When I was younger I heard a story of a strange ghost/creature somewhere in southern kentucky. My aunt's friend's family originated from those parts and she said she never went to visit them because of this thing. Supposedly, it stood on two legs, was very tall and screamed like a woman. There seemed to be a lot of accounts she told me about, but only one stuck in my memory.
One of her relatives was visiting their great grandma, who lived a ways back in a holler. Later that night as she was leaving in her jeep, driving along the holler road, something stepped out of the woods in front of her. She jerked the wheel to miss it, but she caught a fleeting glimpse of it in her headlights. The thing was taller then any man and its eyes shown like a predator when the light refracted off of them. As she passed the thing, it reached out and tore the cloth top of her jeep wide open.

Now I don't know if this is all true. Some aspects of the thing reminds me of a mountain lion (the eyes, the scream, etc.), but I find it interesting none the less. I was just curious; has anyone else ever heard of tales like this? I wish I could provide more, but I am older now and don't recall all of the story. Over the years I have looked for similar yarns and folklore but found nothing on the matter. Any help would be much appreciate, thank you.

I, too, have heard of this tale or a similar one. I think it is a mountain lion or a painter as they used to call them (I don't know why). They used to jump onto people on horseback, out of the trees they lay in wait in, according to lore. Missing people were sometimes said to have been "taken" by these things, whatever they are!

This sounds like either Bigfoot or Wampus cat activity,due to the fact that it walked on 2 legs.I urge anyone here with stories like these to go to my site,
www.kentuckybigfoot.com
and fill out a report.
These creatures have been seen and heard all over the Bluegrass state since the pioneer days.Thanks for your cooperation.

Bart

I am from Weeksbury. Back when I was a girl and lived there.At night up the hollow you could hear a screem like a woman.Now me I am not sure if I belive these ghost stores. But then it could be true. I heard the screems but I really though the wind was blowing throu the trees. I know I was never afraid of it. God bless Gayle

My cousin Terry can tell you first hand some things that are true and happened to him the big foot thing was down at cumberland lake when he and a friend was camping also about a" Grave robber " he saw (animal)

Very interesting,Rosie.Would love to hear about this.Please contact me at
beenunly@yahoo.com or
artslave_66@hotmail.com

Maybe you could get your cousin to contact me.Did he witness one of these things actually robbing a grave?
Cumberland Lake is an extremely active area.

Bart

You said you didn't know why people in Kentucky used to call mountain lions "painters." I recon painter was simply the way they said "panther." The term panther is used for a few different types of wildcats, including mountain lions. My grandmother referred to them as "painters" or "wild painters." I called them that myself for awhile when I was younger. I still call them that every once in awhile. Although I knew she meant a large wild cat, the term "wild painter" gave me the image of a frazzled haired wild hermit type person in the hills splattered with paint and carrying an easel and paintbrush. Ha!

When I was younger something was reportedly roaming around the local hills that my family members were calling, "White Thang." It was, I believe they said, about the size of a large dog, white in color, and "screamed like a woman". Also, it killed my cousin's dog, they believe. I think the dog lived for awhile, since it seems like they took it to a vet, but the vet couldn't save it.

Since according to the older folk, there used to be "wild painters" here (as my grandmother called them), and some say there still are, and since even if there aren't any here anymore one might have wondered through (stranger things have happened), I thought it might have been a mountain lion- a white one. I mean, they can make a sound that has been described as sounding like a woman's scream. According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_panther), a white one would be really rare, however, as it said, "A white panther may therefore be a white Cougar, white Jaguar or white Leopard. Of these, white Leopards appear to be more common, although still very rare," which would mean a white cougar or mountain lion would be a really rare find indeed. It's still not an impossibility, however and it's the most reasonable thing I can think of to explain White Thang. I believe in ghosts, but I don't think the majority of them have the habit of (or ability to) kill a dog. Although, taking poltergeists into consideration, I wouldn't say it couldn't happen. I'm just putting the white, but living, painter as my first choice of an explanation. If that falls through, then we'll go with a ghost painter.

yes there are still a few of them around. My family owns a farm in estill county and when I was 10, I was in my bedroom gettin ready for bed. like most nights in the summer, it was very muggy outside. So I slept with my window open. I crawled into bed and went to sleep. About 1am I was awaken from my sleep by my toys being knocked to the floor, which also woke my father up. Before I knew it my father was in my room and flipped on the light. There in my bedroom floor was a very big cat, which my father shot and it was later identified as a panther.

yes there are still a few of them around. My family owns a farm in estill county and when I was 10, I was in my bedroom gettin ready for bed. like most nights in the summer, it was very muggy outside. So I slept with my window open. I crawled into bed and went to sleep. About 1am I was awaken from my sleep by my toys being knocked to the floor, which also woke my father up. Before I knew it my father was in my room and flipped on the light. There in my bedroom floor was a very big cat, which my father shot and it was later identified as a panther.