it.
Together with the crows we drove the thing off and let me tell you when it took flight the whole forest shook. The thing was huge! I got out of there right at first light.
It wasn't exactly the getaway I needed but it was somehow comforting to have been helped by the crows. I don't know what the thing wanted me to do but it must have been out there every night the crows weren't squawking at me. All those times they were telling me that there was a predator out there. Sometimes I think that the spirit of my grandpa was there as well, using the crows to warn me about the winged creature." L
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