What lurks in Walker County's woods? 

What lurks in Walker County\'s woods? Animal Planet follows \'Patient Zero\' in search for answers

Daniel, known as "Patient Zero," is seen in this photo from Animal Planet\'s special "I Was Bitten: The Walker County Incident," which premiere\'s Friday night, May 22, on Animal Planet.

Jon Reed | jreed@al.com By Jon Reed | jreed@al.com The Birmingham News

What evil lurks in the woods of Walker County? There have been rumors of creatures similar to Bigfoot, and of large cats known as the Sipsey Creature or the Wampus Cat.

There could be a new mysterious beast out there near Jasper. A two-hour Animal Planet special airing Friday night at 6 p.m. Central Time will look into the story of a man who has been "diagnosed as \'Patient Zero\'" after he claims he was attacked by "something unspeakable" in the woods.

The special, called "I Was Bitten: The Walker county Incident," focuses on a man named Daniel and his investigation into what attacked him.

Alabama has had no shortage of legendary creatures in the woods, but the one featured in Friday night\'s special could be a new one.

Frank Lee, the founder of Central Alabama Society for Paranormal Investigation and Research, said Daniel\'s case appears to be different from the usual legends in Alabama. Daniel described being stalked in a possibly pre-emptive attack by an upright creature similar to a primate.

Lee, whose team was consulted by the production team for the special, said Daniel\'s claims are unlike a lot of sightings.

"It can be difficult to investigate claims because most are nothing other than sightings," he said, "but occasionally you have a case like Daniel\'s in which there is physical evidence that is hard to dismiss or debunk. Although it\'s best to take a somewhat skeptical approach, there are definitely things out there that we simply cannot explain."

"I Was Bitten: The Walker County Incident" is part of Animal Planet\'s Monster Week, which is a nine-day week of frightening, shocking and interesting shows about monstrous creatures. You can check out Monster Week clips at Animal Planet.