Thank you [anonymous] for contacting us with your story! I have actually been in your position before, the one where you are driving and you catch a glimpse of something odd enough on the side of the road that you just have to stop, back up and take a look. It’s typically because that little voice inside your head starts yelling that it needs to know what your eyes saw so it can properly categorize it in your brain and not let it continue on as a mystery. The only difference is, where I just saw an abnormally large deer or bear, you may have caught sight of something that most would say is just a myth or legend.

The Adlet, which you believe could be a possibility for what you saw, are thought to be a type of dog-human hybrid, not to be confused with the more widely known Dogman. These dog-men were well known within the stories and legends of various First Nations people around Canada and were also prevalent within the Inuit mythology of Greenland. What makes the Adlet different than modern-day interpretations of Dogman though, is that this race of creatures was said to have the normal body of a human on top, and the long legs of a dog on bottom (no tail was said to be present). Because of this, the Adlet were able to run extremely fast and were said to stand high above normal men.

According to the actual Inuit legend, the Adlet race came into existence after a young woman declined all the marriage proposals from a long list of suitors. Because she was not able to choose a suitable husband, the young woman instead decided to marry a white dog with red spots. After some time, the young woman gave birth to ten children, five were said to be full dog, and the other five were said to be Adlet. Since the young dog-people were quite noisy and constantly hungry, their grandfather loaded them, their mother, and their dog father into a small boat and took them all to an empty island in order to distance them from others. The grandfather then told their father, the white dog with red spots, that he must swim back and forth from the island daily to bring back meat to his children in order to feed them. The grandfather promised that he would hunt and harvest the meat from the mainland and would pass it on to his grandchildren in order to satisfy their cravings. So every day, the dog father would swim across the lake with a pair of old boots tied around his neck in order for the grandfather to fill with meat. One day though, after growing tired of constantly hunting for food for his grandchildren, the grandfather filled the dog father’s boots with rocks instead of meat, thus causing him to drown in the lake.

Upon hearing that her father had killed her dog husband, the young woman sent her grown Adlet children across the lake in order to kill their grandfather. When they arrived on the mainland, the dog-men found their grandfather and killed him by gnawing off both his feet and hands. Afterward, when the Adlet returned to the island, their mother presented them with a new boat and told them to leave the island so as to avoid any men that may try to come and seek revenge for the death of their grandfather. So after setting out into the world, the hybrids eventually found human wives of their own and each one had many Adlet children, and as the tribe grew in numbers, they eventually started to distance themselves further from the gaze of men, thus becoming true legends.

While the above is clearly a good story, finding any truth within it is quite difficult, and has been an issue since it was published in The Journal of American Folklore back in 1889. What we can find truth in though are the modern-day statistics regarding the various wolves found within Canada. You see, according to the Government of Ontario’s Wildlife Management Program, there are believed to be over 9,000 wolves within its borders and they include not only Grey Wolves but also Algonquin Wolves and Great Lakes-Boreal Wolves as well. Along with these wolves, there is also a larger than normal Coyote population within the province.

Now, if you have ever seen a wolf up close and personal, you know that these creatures can be absolutely massive. Combined with the right conditions such as snow, darkness, and uneven/angled ground beneath their feet, they can appear to be straight-up monsters if you are not expecting to see them. So because of this, we feel that a white-furred wolf may be a suitable candidate for what you, your friend, and your brother saw between the months of January and February. But as always, we must point out that we cannot be 100% certain as we were not there and we did not see what you saw. All we can do is look at the sighting you provided us with, do some cryptid and folklore research, and settle on what we personally believe best fits the scenario. Sometimes that outcome is a monster, sometimes it’s a known animal. Sometimes it’s neither, and other times it’s both. Regardless of what we think it is though, you did see something strange, and if your research brings you to a different conclusion, go with that one! Never stop searching for the truth until you yourself are satisfied with the answer you found!

Again, thank you [anonymous] for reaching out to us and sharing your sighting! If you do happen to come across this creature again, we hope someone in your party has enough time to snap a photo!

-The Pine Barrens Institute

Image Credit: Google Image Search