Attack of the Hellbenders - 1. What the Hell Was That?

Sean Wylie took his wife and two sons, Ian and Victor, camping at the Kentucky River Campground & RV Park for vacation. They arrived just after check-in time, two PM, on Saturday, July 12th.

While Sean and his wife, Liberty, were setting up the RV at their campsite, their two boys went exploring. They were about to step onto the boat dock when Victor, the younger, eleven years old, saw something in the woods. The Wylie family spoke with a thick southern drawl.

"Ian, stop!”

His almost-thirteen-year-old brother stopped. "What is it?”

Victor pointed. "Over there in the wood. D’ja see that brown thing?”

"Funky looking baby alligator, ain't it?”

"Is that what it is?”

"It must be. Can’t think of anything else.”

"How big do ya think it is, Ian?”

"Three, three and a half feet, I'd guess.”

"We should go tell pa.”

"They won't be done setting up for another ten minutes or so. You know how serious he is doing that. We best wait. Let's get a closer look.”

"Uh-uh. I ain't going anywhere near it. I don't want to get et.”

"It ain't gonna eat ya. We'll run away if it moves.”

"I’ll be right behind ya.”

"Chicken.”

"Guilty as charged.”

They took two steps closer and a much larger version of the "baby gator" appeared.

"Oh, fuck! Run Vic!”

"I'm running!”

It took a few minutes for them to find the right campsite.

"Why does all these trailers have to look the same?”

"There it is! Paw, Paw, them’s gators in the wood!”

"What you getting on about, Vic?”

"We seen two gators by the boat dock.”

"Ain't no gators in Kentucky, Ian. Let me finish, and we'll go check it out.”

Sean got everything set up and followed the boys to the dock.

"Ok, where is it?”

"They was right there.”

Sean took a few steps toward the woods. "Ain't nothing there now. You boys trying ta play a joke on me?”

"No, Pa, honest, we ain't.”

"We'll check again later. Stay away from here, for now.”

The boys agreed. But like boys everywhere, that agreement was meaningless.

*********************

Apparently, the Wylie boys weren't the only ones to see the "gators”. Kirsty Scott's staff had three other calls from the same general area, two from the campground itself. She and another member of the KDFWR were on their way to the campground, hoping to get a look at these elusive creatures.

"Head straight to the river, Kent.”

"Sure thang, Kirsty.”

Kent drove through the campground and stopped close to the dock. They got out of their pick-up truck and started wandering around. They happened to pass directly by the Wylie's campsite.

"Look, Vic, it's an official looking truck. I bet they gonna to check out the gators."

"Pa, we're gonna follow that truck!"

"OK, but stay out of their way."

The truck was out of sight quickly.

"Dang, we lost it."

"It's probably heading to the dock. Come on, Vic."

They turned the corner and saw the truck still heading toward the boat dock. Vic and Ian ran up to the truck and stood near it, watching the game wardens look around.

"Let's go tell them where we seen the gators, Ian."

"Pa said stay out of their way."

"It ain't gonna bother them."

Vic walked up to where the two were. "Excuse me. You looking for the gators?"

Kirsty responded, "We believe they're hellbender salamanders, but yes. Did you see one?"

"Me and Ian seen two of them. One was really big."

"Can you show us exactly where you saw them?"

"I ain't getting too close."

"It's OK; get as close as you feel comfortable and point."

"They was right there, right, Ian?"

"Yup. Just inside them trees 'long the shore."

"Thanks. Shout out if you happen to see them anywhere else."

Ian confirmed, "Yes ma'am, we be shouting loud, we sees them."

Kent and Kirsty walked along the shore and were soon hidden by the trees.

"You watch that way, Vic. I don’t want one of them creeping up behind us."

"Good idea, Ian."

A couple minutes later, Kirsty and Kent came back out of the woods.

Vic was anxious. "Did ya sees them?"

Kent looked at Kirsty for direction, she answered Vic, "Not exactly."

"What did ya see?"

"Um, we can't share that right now. Do you boys have cell phones?"

Ian was proud. "I does."

Kirsty handed him a card, "Take a picture or two of it if you do see one, and send me a text to this number, where it says 'cell’, OK?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

They left the campground, Ian and Vic waving at them as they drove away.

"What do ya think she meant by 'not exactly,' Ian?"

"Don’t know, but I bet they seen a dead one."

"Maybe."

"Let's go look."

"Huh-uh, I don’t want to get anywhere near them."

"Wait here, then."

"Don’t go, Ian!"

"I'll be alright."

A minute later, Ian came running out of the woods. "Shiiiiiiittttt! Run, Vic!"

******************************

Back in the truck, Kent made an observation, "I can see why you didn't want to tell them kids. That head must have come off a big one."

"I'd guess close to five feet. Whatever ate it has got to be a lot bigger."

"Do ya think it was wise to ask that kid to take a picture?"

"It’ll be OK; hellbenders are pretty docile. We couldn't hang around all day. Let's check out the other sighting, and then come back."

"Yes, ma'am."

Kent drove up Steele Branch Road to the boat ramp. They got out of the truck and looked around. About eight feet downriver, Kent saw something.

"Holy fuck, Kirsty. That must have been a nest."

"Maybe still is. I'm going to take some pictures here, too. Those heads are all smaller. Looks like they came off juveniles."

"Definitely young ones."

Just before they turned around, they saw movement beyond the nest. Kirsty unholstered her tranquilizer pistol.

"That sucker's got to be close to ten feet."

Kirsty waited until it crawled closer, and she had a clean shot. She fired once, loaded a second dart, and fired again. They watched. After a couple of minutes, the giant hellbender was still.

"Back the truck in, Kent, put down the ramp, and get the winch cable. We have to take this one back to the office, get it in some water."

"Ya think it'll be knocked out long enough?"

"It won't be able to get out of the bed if it isn't. But we'll keep the cable on it."

Kent returned a minute later with the cable.

"You lift it by the shoulders, Kent, and I'll wrap the cable around it."

"I'm keeping an eye on its mouth. That bite would hurt."

"Yes, we'll both watch it."

The end of the cable was heavily padded and had a tarp attached, so it wouldn't harm any animals they needed to drag onto the bed of the truck. After the cable was wrapped around its shoulders, Kent slowly pulled it into the truck's bed. They had to bend its tail to fit into the eight-foot bed.

"OK, let's get back to the office and get it into a low tank."

"Yes, ma'am."

******************************

Back at the campground, the boys arrived back at their campsite. They bent over, trying to catch their breath.

"What did ya see, Ian?"

"There was another one. It was having chicks or something."

"Chicks?"

"It was laying eggs right along the shore in a hole."

"No kidding?"

"Yup, I seen them coming right out of her. She looked at me and bared her teeth, like a wild dog."

"Did ya get a picture?"

"A couple, until I seen them teeth."

"Lemme see!"

Ian took out his phone and opened the photos app.

"Holy sh..."

Ian clamped a hand over Vic's mouth. "Hesh! You want Pa to whip ya?"

"Thanks. That thing is big. Ya got one with her teeth?"

"I snapped one as I was turning away."

"They ain't too big, but they is real pointy."

"Take off a finger, for sure."

"Ya gotta show Pa!"

"Yep. Paw, Paw, I got pictures."

Sean looked at the pictures. "Well, it ain't no gator, but danged if I know what it is. What's this?" He pointed at the screen.

"Holy smokes. It's one of them's head. The ranger lady said they is probably, um, heckbender salamanders, only, she didn't say heck."

"Look that up for me, will ya, Ian?"

"Shore, Paw... Here."

Sean perused the web page, "Twenty-nine inches? That thing's a heck of a lot more than that. Dang, that head's gotta be close to a foot itself."

"The head on the mother's even bigger."

"I bet the mother's what et it. Thems cannibals."

"Do ya think they's people eaters, Paw?"

"No, Ian. I don't think they would eat ya, but they could take off a hand or foot. Dang, look at them teeth."

A little later, Vic remembered something. "Hey, Ian, that lady said send her the pictures."

"Oh, yeah. Shoot, I forgot."

While sending the pictures, Ian noticed something else. "Holy smokes, Vic. There waz another one."

In the background, not easily visible because its color closely matched the dirt behind the hole, a male was standing over the eggs.

"Looks like it's peeing on the eggs, Ian."

"Gross."

It wasn’t pee.

******************************

At KDFWR, Kent and two other men unloaded the still unconscious giant hellbender into a large tank containing a couple inches of water.

"Can one of you bring the portable x-ray machine?"

Tony answered, "I'll get it."

Kirsty took a few pictures from different angles. "Well, I'll be damned."

"What is it, Miss Kirsty?"

"Well, we know hellbenders will eat their infants to control the population according to the available food source. But this one looks like it ate at least a couple of the juveniles Kent and I saw the heads of, Tony."

Kirsty's phone buzzed. She looked at it. "Holy shit."

"What is it, Miss Kirsty?"

"The kid got some pictures. We gotta go back to the campground. This one's laying eggs."

The four of them ran out to the truck and headed back to the campground. Kirsty had transferred the photos and x-rays to her tablet so she could get a better look.

"It looks like there might be more nests. There's a male fertilizing the eggs. The one we captured is another male. This female could have laid eggs for both males, and possibly more. And there might be other females. We're going to have to get out there and search for more. At least we know where a second nest might be near; where we picked up the one."

The game wardens stopped at the campground office. Stuart Murray was the manager.

"Mr. Murray, we've identified at least one hellbender salamander nest near the river. There might be others. We need you to get the word out to your customers to stay away."

"Why? hellbenders ain't dangerous."

"These might be. They're about four times the size of normal hellbenders."

"Like eight feet?"

"Maybe ten, or more. The one we captured is nine and a half, nose to tail."

"Holy shit."

"Can I send you a photo of the one we captured, so you can put it up somewhere?"

"Yeah, sure."

Murray gave Kirsty his cell number. Less than a minute later he looked at the photo. "Holy fuck. Oh, pardon me, ma'am."

"It's quite alright. I thought the same thing when we first saw it."

The game wardens explored the two areas where they'd seen the hellbenders. After an hour at each, they hadn't found any others or more nests at or between the two sites. They were hopeful there were only the three giants they knew about.

That hope would be dashed.

Sunday

Across the river from the campground was a small farm. Turner Harris lived there with his wife, two daughters, and three sons. The middle boy was Levi at thirteen, the oldest boy was Hunter at sixteen. They'd been working at the back barn and were getting hot.

"Let's take a break and go swimming, Levi. What do ya say?"

"You sure we won't get in trouble?"

"When was the last time dad came out while we were working back here?"

"Yeah, it's been a while."

They headed to the river, stripped down to their underwear, and waded in.

"Aaah, that feels good."

"The water's nice and cold, Hunter."

After cooling off for a bit, they decided to head back to the shore and relax.

Levi glanced to his right. "What's that, Hunter?"

"Cool. A hellbender."

"A what?"

"It's a giant salamander."

"Do they get that big? It's like a foot and a half."

"Yeah. Some of them are over two feet."

"Um, that one behind it is a hell of a lot bigger than two feet."

The larger one caught up to the smaller one and bit its hind end off.

"Holy shit. It's eating it."

A minute later, the larger one picked up the rest of the smaller one and bit it in half again. Levi leaned into the river and vomited.

While they were watching the carnage going on to their right, another giant hellbender approached from the left. Neither boy noticed it coming. Hellbenders moved slowly, but quietly. It stopped at Hunter's side and sniffed his hand. Hunter felt it and looked to his left.

"Fuck!"

He pulled his hand away, but not before the salamander snapped at it. Hunter lost his pinky and ring finger. Hunter screamed. Levi looked over at his brother and screamed too. Then Levi got up and jumped on the hellbender's head, stunning it. He grabbed his T-shirt, wrapped it around Hunter's hand and helped him up. They ran through the woods. Just past the edge of the trees, Hunter was slowing down. "I'll walk from here. Go get help, Levi."

Levi took off running toward the house, over a quarter of a mile away. Levi continued slowly, holding the shirt tightly around his injured hand, hoping to keep from bleeding too much. Levi called 9-1-1 on the way, panting, he yelled into the phone.

"You gotta send help. My brother was bitten by a hellbendy, or something like that."

"What is your name, son?"

"Levi Harris. We're out past the back barn."

Levi shared the address.

"Where was he bit?"

"By the river. Oh, you mean... On the hand. The thing bit off two of his fingers."

"OK, stay with me. Life-flight has been dispatched. Are your parents home?"

"Yeah, I'm running toward the house now."

"OK, stay with me."

"Daaaaaad!"

His father, who was walking toward the house from the front barn, turned around and saw Levi running toward him.

"What is it?"

"Hunter was bitten by a hellbendy."

"A what?"

"A giant salamander. It was fucking huge."

A voice was heard from the phone, "Levi, are you there?"

"Yeah. I'm telling my dad."

"Yes. I heard. You and your dad head back to where your brother is so the helicopter can see you and land as close as possible to him."

"OK."

Levi disconnected, "The 9-1-1 operator says we gotta go where Hunter is to wait for the helicopter."

Turner replied, "No. You go inside and tell your mother. Where exactly is he?"

"He stopped just this side of the woods past the back barn. I looked back once, and he was still walking."

Turner took off toward the back barn; Levi went into the house.

His mom saw him. "Where are your clothes?"

"By the river. Never mind. A giant salamander bit off two of Hunter's fingers. Dad's heading toward the back barn. A helicopter's going to come get him, Hunter."

"Oh, dear God... Sheila!"

Sheila was the oldest, at eighteen. She stopped folding laundry and came running.

"What is it, Ma?"

"You'll need to watch your brothers and sister. Hunter was bit by something. He's going to get taken to the hospital in a helicopter."

"Oh, no."

"I want to go too."

"You can't, Levi. I'll call and let you all know what's going on. You stay here!"

"Oh, alright."

Levi had no intention of staying in the house. Here could mean on the farm. Or at least close to it. He wasn't sure if their land went all the way to the river, but he guessed it probably did. After his mother left, and Sheila gathered up Zeke and Mary, he grabbed a shotgun and headed out back. He saw the helicopter taking off as he walked out the door.

When he got to the river, where the attack happened, the first hellbender had finished its snack and apparently moved on to the main course. Fortunately, the hellbender he stomped on was being eaten from the tail end. He aimed the shotgun at the live one and fired all five shells at it.

"Fuck you, hellbendy."

He went to the front of the partially eaten hellbender and pried open its mouth with the barrel. The fingers were there. He picked them up and ran back to the house. After putting them in a plastic bag with some ice, he screamed for Sheila.

"Geez, what is it?"

"We gotta go to the hospital. I went and got his fingers."

Zeke and Mary came into the kitchen. Sheila hadn't shared much, just that Hunter got hurt.

Mary, nine, looked at the bag and screamed. Zeke, ten, asked, "What are those?"

"Hunter's fingers. Come on, Sheila. We HAVE to go."

"OK, OK. You two, put your sneakers on. Where are yours, Levi?"

"Shit. Down by the river."

"Put on some clothes, then run to my room, and grab the plain white sneakers from my closet, they should fit you."

Levi took off.

"Come right out to my car!"

Levi dressed quickly, grabbed the sneakers, and ran out to the car, waiting to put them on then. His other hand was cold due to holding the ice bag, but there was no way he was going to let that bother him.

******************************

Charlotte Harris arrived at the emergency entrance to Frankfort Regional Medical Center in much less than the twenty-six minutes Google Maps said it would. She was sure Hunter would already be there.

"Hunter Harris, please."

The nurse checked her monitor. "Room fourteen, through these doors and second left."

"Thank you."

The doors opened and she hurried through. When she got to room fourteen, she stopped, took a breath to calm herself, and walked in.

"Hi, Mom."

"Hello, Charlotte."

"How are you, Hunter?"

"Hand hurts like a son of a bitch. Pissed off that I lost my fingers. They turned me into a vampire. But otherwise, just peachy."

"I know. But we'll do everything we can to get you through this. Vampire?"

Hunter pointed to the bag of blood connected to his IV. "Where's Levi?"

"I left him home with Sheila and the others."

"Damn. I need to thank him. He acted so quick, the EMT's said if I didn't get pressure on the wounds as quick, I could have bled to death."

Charlotte gasped.

"It's all good now. I'm out of danger, anyway."

Charlotte sat down with Turner and waited for the doctor to show up.

A short time later, Sheila and her siblings walked into the ER waiting area.

Sheila went up to the nurse. "Hunter Harris."

Even though she looked only minutes ago, she checked her monitor. "I'm sorry, he already has two visitors. You'll..."

"I have his fucking fingers. You let me back there right now, or I'll tear this fucking room apart."

She picked up her phone.

"Now!"

Levi swept a pile of papers off her desk. The nurse looked afraid. "Fine, room fourteen. But only you."

The door started to open, and Levi squeezed through before it was completely open.

Sheila apologized. "I'm sorry about my brother. He was obviously upset. I can help pick this up for you."

"I understand. No, I'll do it. These are personal patient files. I can't let you see them."

'Fourteen, fourteen. Where the fuck is fourteen?'

"Miss, room fourteen?"

"Turn around, back out to the central hallway, then make two left turns."

"Thanks."

Levi was moving before she finished but got the directions right. He burst into the room.

"Call the doctor. I have your fingers."

"Wha..."

"I shot one of the hellbendys and pried open the mouth on the one that bit you and grabbed your fingers."

"Was it dead?"

"Oh. Yeah. The other one had started eating it."

"Gross."

Turner slowed Levi down, "OK, calm down. Hunter, press the call button. Levi, what are hellbendys?"

Hunter answered, "Hellbenders, they're big salamanders, but these ones were huge. I don't know if they're supposed to get that big."

"OK. Let me look up the game and wildlife folks, or whatever it's called. They'll probably want to see these things."

Turner stepped out to make the call.

******************************

Kirsty had set the office phone system to transfer any calls to her cell if they weren't answered by the third ring. She looked at her phone when it rang. She didn't recognize the number, but with giant hellbenders about, she couldn't ignore the call.

"Hello, KY Fish and Wildlife, Kirsty speaking. How can I help you?"

Doctors and nurses rushed past him into Hunter's room.

"Hi. My name is Turner Harris, and I think I'm more helping you. My son got bitten a little while ago by a hellbender. He said it was maybe six or eight feet long."

"Where was this, sir?"

Turner recited his address. "Along the river's shore, I guess. My other son said one was eating another, and he shot a second."

"And where are you now, Mr. Harris?"

"At the hospital. One second..."

They were wheeling Hunter out of the room. "Where's he going?"

"O-R. We paged a reconstructive surgeon. It'll be a while before she gets here, but we can prep your boy in the meantime."

"OK. Thank you... Um, Krissy, was it?"

"Kirsty, but don't worry about it. Is anyone home at your house?"

"Um..." He walked back into the room. "Levi, how did you get here?"

"Sheila drove all of us. They only let me back here after I pitched a fit. The others are in the waiting room."

"Um, no. Nobody's there, Kirsty."

"Do we have your permission to go on your property and drive to the river?"

"Yes, of course. But there's a band of trees bordering the river, about two hundred feet, I think."

"Thank you. Is this a good number to reach you on, if we have any questions?"

"Yes, it's my cell."

"Good. I'll be in touch."

Her three co-workers looked at her, questioningly.

"We have two more. Dead ones. Let me look up the address... Across the river from the campground. Looks like they're all in the same area so far."

Kent looked confused. "Dead?"

"Apparently the man's son shot one while it was eating another."

Heath, the third of her co-workers suggested, "I guess we know how they got so big. I suppose they weren't happy with their normal diet."

"Yeah. OK, get a 'no entry' sign from the truck. Hopefully that will keep people away from the two active ones here. We have to go across the river and collect two carcasses."

Kirsty tapped 'Directions' on her phone. "Shit. If not for the trees, we could practically see the house, and it'll take a half hour to drive there."

Heath volunteered, "Give me the address, I'll wade across the river and head straight there."

Kirsty replied, "I can't let you do that. The river's like a hundred yards wide here. It could be as deep as forty or forty-five feet."

"Ooof. I wish I wore my wings to work today. Or at least drank a Red bull. Ha ha. Driving it is."

Looking at her tablet. "That gives me an idea though. Kent, get the drone. Even if it's at the far end of their property, it's only a mile in the air. We can at least get an idea of exactly where it is."

Tony continued, "And get a look at what kind of mess it is."

Kent countered, "Sorry, Kirsty. The trees will prevent us from getting drones there. It's L-O-S."

"Shit. Line Of Sight. OK, everybody in the truck. Kent, here's the address."

After they visited the Harris's farm, they planned to launch a boat from the boat ramp near the campground the next morning and search both banks with eyes and the drone.

******************************

Sheila had taken everybody home except her mother, who stayed, waiting for word about Hunter. It had been a little after one when they took him to the OR. Charlotte had stepped out for something to eat around six. At just past nine thirty, a tired doctor came into the waiting room.

"Mrs. Harris?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Doctor Emma Fitzpatrick. I led the reattachment team. Hunter's surgery went well. We'll obviously have to watch him closely for the first forty-eight hours or so. If things go well, he'll start physical therapy here and should be ready to be released in about a week, give or take a few days, depending on how he progresses."

"Can I see him?"

"I'll take you to the recovery room. He's still heavily sedated; we don't need him thrashing around in his sleep. You can stay five or ten minutes, but he's not going to know you're there."

"That's OK. I just need to see him."

"I understand. I'm a mother too. Right this way."

Charlotte followed the doctor to the recovery room. When she saw Hunter, she gasped.

"All the equipment is just to monitor him closely until after he comes out from the anesthesia. He's doing fine. The biggest worry is if the nerves in his fingers don't cooperate, leaving those two fingers immobile."

"Oh, geez. Thanks."

"I'll leave you alone, but please, only stay a few minutes."

"I will."

Charlotte pushed the five or ten minutes to twelve. She found it hard to leave but knew she must.

Monday

Kirsty and her crew drove to the Steele Branch Boat Ramp and launched, initially heading north, downstream, for two miles. It was the same four as the day before. Tony would drive, Heath watched the far bank, she watched the near bank, and Kent would fly the drone. They marked two more sites in the first half mile, then no others. They turned around and continued their watch upstream once they hit the boat ramp. They found one more site between the campground and the Harris farm, another quarter mile past the Harris farm, then nothing for another mile. They decided to routinely check these seven locations, although they were quite sure no more would be found near the Harris farm, Levi having killed two adults. Wrong!

They would revisit the Harris farm and visit two other homes to place warning signs near those sites. The campground was already covered, and they left one at the boat ramp. Two more sites were on public lands, so they wouldn't need to ask permission to place warning signs near them. They used a small ATV to reach these last two sites.

EPILOGUE

Ian and Vic Wylie went exploring several times during the rest of their week of vacation, primarily venturing northwest from the boat dock. They were disappointed to not see any more hellbenders. Had they known what happened to Hunter Harris, they would have been happy not to find another.

Hunter Harris regained over ninety percent mobility in both his left pinky and ring fingers. It took over six months to attain that level, but they rarely bothered him for as long as he lived.

The hellbender population in that section of Franklin County remained fairly constant. Each of the seven sites would grow to contain eight to twelve hellbenders at any point in time, with roughly seventy total. Over the next two years, all the extremely large hellbenders died off. And while the norm was approximately twenty-nine inches, the mature hellbenders in this area were only slightly larger than normal after that point in time. Three years after the sightings and attacks, the largest KDFWR measured just over three feet, nose to tail.