Anomalous zones on our planet are of particular interest to scientists and ordinary people who are trying to figure out the causes of inexplicable phenomena. One of the most mystical places, the secret of which no one can solve, is located in Scotland, in the estate that has become world famous.
Overtone Bridge: A Story
In the small village of Milton, there is a manor owned by Sir D. W. Overtown. The young owner, who dreamed of expanding the territory of the family castle, achieved the accession of a huge piece of church land, separated from the possessions of a small river. James thought about building a bridge, which appeared in 1859.
After the death of the owner, the estate changed owners, was resold and in the last century became municipal property. However, not about a gloomy castle, in which frightening ghosts could live, our today's story.
"Dog Killer"
The thing is that the overtown arched bridge, which appeared more than a century ago, gained notoriety due to the mass suicide of dogs. They talked about the mystical Overtoun Bridge in 1951, when the first case of suicide of a four-legged friend was recorded. After five years of such tragic incidents, there were more than fifty. Each month, the dog jumped from a height of about 15 meters onto stones, breaking to death.
Locals were surprised by the fact that even accidentally surviving animals, but seriously mutilated, again climbed the Overtone bridge and jumped upside down. Moreover, they had a certain place for a deadly jump - on the right side of the structure, between the last two parapets.
Versions
There was a version that the Overtone bridge (Scotland) is located in the anomalous zone, on the border between the living and the dead world, and dogs with a wonderful scent feel the mystical portal and try to look into it, paying for the curiosity of their lives. Animals are very sensitive to ethereal spirits, and it is quite possible that the ghosts that live here, invisible to humans, scare the dogs very much, and they forget about the instinct of self-preservation. It is curious that long-haired breeds of dogs are distinguished by a special passion for suicide.
Another old legend says that the rivulet over which the Overtone Bridge in Scotland was erected is to blame. Allegedly, she feeds on the blood of animals and makes them mindlessly jump from a height.
Giving or reality?
Local residents, who called the Overtone bridge damned, were afraid to walk on it and walked a mile away. They were frightened by the events, because the four-legged is not peculiar to commit suicide.
Who knows, perhaps it was not in vain that people felt the danger of this place, because in 1994 a crazy man threw his child off the bridge, and later committed suicide by jumping down. As the village gossips told, the crazy father, before killing his child, shouted that his son is the Antichrist. True, many scientists consider this incident only a fiction aimed at attracting interest in Overtown.
However, there were those who believed in the reality of the event that happened, according to legend, much earlier, several centuries ago. Some residents are convinced that the spirit of the boy killed by his father lives in the river, and once a month the ghost returns to Overtone Bridge (Scotland) to play with dogs. Left alone, the child calls for four-legged friends, and they, feeling a ghost, jump on the stones.
And someone is sure that the dogs see the child falling down and forget about their fear of heights, trying to save the disembodied spirit.
Ethologist research
Be that as it may, after numerous tragedies, scientists from other countries became interested in the bridge, and the eminent expert on the behavior of domestic animals D. Sexton found traces of rodent excrement in the place where the dogs of the hunting breeds landed. He stated that the waste products of minks and rats affect the behavior of dogs.
The expert even conducted an independent experiment, the result of which was his report. The fact is that 28 out of thirty dogs react to the strong smell of rodent urine, and it is to him that they run, not paying attention even to the owner. “There is no mysticism here,” Sexton summed up, and many experts agreed with him. The ethologist’s conclusions formed the basis of the official version of a realistic explanation of the four-legged suicides that took place on the bridge.
Point not set
True, if you follow this theory, it is not clear the frequency of the lethal jumps of dogs of different breeds and their repetition. No one could explain the staggering regularity of suicides, the number of which exceeded two hundred episodes.
But the villagers are completely convinced that dogs are not cats, and they will certainly not rush after rats at the risk of their lives.
The mysterious Overtone bridge attracts tourists who dream to get to the bottom of the true reason for the events, because the point is not set, and the dogs make a deadly flight to this day. Locals do not recommend even people walking in the anomalous zone, next to the entrance of which there is a poster urging you to hold the four-legged pets tightly on a leash.