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317:'The demon cat would usually meet someone alone in a dark corridor. It had large yellow eyes that seemed to hypnotize, and it would snarl. It would seem to grow larger and larger until it would make a final lunge toward its victim and then either explode or disappear over the victim's head,' Thayn said.
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whilst on patrol. Livengood believes the legend began when a security guard who was lying down in a drunken stupor was licked by one of the
Capitol building's cats and mistakenly assumed it to be a giant cat. Livengood states that upon reporting the incident to his superior, the guard would have been
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firing guns toward the hissing cat as it disappeared only to find they were shooting into an empty hallway. 'It was said to appear only on the eve of a national tragedy or the change of administrations.' The cat even has a nickname among
Capital workers:
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113:" or an elephant, said to be 10 feet by 10 feet, when alerted. The cat would then either explode or pounce at the witness, disappearing before it managed to catch its 'victim'.
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Jim Abrams (October 31, 2003). "U.S. Capitol is not without its own ghostly tales;'Demon cat' is said to appear at times of national crisis, vanish suddenly".
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In the 1890s, the cat is said to have inexplicably vanished when some
Capitol Hill guards fired their guns at it, and another supposedly died of a
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sent home to recover, and "eventually the other guards found out that they could get a day off if they saw the demon cat".
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The story of the Demon Cat dates back to the mid‑1800s when cats were brought into the basement tunnels of the
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Catherine Avery (May 28, 1993). "Ghost Story ;There's a supernatural tale at most every corner in town".
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Edmundson, Sheila (October 30, 1999). "Halloween: Many things go bump in the still of night in D.C.".
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and mice. Legend states that the Demon Cat is one of these cats who never left, even after its
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The last official sighting of the alleged ghost was during the final days or aftermath of
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238:"The 'feline spook of the Capitol': How a Demon Cat became Washington's best ghost story"
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Davidson, Lee (October 27, 1999). "Plenty of spooks on
Capitol Hill for Halloween".
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Terry Sue Shank (November 1, 1992). "Nation's capital can be a haunting place".
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was created from a revision of this article dated 16 September 2012
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Krepp, Tim (2012-08-21). "The
Haunted Capitol Building. The Demon Cat".
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Founded in 2006, the DC DemonCats are one of
Washington, D.C.'s four
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force was notorious for hiring unqualified relatives and friends of
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and tragedies in
Washington, D.C., allegedly being spotted by
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269:"Why the U.S. Capitol's 'Demon Cat' Legend Is So Persistent"
47:. Its primary haunts are the city's two main landmarks: the
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Tom Kelly (October 26, 1989). "We live in a ghost town!".
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According to Steve
Livengood, the chief tour guide of the
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security guards on the night before the assassinations of
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cat who is purported to haunt the government buildings of
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363:"Demon Cat - The Tale of a Wanderlust Feline Ghost"
16:Ghost of a cat purported to haunt Washington, D.C
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23:Black cat peering over a wall in Washington D.C.
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101:. It is described as either a
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428:Jordy Yager (March 4, 2009).
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575:American legendary creatures
430:"Haunted House - and Senate"
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585:Culture of Washington, D.C.
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31:(also referred to as the
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321:recorded stories of the
580:Cats in popular culture
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508:Listen to this article
87:presidential elections
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53:United States Capitol
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559:More spoken articles
456:The Washington Times
343:The Washington Times
242:The Washington Post
208:Capitol Hill Haunts
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213:Arcadia Publishing
186:The Patriot Ledger
156:In popular culture
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590:Mythological cats
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222:978-1-61423-656-6
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490:October 11,
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131:Explanation
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569:Categories
555:Audio help
546:2012-09-16
439:October 7,
410:October 7,
379:1 November
319:Historians
168:References
400:Roll Call
107:tabby cat
103:black cat
77:President
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51:and the
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59:History
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111:tiger
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37:ghost
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381:2021
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