"In a remote district of 18th century France there stalked a maruauding beast so terrible that its bloody deeds have passed into legend..."
So begins one version of the tale of the "Beast of Gevaudan," a strange and horrible creature which began its rampage of terror in June of 1764, and continued its mysterious appearances and disappearances for over two years.
It started in the Mercoire forest near Langogne when a young woman was out watching her cows. She suddenly was charged by a hideous beast. Her dogs (curiously) ran away, and she would have been killed if the cows had not kept the monster at bay with their horns. The woman got away with a few scratches, torn clothing and shattered nerves. (Shattered nerves DO seem to be one of the constants in these types of cases, which may be a "connection," as we will see further on.)
She was able to describe the beast to the people of her village as being about the size of a cow with a very wide chest, a huge head and neck, short straight ears and a nose like a greyhound. Two long fangs protruded from each side of its black mouth. Its tail was long and exceptionally thin and it had a black stripe running from the top of the head to the tip of the tail. She also said it could make leaps of as much as 30 feet at a time. It was the general opinion of those hearing this description, that it was some type of gigantic wolf.
Are we dealing with a hysterical account here? I mean, who ever heard of a wolf as big as a cow? A wolf that can leap 30 feet at a time? Keep those "leaps" in mind also...
In the following months, the beast attacked women and children and solitary men who took the livestock out to pasture. Many were devoured or carried off. People also found half-ravaged dead bodies and torn-off limbs scattered about.
On October 8, 1764, two hunters saw the beast and shot at it from only 10 paces. On this occasion, the beast fell down, but got up immediately. The hunters shot once more - and again the beast fell down. But, it got back up and unsteadily ran into a nearby wood. As it ran away, the hunters shot it yet again, and each time it fell and got back up and continued to run.
People were sure it had been seriously wounded and that it would be found dead the next day. Instead, a greater than usual number of people were killed in the following days as though the Beast were seeking retribution for the attacks against it.
The next month, a Captain Duhamel took charge of the situation and organized the peasants as beaters so that he and his company of Dragoons - 40 foot soldiers and 17 mounted soldiers - could corner and kill the beast. But, the beast was not to be fooled into a trap. Every time they thought they had it surrounded and started shooting, it managed to escape.
A large reward was offered for the capture of the beast and this brought hunters from all over France. The hunt went on for months. The peasants soon got tired of all these hunters and soldiers eating their food and trampling down their crops and rumblings of discontent were heard. At the same time, the beast launched into a rampage even more terrible than before - right under the noses of the hunters and soldiers! It was as though it FED on the negative feelings and became even more daring and powerful.
King Louis XV sent a famous hunter, Msr. Denneval, to the district. Denneval was reputed to have killed 1200 wolves. He began to track the Beast with his bloodhounds in February of 1765.
In March, when Denneval had been tracking the beast for a month, the three children of a family named Denis were watching their livestock near Malzieu. Jacques, aged 16, had lit a fire under a rock outcrop and Julienne, in her 20's, had wandered away for a moment and Jeanne was close by Jacques who was tending the fire. Suddenly, she screamed. The beast was upon her and had seized her by the head. Jacques managed to save her by throwing the beast onto the fire and holding it there until it struggled away, howling.
Jeanne was left with two gaping wounds - one behind each ear - and a torn shoulder, all of which wounds healed. But Jeanne went mad and never recovered her sanity. She experienced repeated bouts of quivering terror that made her scream as though the Beast were on her again. Her sister, Julienne, who had been present at the time, but had wandered away for a moment, felt guilty for not protecting Jeanne and was heard to say: "Now it is either the beast or me." She began to "expose" herself to the beast by wandering the slopes of Malzieu.
Jacques Denis vowed to avenge his sister, Jeanne, and joined the great hunter Denneval. The tactics being used by this hunter involved allowing the beast to gain confidence to come out into the open so it could then be surrounded by the hunters and dogs rather than trying to beat it into a corner. However, this strategy didn't work either. The Beast would often be pursued by the dogs and scores of men who were soon exhausted by racing over the rough terrain, but the monster kept going with seeming superhuman endurance. And, it always left a path of slaughtered children, torn bodies, and body parts in its wake.
On April 29, 1765, a nobleman named De la Chaumette spotted the beast near his home in Saint-Chely. He saw it stalking a shepherd in a pasture and called his two brothers to get their guns and the three of them went to ambush the Beast. They shot at it. The Beast collapsed on the ground and rolled over two or three times. De la Chaumette fired again. The Beast rolled towards the wood, managed to gain shelter and fled. Great splashes of blood stained the ground and brush all around the area, so it was clear that the beast had been wounded. Everyone felt it had gone away to die.
This happened at the beginning of the Spring Fair at Malzieu in May of 1765, so it turned into a big celebration over the death of The Beast. In the midst of the festivities, a rider galloped into the square and shouted: "Marguerite is done for. The Beast has got her!"
Marguerite happened to be a friend of Jacques Denis, the young man who had sworn to kill the beast to avenge his sister, Jeanne. He rushed off to find Marguerite, and she was right at the outskirts of the village, lying in her own blood, her throat ripped open. (Seems a bit peculiar that this one family has so many "connections" to the Beast?)
On that day, the Beast killed three people, but didn't even bother to eat them as was his usual habit. Another series of "retributions" for having been shot?
In any event, these gruesome deaths caused the peasants to go crazy with rage and despair. Grabbing pitchforks, pikes, long poles, bayonets, and whatever else came to hand, they put the dogs onto the fresh scent of the Beast, and led by the outraged Jacques Denis, set of to find the beast or else!
As it happened, Jacques soon found himself confronting the beast for the second time. He attacked with a bayonet. The Beast leaped upon him and he would have been killed, but the crowd of villagers arrived at that moment and the beast fled.
The King was furious because this beast was making France look ridiculous. England was using it as a vehicle for "French bashing," and this was a state of affairs that could not be tolerated any longer. Louis sent his personal gun carrier, Antoine de Beauterne, to deal with the problem.
The great hunter, Denneval, had already given up after the debacle in June. At the same time, the Beast went on a fresh rampage. On June 16 it mangled a little girl who was saved at the last minute. On the 21st it killed a 14 year old boy, devoured a 45 year old woman, and carried off another little girl.
The Church got involved at this point, declaring that the Beast was a "messenger of evil" sent to punish the people for their sins. (How typical!) Rumors of witchcraft and dark rites and werewolves started to spread and it was increasingly clear that this was NOT your normal "giant wolf" or anything that the people had ever dealt with before!
Well, for three months, the King's "problem solver," Antoine de Beauterne, did nothing. He inspected the area, drew maps, surveyed the routes taken by the beast, and just generally analyzed the problem. Finally, on September 21, he organized a beat with 40 local hunters and 12 dogs.
Following de Beauterne's instructions, based on his "intuition," the beaters encircled a ravine in the wood of Pommier. Suddenly, the dogs began barking furiously. The Beast was, indeed, there, so de Beauterne's analysis had been correct. The dogs were unleashed and the beast was forced out into the clearing. It began turning wildly at the edge of the wood, looking for an escape. It hesitated, and then came forward into the sunlight. De Beauterne shot it and some of the buckshot struck the animal's right shoulder. One shot went through its right eye and its skull. The beast fell and the hunters sounded the horn of triumph.
Suddenly, to everyone's stupefied amazement, the Beast got up and went toward Antoine de Beauterne. One man fired at it, and the shot went through its thigh. But, seemingly possessed of supernatural energy, the beast turned, found a hole in the "net," and ran off into a pasture beyond.
Then, the beast collapsed again. Dead at last.
It measured 6 feet from nose to base of tail and weighed 143 pounds. It had a huge head with fangs about 1.5 inches long. It was stuffed and taken to the King. Later it was taken to the Museum of Natural History where it was kept until the beginning of the 20th century. Where it may be now, I have been unable to determine as most of the resources are in French.
But, that was NOT the end of the story! As it happened, for the next two months - until the end of November, 1765 - the killings went on, but were forbidden to be spoken of by order of the king! So, either the "right" beast was not killed - or there were TWO of them!
The month of December was a nightmare. People barricaded themselves in their homes in terror of the Beast who could not be named or discussed.
Julienne Denis who had vowed "it's the Beast or me," had continued to wander the countryside in a sort of half-crazed state and disappeared on the day before Christmas. Jacques Denis went out to search for his sister. She was never seen again though some unrecognizable remains were found along a narrow ravine a week later.
All that winter the carnage continued. More searches were made, but the public "outcry" and "mass hysteria" was supressed by the king's orders. The winter of 1766/67 was calmer with only a few disappearances. But, in the spring, the rampage began again. It is not even known how many were killed because the king's suppression orders meant that many deaths from the ravages of the Beast were not recorded as such and many families, fearing the king's wrath, did not admit to the deaths. But, from March to June of 1767 it is thought that there were at least 14 victims of the Beast in one small area around Paulhac.
In May and June the peasants began to go on pilgrimages to pray for relief from the Beast. One pilgrim, Jean Chastel, obtained three blessed cartridges from his pilgrimage.
June 19, 1767, another beat was organized by a local nobleman which consisted of 300 hunters and beaters. Jean Chastel joined the fray and positioned himself on the Sogne d'Aubert in the same way Antoine de Beauterne had placed himself in the Beal ravine when the first Beast had been killed. He opened his prayer book and began to read while he waited for the Beast.
The Beast, on the run from the dogs and beaters, came out in front of Chastel. Chastel calmly finished praying, closed the book, took off his glasses and put them away in his pocket. He then raised his gun and fired. The Beast fell and Chastel reportedly said: "You will kill no more!"
According to various sources, after the second creature was gutted, the remains of a small girl was found inside its entrails. For several weeks the carcass of the gigantic creature was hauled around the countryside to celebrate its death. It is said that on the spot where the beast fell, the grass will not grow.
