Pretty creepy looking old mansion, right? We wouldn't be surprised if it was haunted, either. It's not actually Overtoun House itself that's the epicentre of this particular unsolved mystery, though. It's actually the bridge approaching the grand Scottish home that's the reason for so much hearsay and speculation and, ultimately, no answers, because dogs keep jumping off of it and killing themselves. Well, some creepy things have happened with people and the bridge - like in 1994, when Kevin Moy threw his two-week-old son off of it, believing the boy to be the devil, before trying to commit suicide himself - but those are usually explained by people suffering mental health issues and the like. The dog "suicides", as they're called, are a little more troubling. A few dogs tumbling off the side of a huge bridge 50 feet into the waterfalls would be an unfortunate coincidence; the actual number is a cause for concern. Since the fifties, dogs have taken the fatal plunge at the rate of about one a year. That's right, once a year, at least one pooch falls to its death from Overtoun Bridge, and the kicker is: nobody knows why. Recently a scientist, working for the Scottish SPCA, suggested it was the smell of mice and mink in the bridge's undergrowth that was enticing the animals, but testing that hypothesis turned up...nothing. It's not exactly the safest bridge, with no safety railings besides the wall that's part of the bridge, but then dogs aren't the smartest creatures. They barely understand basic commands, so they've probably not got any idea what a safety railing would signify. They only just reach object permanence, and all of that pales in the face of an enticing sound or smell. It could just be a series of unfortunate events; we still don't know for sure.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
