| Texas Stiltwalkers | |
|---|---|
 A drawing which accompanied the original sighting report in 2008. | |
| Background | |
| Type | Cryptid |
| Continent | North America |
| Country | United States |
| One-Time? | No |
| Theories | · Cryptid · Digital folklore · Biofortean entity |
Texas Stiltwalkers, also known as Striders, are massive sized cryptids reported primarily but not strictly from the South-West USA, especially Texas.
Reports of Stiltwalkers started appearing online around 2008, though supposedly they have a precedent in South Texas folklore.
Appearance[]
They are characterized by their enormous size, stick-thin frame and their elongated legs which reach far above trees and step over houses with ease. The head is distinguishable by two piercing, headlamp-like eyes.
The head is sometimes described as being canine-like.
In one account the stiltwalker was seen to scale a vertical cliff with ease, like a giant spider climbing a wall. No other sightings of this ability have occurred, however others have suggested that the creature is not entirely flesh and blood but has a supernatural, bio-fortean aspect. The bipedal Nightcrawler, the Carmel Creature and the humanoid Black Stick Men are similar in their strange two-dimensional to the outsized Stiltwalkers.
Some regard it as an evil or predatory creature whose appearance signals death, however all of the (known) eyewitnesses had peaceful interactions or simply observed the creature with no sign of aggression from it.
Possible Explanations[]
There are several explanations as to what the creature could be. Theories include:
- An undiscovered species (a Cryptid)
- A misidentified or out-of-place animal (OOPA) such as a moose.
- Hoaxes and tall tales.
- A biofortean entity or collective tulpa.
Sightings[]
- 2013: "I was out at my grandma's ranch this weekend and my two cousins and I were walking around the property with two dogs, not on leashes. It was evening, but not so late that things were getting too dark to see; the sky was about halfway through the orange part of sunset. We were headed through a cow pasture towards a gate in the barbed wire fence, which I'd guess would be about four feet tall, separating it from the wooded area. We were basically walking along a path with the fence and trees on our right and the cows' drinking lake on our left.
The dogs were a bit ahead of us, when suddenly they both turned around to face behind us and started barking. My cousin and I both turned around and saw some kind of creature, like a horse or a dog, covered in long shaggy black or dark brown fur, with extremely long legs. I'm talking like, the head and body were somewhere between the size of a large dog and a small horse, but the legs were easily twice as long as a human is tall. I don't know how long it had been there, but it was staring at us and the dogs and was mostly frozen, and was on our side of the barbed wire fence, facing away from the woods. I'm guessing it had just walked straight over the fence, heard the dogs barking, and froze. The dogs started to run towards it, it sort of buckled down on its humongous legs to bring its head down to ground level, and made this massive snorting noise, and both the dogs stopped in their tracks and bolted straight into the lake. One cousin said they yelped like they were hurt when it did that, but I don't remember that. Then it just turned around and strode back over the fence and into the woods."[1]
- 2014: "Three times in the last year I have seen something...unusual in the wooded area/farmland around the little town of Lewisberry, PA while traveling route 283. It appears somewhat like the Texas Stiltwalker (see pic).
Driving home late one night I spotted someone/thing walking along the side of the road. It was very tall looking (over six feet) and very thin with either black jeans and a black overcoat or very closely cropped black fur. Its face didn't have a snout but was pushed in like a humanoid. Its face was also black in color. It was walking briskly on two feet and, as I was drawing closer it dropped down to all fours and ran quickly across the road in front of me. I saw this thing a second time a few months later running along the road on all fours before it cut across into the corn on the side of the road. The third time it was just a glimpse of a shadow but it seemed to be the same shape so I am not as certain. Without giving a complete description, I mentioned it somewhat sheepishly on Facebook. Two other people described to a T the appearance and behavior of what I saw. One spotted it almost exactly where I did, the other spotted in 6-7 miles away."[2]
- 2016: "This happened about 4 years ago in the fall. I was born in and still live in Lewisberry, PA. Most nights than not I will drive down to New Cumberland for a cold beer and some darts and one night in October 2012 was no different. On the return trip, not long after midnight, I was on Route 382 headed east towards Lewisberry. As I was approaching John Brenneman's place up on the right (just before Brenneman Drive) I saw someone walking towards me along the side of the road. True, it was late, but it was rather mild for October so it wasn't out of the question that someone MIGHT be walking along the road. What was odd is that "he" was quite tall (6'6" or taller) and really, really thin. In the few seconds I was looking at "him" I noticed that "he" seemed to be dressed all in black, with black pants, a tight black trenchcoat, very, very dark skin and short dark hair. "He" was either limping or having trouble walking. As I debated slowing down (maybe someone had had an accident) "he" dropped down to all fours and quickly scampered across the road in front of me. "He" has a face that was, as I said, coal black with a cross between human and canine face. And then..."he" was gone."[3]
- 2018: "I’ve experienced some strange shit on my ranch. But I would describe it as “a carnivorous Texas Stiltwalker” more than a skinwalker. It seems to mainly like to eat the wildlife and my farm animals strangely. I’ve only seen it a handful of times but it’s easy to see where it’s been or what it’s done. It seems to come around more when the cows are ready to be bred."[4]