Snallygaster of Preston County

The box for the trap

**Snallygaster of Preston County** is the tenth episode of Mountain Monsters season two and the sixteenth episode overall

In Preston county the AlMS team hunts an enormous pterodactyl like creature known as the Snallygaster which the team discovers is both deadly on land and in the air

## Summary

Trapper drives the team to Preston County and informs them they are going after bizarre creature known the Snallygaster The Snallygaster is believed to be pounds dark green and scaly possessing inch long talons and wings span of feet is known for ear piercing shriek which is said to sound like train whistle Jeff tells the guys the Snallygaster first sighted in the by the German immigrants in the and had become so famous the president Teddy Roosevelt wanted to hunt Later in the sightings became more and more common Interestingly Trapper explains the stars painted on barns throughout West Virginia are German insignia meant to keep the Snallygaster away

    Finally Jeff adds the German immigrants would refer to the creature Schneller Geist meaning Quick spirit Buck Jeff knows what the Germans would call him the answer being Shnanta Claus to which everyone laughs.In Preston County the team meets with man named Bub Trapper Bub says coyote problem and one morning going to check his traps heard loud screech then saw over ridge enormous foot tall winged creature take coyote out of trap ran away in the direction of another trap the beast took to the air with the coyote in grasp and in one quick movement swooped down and snatched up the coyote from the second trap then dropped wings wen in between two power line poles and shot up hill out of sight Bub noticed the creature not only took the coyote but the trap and stake well meaning would have to have uncanny strength as the stakes are held tight in the ground with metal plate Upon Jeff inquiry Bub estimates the wingspan feet long just believed Trapper who didn't originally believe the creature to be 600 pounds is now positive true due to the size of the chest muscles necessary to flap such enormous wings Unsure of what to expect from the Snallygaster the quartet prepares for the night investigation Late night half mile away from Bub sighting the team, nervously begins the investigation Trapper leads the team under cover of the woods hoping the Snallygaster wont be able to swoop down on with the trees above them the quartet still feels unsafe sure that the monster would like crash through the timber to get Believing the Snallygaster roosts in the timber on the mountains the team begins searching for any signs of nest or feeding Shortly into the night coyote wails in the distance soon followed by another which means there are two different packs leading Buck to believe they grouping for safety Minutes later Huckleberry spots eye belonging to one of several coyotes several metres away which Jeff sees on the thermal camera

    However they are not moving despite being so close to humans meaning they are afraid of something even than the team and unbelievably are seeking protection snap comes from high above mentioned and within seconds the pack of coyotes take off The team is about to do the same Buck spots something on the ground chain and stake They quickly realize the same chain that belonged to Bub and held coyote since the coyote is no longer attached they come to the realization that they are standing in the middle of the Snallygaster feeding Knowing the Snallygaster will be back sooner or later the team wonders what to do next when they hear chilling shriek maybe hundred yards away Jeff scrambles to scan the when another shriek is heard this time closer The hunters seek cover and end up hiding beneath some fallen logs After going minutes without hearing any more sounds the team slowly comes out from beneath their cover and makes run for the Once in the vehicle they drive away quickly now with trap location in mindNext day Willy meets with Wild Bill and describes to him his idea for reverse catapult trap The trap will be log running between two trees with large box hanging from and the trigger is set off the box will fall to the ground Wild Bill borrows some of Willy papers and pencil and draws sketch of the Snallygaster making look like Wanted poster although he spells Snallygaster. Willy simply suggests Bill sticks to his The pair then gets to work on cutting down enough pine wood to build the box Meanwhile the rest of the team meets with squirrel hunter named Ty who claims to have had encounter with the Snallygaster One day about says he was out squirrel hunting with his two dogs not far where they are now His dogs ran over ridge and Ty assumed they caught squirrel heard them yip meaning they are in danger got to his dogs he found one dead with puncture in After being asked the size of the wound Ty says he guesses to have been around the size of his hand Trapper knows how powerful the talons of birds of prey can be so believes this to similar except powerful Ty takes the team to where he found his dog saying that even though never heard of the Snallygaster before knows his dog was killed by something unusual Looking the trees above Trapper notices the limbs would have been broken if the Snallygaster swooped down they This leads him to believe the Snallygaster was on the ground the dogs came upon him killed one and then left on foot This is troubling to the guys because means the Snallygaster can the air and the ground In addition Ty says after his dog killed set out trailcams to catch the culprit and managed to get two pictures which shows to the team your moms house

    After seeing the picture Trapper believes the creature is bigger the thought With two sightings within a half mile of each other they are now sure of the the Snallygaster lives in and know the ideal location of where to put the trap

Later Wild Bill and Willy search the woods for place to put the trap finding signs of something moving on the ground recently When they find two perfect trees Bill climbs to the top and hoists the pivot log up in between the two trees Despite rain the two manage to set the catapult logs in place

Trapper Buck Jeff and Huckleberry meet with farmer named Mark who some coyotes attacked near his farm Mark supposedly believes there is one Snallygaster and after inviting the team into his barn tells them why says been having problems with coyotes and one night awoken by sounds of coyotes in fight Hearing screech went to see what going on got to the scene the coyotes gone scared off although there tracks Apparently the creature fighting the coyotes Mark says doesn't think the Snallygaster going after the coyotes to eat them rather because Trapper him why thinks so and brings out cardboard box says after searching the scene of the incident found something which convinced him the Snallygaster angry the coyotes huge shell egg Trapper figures the reason the Snallygaster attacks coyotes is because they steal eggs that the least of their problems now because egg would mean there is more than one Snallygaster

     With the revelation that there is an unknown number Snallygasters Trapper know the team is terrified of the creature and is worried will be able to get them to go on the mountain After thanking Mark the team departs with much to consider the trap sight Willy and Bill have completed the catapault unfortunately the are unable to hoist the box into the The rest of the team shows up and is impressed by the trap since Willy cant lift the box into the air with his truck they hook the to to help out This for while before the box is fully lifted the top of the tree snaps getting dark so they push the box up on one and turn into classic box trap After testing out Willy baits with some beaver raccoons and coyotes caught by Buck With everything ready the team goes to get their guns and begin the hunt On the night hunt Trapper reminds the team to be extremely careful the Snallygaster can attack them the air or the ground making one of the most dangerous hunts they on to make things worse they all still tired from lifting up the box With that said Trapper takes Huckleberry and Jeff to search the high ridge line while Buck will take Willy and Wild Bill to the low timber with both teams pushing the monster towards the trap Finally Huckleberry reminds the team to stay alert Soon into the hunt Buck team worries over where the Snallygaster could be concerned could be sitting in treen overhead and they would never notice Suddenly they hear the brush break and they come towards they find ground torn up meaning something come Willy notices tree limbs broken off they hear noise from the darkness and believe to see several sets of eyes which disappear After informing Trapper by radio both teams keep moving Trapper team stumbles upon something which to their surprise is very large circular nest on the ground around feet wide with fresh deer leg in Realizing they be in danger they radio Buck team to call for backup shriek comes from nearby prompting the three to make run to the Meanwhile Buck team hears another shriek forcing them to stay under the cover of the woods unable to get to the others Trapper team makes to the and take off when something crashes on top of the vehicle they driving Just they find Buck team they hear another shriek and the rest of the guys hurry into the Desperately searching for whatever cover they can find the team comes house and hurry inside screeches are heard Inside the house cabin the team barricades themselves in what might have once been living room and each member covers door window while the Snallygasters appear to be ramming the building and terrified little bird flies around in panic The battering continues for minutes and some of the group believes they are done for Trapper reassures them they are well armed and have good cover Suddenly the attack resumes and shelf is knocked over sending Buck falling to the floor They point their guns to the door ready to fire and Trapper always the firm leader tells them to get their backs against the wall and hold their ground Everything goes quiet until the roof begins to break the creatures are now attacking from above and the crew uses this opportunity to escape the mountain They make run out the door and reach the driving away fast possible followed by more of the shrieks

     After minutes the pursuit seems to let up and they make back to the truck happily to be in one piece seems the Snallygasters stopped chasing them the got lower on the mountain Although they forced to abandon the hunt the team agrees they never could have managed to take on all of the monsters and to all they learned they know they certainly exist