The Beast of Gevaudan

Magical Realist

Magical Realist

Valued Senior Member
Historical account of an actual reputed werewolf that terrorized France in the 1760s and mutilated up to 100 people. Happy early Halloween!

 
Gawdzilla Sama said:
"an actual reputed" Anguish is your second language.
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I'll give MR credit for at least leaving "reputed" in.

I guess I'd interpret "actual reputed" to mean: not just some content blown up for a TV show - an actual legend with some history. (Doesn't mean it's a real werewolf, just that it was thought to be.)

"It was said to attack with formidable teeth and claws, and appeared to be the size of a calf or cow and seemed to fly or bound across fields towards its victims."
en.wikipedia.org

Beast of Gévaudan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

My first thought was " that sounds like a big cat, perhaps a cougar". Not sure about France, but historically that have been sighting of what is thought to be cougars in UK.

Per wiki:
"These descriptions from the period could identify the beast as a young lion, a striped hyena, a large wolf, a large dog, or a wolfdog, though its identity is still the subject of debate."
 
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Gawdzilla Sama said:
I require extraordinary claims to have extraordinary evidence. Current we just have idiots going "lookee, Lou!"
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I find a big cat to be pretty plausible. There's nothing in the story that is inconsistent with a big cat on the loose.

"...seemed to fly or bound across fields towards its victims." This sounds much more cat-like than dog-like. I think cats have a leaner gait than dogs when at full speed.
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If you've seen a big cat run at full tilt, they look like a missile with legs.


I'd say a dire wolf meets Valet's description of a large dog, but they are a New World species, so only plausible perhaps if escaped from a zoo.
 
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DaveC426913 said:
I find a big cat to be pretty plausible. There's nothing in the story that is inconsistent with a big cat on the loose.

"...seemed to fly or bound across fields towards its victims." This sounds much more cat-like than dog-like. I think cats have a leaner gait than dogs when at full speed.
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If you've seen a big cat run at full tilt, they look like a missile with legs.


I'd say a dire wolf meets Valet's description of a large dog, but they are a New World species, so only plausible perhaps if escaped from a zoo.
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As my son commented when he was about nine years old, "J'étais un loup-garou, mais je ne le suis pluOOOOOOOOOooooooo......s.

(I had asked hm to translate: "I used to be a werewolf but I'm all right noOOOOOOOOooooooo....w.")
 
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