Beast of Gevaudan: Demon wolf or what? Your thoughts!!!

I'm surprise this thread is still alive after 3 years, but then again this topic has been one the most interesting cryptozoology topics in many circles. I remember going through one of the articles, and there was an account of the beast of gevaudan, it was mention that the beast was about the size of a an adult cow. Now I been to the zoo before, and seen adult wolves, no way in hell is a adult wolves going to be the size of an adult cow, no matter how many people it eats.Either the account was exaggerated or Whatever this thing was, was no wolf, or mix wolf. The best theory, I still believe would be that the beast was maybe a tiger or lion that probably escaped from its handlers and turned wild. As similarly portrayed in the movie.

Not sure if you guys are familar with the case of hogzilla, but wild boars are known to grow as large as a ton ( in hogzilla case). Maybe this tiger or lion or whatever it was escape from its handlers, turned wild and basically just fed of the population. When your the biggest predator in that terrain, there isn't too much to worry about when it comes to food sources.

[edit on 8-3-2009 by Nemox42]

reply to post by poison1981


Here on ATS there was a story posted of an archeological find in Turkey, thought to be "the gates of eden", one of the oldest sites in the world. In this place are carved stela, one bears a likeness strikingly similar to a picture of "la bete" the beast of gevaudan, this wolf-like animal appears to be shown standing on its hind legs. The implication being that this "beast" is shown to exist during the time Of Adam, and might actually be a representation of the animal that attacked Seth.

I have posted the photo's under Beast of Gevaudan and Eden, if you have any interest in "la bete" the beast of Gevaudan you need to see these two pictures together. This animal carved on stone in the gates of Eden is most probably a rendition of the Beast (Satan) that attacked Seth and Eve at the gate of Eden as they were pleading for oil from the "tree of life" to ease the suffering of a dying Adam.

Originally posted by debris765nju
I have posted the photo's under Beast of Gevaudan and Eden, if you have any interest in "la bete" the beast of Gevaudan you need to see these two pictures together. This animal carved on stone in the gates of Eden is most probably a rendition of the Beast (Satan) that attacked Seth and Eve at the gate of Eden as they were pleading for oil from the "tree of life" to ease the suffering of a dying Adam.

Dude that is a trip. so you think le bete might have been some sort of devil wolf? or demon wolf? It would explain why it had a taste for human. Frankly, an animal that huge and mean, could easily attack livestock instead of children and women. Yet it did. The only other incident I can think of where a beast grew taste for human flesh was that story of those man eating lions that happen in africa, they also made it into a movie. The ghost and darkness with that val kilmer dude.

reply to post by Nemox42


That is what the evidence suggests, there is no denying the similarity of the two images. When reading these early accounts i get more of a feeling of species in conflict. Adam and Eve keep asking God to take them out of this world....to allow them back into the Garden of Eden, if not there, some other friendlier world where Satan is not.

Originally posted by debris765nju
reply to post by Nemox42

 

That is what the evidence suggests, there is no denying the similarity of the two images. When reading these early accounts i get more of a feeling of species in conflict. Adam and Eve keep asking God to take them out of this world....to allow them back into the Garden of Eden, if not there, some other friendlier world where Satan is not.

It doesn't make sense though. Why would demons or the devil posse a wolf to do this, I thought this whole spiritual warfare theory evolve around a battle between human souls. I have to admit it but that movie Constantine said it best, they can suggest nudge us in the direction of evil but ultimately they can never take a physical form and do their own bidding. I could see how a demon or a devil might posse a person to do crazy stuff aka (serial killings, mass murder) but never do they indirectly cause this effect. So why was le bete any different? why no other cases of monster like beasts that killed people over a course of a few hundred years. It doesn't make too much sense. does it?

Most of the insightful links don't work and this story it seems is a bit watered down version of the Beast of Gevaudan.

It came to me in a more detailed version from an old non English paranormal magazine which had many other kind of literature sited concerning this story. I cannot find the article to scan it since I don't have the magazine still in my possession. Been roughly more than 15 years since. Although we may find the complete story from an original article perhaps from a French book or magazine as I assume the story I read was quoted from.
This is the main reason I searched for this thread, in hope someone else has more information about it.

First of all the King Louis XV would not mobilize the army after an over sized wolf and the hunters team was a part of an army detachment send to this region. It probably functioned as a more specialized unit for this kind of threat.
It was rumored that the beast was only 1. it might have operated either alone or in packs mostly with other disfigured animals belonging to the wolf family.
The most frightening part of its appearance was not its size neither its ability to walk on two legs if desired as the rumors stated in the extended story I have read, neither the determination to attack its pray while they were inside their houses, neither to stalk and terrorize its its pray looking through their windows but it had a distinctive human appeal in its face. Especially the eyes which the creature was said could be able to freeze its victims with fear. Isolated stories about werewolves existed, but this specific creature was attributed for many attacks and by the way of its nature wasn't categorized as a werewolf but as something that had the general form of an animal but behaved with human intelligence and at times stalked its pray like a human would.

That was the reason as the story puts it that the population was greatly upset, the King mobilized the army for several months each time and reward was given along with warning posters issued, like the creature was behaving like a human criminal which in most cases it did.
Although the twist of the story that the King awarded a team of survivors that got attacked in the wilderness and not in a house, maybe because both his initial intentions was to downplay the event of the creature bizarre-nes but also because it was the first group of people that straightforwardly got attacked and that had displayed the ability to come out of this encounter alive.
The attacks went on for a long time until rumors for it attacking houses along with the other bizarre details of its behavior had spread and the King had to do something about it.

After that the beast vanished with no trace along with the other bizarre-ness that accompanied with it and the hunt for enormous sized wolves became a fashion.

That's what the story said more or less.

[edit on 6-9-2009 by spacebot]

Mesonychid

en.wikipedia.org...

some theorist believe that this could be it but it is extinct for almost 60 million years ago or it could of been a dire wolf


but the mesonychid definitely fit the description to the t of the Beast of Gévaudan right down to the jaws and the black stripe down it back!
some also claim it could been a big wild boar or a escaped lion, tiger mountain lion

en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

The Brotherhood of the Wolf is very historic the most only fictional is
the 2 main characters Fronsec From New France aka Canada and Mani MoHawk and the Brother hood Cult (partially) there is alot of lines in the script that are right from the documents of the time example the silver bullets

but were not involved the family that was in question during the time was Chastel aka Morangias in the movie
and the rumors of a escape Lion or Tiger Hyena from a zoo but was never reported the Descriptions from the survivors of the Beast say many but all was closely related the black stripe down the back ! if you have bought the dvd Brotherhood of the wolf i recommend it the 2 dvd set is great as i have it very useful info and says the same thing like telling you now great movie

I thought this had been solved, that a museum in france had found a stuffed hyena in a basement, which was originaly sent to the king after the beast was killed.

But it's definately a strange tail, the creature tended to attack women and children, it tended to attack the necks of the victims with some nearly being decapatated, it also stopped killing for a while, it was also said to laugh and in the end was shoot with a single silver bullet.

A good site with good and unbiased info.
Linky

[edit on 9-3-2010 by Kurokage]

i was thinking about the beast and there are bears in France

how about a manged bear trained to kill by it owner i can see this very well be but the problem is the surviving victims claim there is a tail on the beast stripe on its pack a bear is sluggish


could these Predators be the beast!

Manged Pyrenees brown bear ( they do not hibernate )

a little description
www.francethisway.com...

the photo of a manged bear

www.unexplained-mysteries.com...

Hyena
davidmurodesign.com...

description
en.wikipedia.org...

well this is a amazing find !! IN FRANCE! Cave Painting!!! 20,000

was someone trying to repopulate a hyena in France in the mid 18 century>? as hyenas was living in France thousands years ago as this cave painting was found in 1995 in France that shows the proof ?

en.wikipedia.org...:20,000_Year_Old_Cave_Paintings_Hyena.gif

and how about this

Mountain Lion, Siberian tiger as both can really adapt to the winter with ease and take down a large animal Deer ,Boar, Cow Etc Human.. single pawed

or the Tasmanian Wolf as the last one died in the early 1930s and was around plenty in Tasmania at the time
this is a perfect description but it is smaller than the average wolf
en.wikipedia.org...

the museum dedicated to them
www.naturalworlds.org...

or Man in Wolf Skin serial killer or a man that thinks he is a werewolf
as legend has it the beast was shot with a silver bullet



[edit on 14-3-2010 by Wolfenz]

Originally posted by Wolfenz


en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

The Brotherhood of the Wolf is very historic the most only fictional is
the 2 main characters Fronsec From New France aka Canada and Mani MoHawk

and the Brother hood Cult (partially) there is alot of lines in the script that are right from the documents of the time example the silver bullets

but were not involved the family that was in question during the time was Chastel aka Morangias in the movie
and the rumors of a escape Lion or Tiger Hyena from a zoo but was never reported the Descriptions from the survivors of the Beast say many but all was closely related the black stripe down the back ! if you have bought the dvd Brotherhood of the wolf i recommend it the 2 dvd set is great as i have it very useful info and says the same thing like telling you now great movie

Yes, Brotherhood of the Wolf is definitely worth watching, with the added bonus of Monica Bellucci…yum.

Amazingly, I haven’t seen it yet but I will in the near future. I guess hearing that the film is French (a good thing btw which adds to the authenticity) and I’d have to read subtitles to follow the dialogue initially put me off, but now I look forward to seeing it.

[edit on 28-3-2010 by Beast Of Gevaudan]

The Hyena is an interesting theory but it doesn’t account for the sheer size of this thing. It was reported to be from the size of a cow, and according to at least one report, to a donkey. It was also said to have run on two legs on occasion, just as comfortably as it ran on four.

Lions can get pretty big but not the size of a donkey and neither hyenas or lions can run on two legs.

Bears fit some of the desriptions eg ability to run on both two legs and four and the size but you'd expect the townsfolk to be able to identify a bear straight away. The same goes for a lion. Of course, human beings have been known to misidentify otherwise familiar things as something more exotic, especially when consumed by panic, so we can't totally rule out this possibility I guess.

The Thylacine does have a large jaw but the body is way too small.

I think Mesonychid is one fascinating theory as some of it’s features do sound similar. I believe that we could be dealing with some type of as yet unidentified prehistoric animal that's managed to survive in very small numbers in areas largely unspoiled by civilisation. Hence the rarity of sightings before and after the Gavaudan ones.

The thing that really interests me is the beast’s apparent intelligence. Witnesses describe it as having a cunning unlike any other animal, an awareness and elusiveness that seemed almost human. Perhaps these descriptions are merely the embellishments of a community gripped with hysteria and fear, but one has to ask how it was able to elude capture for at least 4 years, even after the King had sent his best hunters after it for several months. Lets not forget how the story ends either, it was reported to stand, stare and wait for Jean Chastel to finish his prayers before he shot and killed it, almost as if to say “Here I am Jean, whenever you're ready“.

[edit on 28-3-2010 by Beast Of Gevaudan]

sorry to bump an old thread but this was such a good thread to read!

I'd never heard of this story before and i guess i'll have to read up on it more! For the time being I have to come down on the side of a Wolfhound trained as a fighting dog, my parents have had several Wolfhounds one of which (Hardy) was huge! We also had donkeys in our field and Hardy was a good 5 inches taller than the donkeys. My parents also had a Wolfhound (Darcy) that was excessively aggressive and as a pup started to attack people for no good reason and sadly had to be put to sleep so they certainly can have aggressive traits. I can imagine a scenario where a Wolfhound has been trained as a fighting dog and for one reason or another was attacking people. Wolfhounds can have a stiped effect to their fur (brindle) and also often have white chests.

Nice thread s&f

reply to post by Boingo the Clown


Man i totally agree with your theory, i´ve always thought it was a war dog with some kind of armour but never imagined it was an Irish wolfhound i thought it might of been a Mastin-wolf or even a Mastin-side striped jackal hybrid due to the color because Jean Chastel the guy who killed the beast in 1767 was usually seen with a big red mastin, but the wolf hound seems to fit quite well.
I also want to add that as much as i would like to agree on the beast being a mesonychid but i can´t because the autopsy on the beast killed by chastel shows clearly that it was some kind of canine due to the size and number of teeth in the jaw, there is even some old drawings of the beasts jaw which you can see here: labete.7hunters.net...

Here compare it:

This is a Dire wolf jaw: www.bluelion.org...

and this is a mesonychid jaw: www.bluelion.org...

I was trying to look for a modern wolf jaw but I think the dire wolf works just fine as a canine, you can find more details on the discription of the beast here: www.betedugevaudan.com...
note there is another letter of the same autopsy but i could only find it in french and it says that the tail length is 1 foot, 8 inches, just saying because this one just says 8 inches, and speaking about the tail, people always said it was long and flexible like a cats and i was thinking how could a canine have a tail like that but seeing many wolfhound pictures i could tell that this breed has a flexible looking tail not like other dogs which confirms me even more of this breed being the beast or at least maybe a cross breed, you can also find alot more information about the beast in www.labetedugevaudan.com... too bad its in french though.

Thank you so much for the information, i have been studying this cryptid for quite sometime looking for the exact breed of dog it was.

Also forgot to mention that i blame it all on Jean Chastel, i mean everyone says that the beast suddenly apears out of nowhere and attacks, and with him he actually walks so calmly to him and waits until he finishes his prayer, gets his rifle and shoots him in the neck which was probably one of the areas that did not have armour covering it.
Another thing is that the armour was probably made out of some kind of thick animal skin making the beast look even more strange and more monsterous than it really was.

Hy Guys!

I'm new to this site. But after what happend to me two days ago i had to register. I was walking home from work at 20:00 ( its winter here in Hungary and it gets dark pretty early) . As i was walking i saw a huge dog like creature i dont know like 40-50 meters ahead of me. I thought nothing of it but it started running towards me then as i braced myself for the impact i closed my eyes and when i opend them that thing was gone... I dont get freightend easily but man that was some creepie #.. Any of you guys have an idea what that was???
P.S. sorry if my english was not perfect its not my native language

I believe people that believe they are a werewolf actually become a werewolf, at least in their own minds. The sub conscious they say is very powerful. Some people think they can’t move their arm and their arm doesn’t move even if there is no medical reason for it. It’s in their heads. Also why do crazy people look crazy? I think their appearance is determined by their minds. We can tell when someone is distraught, upset or confused by looking at them. Well if they have a disorder like lycanthropy, they believe they turn into a wolf, then they will take on physical characteristics of a wolf.
In the case of Gevaudan I think that’s what happened.

reply to post by Metallat


Hey dude i what you saw was probably a "black dog" these paranormal entities are seen all over the world, each country has thier own name for them, for example here in El Salvador they call them "Cadejo". These things appear in the form of a big black dog (rare but some can be white) and they can just follow you around or try to attack you or maybe warn you of something i really don´t know why they appear but they tend to just disapear afterwards, some people even try to hit them and its like if they are just hitting air. I have not read any encounter in which anyone got killed or anything so don´t worry, I hope this information was of use to you.