Author: TJ
Parkman
Mysterious
unexplainable sightings of vicious monsters/animals have been occurring since
the dawn of mankind. Few have made such a large impact an area as the Beast of
Gevaudan. This “beast” or “beasts” wreaked havoc on parts of the province of Gevaudan. Some eye-witness
sightings have described this animal as being wolf-like, yet with horse hooves
or even resembling a sort of hyena hybrid. Some people claim that this animal
was a werewolf, or even a shape-shifting human. It is unclear if this animal
was a new species, a hybrid that went undiscovered, or perhaps a type of
sorcery. According to C. H. D. Clarke in “The Beast of Gevaudan”,
What actually happened is that from July, 1764, to
June, 1767, wolves terrorized the regions of Gevaudan and Vivarais in France
around the mountain massif of the Margeride, killing and, for the most part,
eating many persons, before being finally hunted down at a cost of 29,000 livres
to the state and nearly four years of serious disruption to the life of a
province.... (Wolves)
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| The Beast |
Regardless of
what the beast actually was, it made a very real impact on the province of
Gevaudan when it began slaying numerous citizens, mostly women and children. Between the years 1764 and 1767, there were
210 reported attacks, of which 113 people were killed. The first attack
occurred on June 1, 1764, when a woman was approached by the beast in her cow
pasture. Luckily for the woman, the bulls in her pasture ran the beast off. The
beast later returned only for the same outcome. The next victim of the beast’s
attacks was not as lucky. Jeanne Boulet was attacked by the beast when there
were no other people or animals around to defend her. She was the first victim
killed by the beast. Becoming frustrated, the King of France sent out his
professional wolf-hunter, Antoine de Beauterne to find and kill the animal.
Along with forty other hunters and a dozen dogs, Beauterne thought they killed
the beast when they killed a six foot long wolf, with fangs 1 ½ inches in
length. However, shortly after, these killings continued until a local hunter,
Jean Chastel was out hunting and he began reading his bible and praying, when
the beast appeared in front of him. With a single shot from his rifle with a
silver bullet, he killed the beast. After further examination the body was
confirmed to belong to the beast. The beast was gutted and sent to the King of
France who displayed the corpse to the public.
Works Cited:
“The Beast of Gevaudan Terrorizes
France”. Altered Dimensions. N.p. n.d. Web.16 Oct 2012.
Clarke, C. H. D. “The Beast of
Gevaudan”. Wolves. N.p. Web. 1971. 16 Oct 2012.
“The Cryptid Zoo: Beast of
Gevaudan”. New Animal. N.p. Web. 2009. 16 Oct 2012.
“Unknown Creatures: Beast of
Gevaudan”. Unknown Creatures.N.p.n.d. Web. 16 Oct 2012.
“Beast of Gevaudan”. Wikipedia. N.p. Web. 5 Oct 2012.
Links for Further
Research:
Unknown Explorers
This work provides a detailed
explanation of what occurred in the times of the beast.
Youtube
This video shows the entire story
of the beast, through good illustrations.
Unexplained Monsters
This is a compilation of “facts”
from various websites.
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