For those that don’t believe that werewolves really exist, all you have to do is ask those in Talbot County, Georgia and they’ll tell you that exist they do, indeed. And more than that, they may not always come in a form that you would expect. These same citizens will tell you that not only do they exist, but they may not come in the form that you would expect. This form is unquestionably wolf. But as for a man that changes into a wolf, now that’s another story. Of course, if you’re interested enough to take a trip to Talbot County, you’ll need to find those who were around to see it happen.
The exact date is unknown but it couldn’t have been that long ago. After all, there are still people around to talk about it. And the ‘it’ is a werewolf that hunted the farmers’ sheep at night and couldn’t seem to be killed, no matter how hard the locals in the area tried. Of course, no one knew it as a werewolf at the time. They did think it was a wolf but after close observation of this wolf’s tracks, it became clear that the wolf that was stealing the sheep was no ordinary wolf. In addition to this, this wolf was unharmed by any of the many rifle bullets that would be shot at it night after night. It wouldn’t even whimper, but instead scurry off before anyone could get a good look at it.
One farmer, who became significantly more upset than the others after losing the majority of his heard to this unknown wolf, offered a $200 award to whoever could kill the sheep killer. Hunters lined up in the fields at night, waiting for the animal to approach. When the wolf came, they would use the same old tactics of aiming, firing, and hitting their target to no avail. Nothing seemed to work. Until one day, the farmer offering the reward was asked to visit the farm of a new settler in town. Off he went in search of what this newcomer could tell him.
The new settler told the farmer the legend of the werewolf that they had in Bohemia, where he came from. In Bohemia, he said, they had exactly the same problem. Something that appeared to be a wolf would come and kill the sheep in the area. However, the wolf didn’t seem interested in the sheep once it was killed. The wolf only wanted to taste the sheep’s blood before moving on to its next victim. The Georgian farmer asked the Bohemian what the farmers did. Handing him a silver cross, the new settler told the farmer to melt it down into the shape of a bullet and fire it at the wolf. This was the only way to stop the attacks from happening.
The farmer did just what the settler told him to. His rifle fitted with his new silver bullet, he went out into his field and waited for the wolf form to come to prey on his sheep. Sure enough, the wolf came and the farmer took aim. After firing the shot, the farmer said that it wasn’t the howl of a wolf that he heard, but instead the agonizing scream of a woman. The wolf did not die but it did appear to be injured and it scampered off to presumably, nurse its wounds. The farmer went to the spot where the wolf was shot and was surprised to see that the left foot, where the bullet hit, had been cut clean off and lay neatly on the ground.
That same night, the doctor in town told a story of a peculiar woman that came in to see him. The woman was very quiet about the injury that she had suffered and blew off all questions of how it happened. Her injury was just as peculiar – her entire left hand and wrist were completely missing but the wound was very clean as though it had been shot right off.
And although this woman-wolf did severe damage to crops before that night, the silver bullet seemed to have done the trick. The woman, nor the mysterious wolf, were ever heard from again.
