What is a Rougarou, Exactly?

Rougarou03We take a wild ride through the folklore of Louisiana as we try to determine just what a Rougarou (or loup garu) is!  Cryptozoology reports throughout the area point to several possibilities all ending with monster tales of fantastic creatures. Let’s see what we can discern from this mayhem.

No matter how you spell it, the Rougarou, Roux-Ga-Roux, Rugaroo, Rugaru, or Loup Garou is a werewolf type creature living in the folklore of Cajun French Louisiana. The story was born in France in medieval times, when they actually believed in werewolves. These stories were used to keep children in line and out of the woods.

Rougarou05woodcutLater in the 16th Century version, people viewed the phenomenon of the Rougarou as a genetic disorder rather than something you could “catch” from someone else, or be cursed into by a witch. According to this genetic version, a person’s life would be normal until whatever happened to trigger the condition turned on. The person’s body then enlarged and they developed a craving for raw meat.  In order to complete the final transformation, the person/Rougarou had to take a bite of human flesh.

As the French set sail and settled Quebec in Canada and later Louisiana in the American South, the story came with them and mutated.

In modern times throughout Cajun Louisiana, the beast has developed several consistent characteristics: it’s described as standing between 7-8 feet tall, has horrible sharp teeth, and glowing red eyes.

It becomes its animal form on the night of the full moon. It could be anyone – neighbor, librarian, dentist. With all the storms and flooding in recent years, it’s thought the beast made its way into the city (New Orleans) because some city residents claim they have heard terrifying growls at night.  (Cited on the TV show, Destination Fear.)

The Legend and Folklore

According to Professor Barry Jean Ancelet, an expert in Cajun folklore at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, the legend of the Rougarou is common throughout the area. He reiterated that the story originated in Medieval France and was thought to be a tale told to children to keep them away from the woods. The story followed the French settlers to Louisiana, and was further buoyed by French Canadians migrating down to New Orleans within the last couple hundred years. (Artwork above right by New Orleans artist Claudia Rodriguez of Wrought Ink. https://www.etsy.com/shop/WroughtInk. Part of the proceeds from her products is donated to restoring historical cemeteries in the city.)

Professor Ancelet indicated that the Rougarou is said to prowl the swamps and bayous of Louisiana as well as the areas around New Orleans itself.  He added that it has the body of a man and the head of a wolf/dog. Besides using the tales to keep children in line, it was also used as a way to keep Catholics in line. There is a story that goes if you don’t observe the strict rules of Lent for seven years in a row, you’ll automatically turn into a Rougarou.

Rougarou07Turning Into a Rougarou

In one article, Professor Ancelet mentioned that sometimes a person became a Rougarou voluntarily, while at other times, the person was cursed.

Another source claims that the eyes must be avoided because if you look into them the curse is passed onto you, and you become a Rougarou.

Yet another version of the legend states that the person is under the spell of the Rougarou for 101 days.  If/when the Rougarou draws the blood of its next victim, the curse transfers to that victim and the current person is released from the curse.  They remain weakened and a bit sickly from the experience, and they never speak of it for shame as well as the fear of being killed.

Still other versions describe the Rougarou as a type of “headless horseman” resulting from the curse of a witch.  In this scenario, only a witch can make a Rougarou by either turning into a wolf herself or cursing others with lycanthropy (where one believes oneself to be a werewolf).

American screenwriter and film maker Glen Pitre has another version of how one becomes a Rougarou. In this scenario a person commits a transgression of some sort and then they become a Rougarou.  He also stated that outcasts in the community or somewhat eccentric people often became objects of suspicion, the idea being that they are probably Rougarou.

How do we get all these variations? Oral tradition. The problem with oral traditions is that they can be altered over time, and they seem to change from region to region. Hence we get 101 versions of the (more or less) same story.

The same is true when we consider the legends of the Native Americans.

WendigoNative American View of Rougarou

The native Americans had a legend of a creature called the wendigo (artist’s rendition on the right – probably not accurate!). The story goes that these beasts had been human at one time, but they resorted to cannibalism and transformed into wendigo.  A fictionalized version of this story (by Algernon Blackwood) asserts that one only has to see a wendigo to turn into one.  But the Native Americans maintain that one must resort to cannibalism to turn into a wendigo.  (It’s interesting to see that even fiction can alter an oral tradition and get some of the details wrong, thus adding to the confusion.)

Over time the Indian tribes developed their own story of the Rugaru through oral tradition, whose characteristics ranged from a Bigfoot type creature all the way to a full blown wendigo cannibal.

According to an article on Wiki in unnaturalworld, “It is important to note that rugaru is not a native Ojibwa word, nor is it derived from the languages of neighboring Native American peoples. However, it has a striking similarity to the French word for werewolf, loup garou. It’s possible the Turtle Mountain Ojibwa or Chippewa in North Dakota picked up the French name for “hairy human-like being” from the influence of French Canadian trappers and missionaries with whom they had extensive dealings. Somehow that term also had been referenced to their neighbors’ stories of Bigfoot. Author Peter Matthiessen argues that the rugaru is a separate legend from that of the cannibal-like giant wendigo. While the wendigo is feared, he notes that the rugaru is seen as sacred and in tune with  Mother Earth, somewhat like bigfoot legends are today.”

Also in that article was a very interesting table of Abilities and Weaknesses which I’d like to share with you:

Abilities:

  • Shapeshifting:  Once the person takes a bite of human flesh, they transform into the Rougarou.
  • Superhuman Strength: They are stronger than men, easily able to crush bones.
  • Speed: Like animals, they can move extremely fast; a necessity when one is hunting prey.
  • Flesh Eating: It’s what’s for dinner, and its primary motivation.

Weakness:

  • Fire: Some say these Rougarous can only be destroyed through fire.
  • Decapitation: Despite that, many feel decapitation is the only way to kill them.
  • Severe Destruction of the Body: In addition to decapitation, people will mutilate their bodies so there is no chance for the Rougarou to come back.

Seriously, no one can even decide how to kill it!

Rougarou01More Complications

According to retired English professor and folklore specialist at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, Patricia Perrin, “The most common motif is of a night time exposure to the Rougarou. The person who encounters the Rougarou draws one or three drops of blood, that person then has the spell, and from there, the tale can be either light or dark. In the darker tale, usually the person who encounters the Rougarou commits suicide. The darker tale is almost always associated with a person who told of the encounter in less than a year.”

In an article for The Nicholls Worth website, Brandon Folse quotes sources found in the archives of Ellender Memorial Library that report in Louisiana, because wolves are scarce, the Rougarou is associated with local animals like dogs, pigs, cows and even chickens.  Regardless of the form it takes, these animals supposedly pester its next victim until they draw blood somehow from the animal (injury or stabbing).

In most cases, the next victim knows the Rougarou in their human form. At that point, after the bloodletting, the former Rougarou tells its attacker that they must not mention this encounter to anyone for one year and one day. If they do tell someone else, they themselves will turn into a Rougarou. So here we have another version of how this curse is passed on.

Rougarou06LoupGarouIn the past, people tried to avoid encountering a Rougarou altogether. Men would place a leaf (unspecified) in their wallets to ward it off, while women often painted a hexagon in the center of their floor and said prayers to keep the Rougarou away.

Professor Perrin adds, “[Nowadays] the Rougarou plays a similar role to the boogeyman in other cultures. People of Louisiana want to hold on to the story, but people with an education don’t want others to think they are crazy. The Rougarou plays as significant a role in continuing the Cajun culture as crawfish boils do.”

OralTradition01How Oral Tradition Works

In another article for The Courier newspaper (shared on dailycomet.com) by Laura McKnight, she shares Glen Pitre’s view of oral tradition.

Mr. Pitre’s experience with these tales isn’t simple. He claims people don’t just rattle off tales of these beasts. Instead, they go through a whole prolonged story, building up the tension as they go, scaring their listeners, until, as he said, “You had the frissons [excitement & thrills] by the end of it.”

Oral tradition is storytelling, pure and simple. Here are some more citations from this article that I think are valuable in pointing out how entrenched the oral tradition is in this area of the country:

  • Trisha Hukins (of Thobodaux) grew up in Larose. She said her family always warned her to be home before dark so she didn’t get caught by the Rougarou. Hukins added, “They would say to go home before the Rougarou gets you. We just knew about it. Just a part of life.”
  • Ms. Hukins shared one of their family stories wherein her great-uncle or grandfather encountered a mad dog on his way home one night. He stuck the dog with a pocketknife and the animal immediately turned into a man, who then ran off into the night.
  • Wenceslaus Billiot (of Isle de Jean Charles) was told the same stories as a child, but he doesn’t believe in the Rougarou anymore. He said, “They had some rougaroux back in the old days, usually during the full moon. I never did see one.”
  • Juliet Henry (of Houma) uses this expression to describe a sleepless night: “I made the Rougarou all night.” She too heard the same stories and warnings as a child that the others had heard. This expression has been passed onto her children as well.

OralTradition02Adding to the Confusion

As if this all wasn’t confusing enough, there are actually more versions of this cryptic story.

According to Daryl Holmes, a Nicholls State University assistant professor  and folklore specialist, there are some southern Louisiana tales that concern other “were-creatures.” If you can stand it, there are supposedly “were-cows” in those areas, and in an area rich with lakes, there is even a “were-crane.”

HibouGarouxProfessor Ancelet further confirms these variations by sharing this story, “[There is] a hibou-garou, or were-owl, including one from a deer hunter who shot an owl with an arrow. The next day, the hunter said he found a man suspected of being a hibou-garou lying in the same spot as the fallen owl, with an arrow stuck in the same place the owl had been pierced.” (Yes, that is a tatoo of a hibou-garou, left.)

Glen Pitre adds that there is a tale of a were-pig around Grand Isle, as well as stories about a Bigfoot style Rougarou.

Former resident of Cut Off, LA, Windell Curole reports that he has heard tales of the Rougarou appearing as other frightening creatures such as leopards, panthers, and bears.

So basically, ANYTHING that scares you at night is a Rougarou? What these stories DO have in common is that they are all vague, with no proof or evidence whatsoever, and are probably just hear-say.

Somebody pass the Excedrin please.

WhuppedWriterWhat I Think

This is the biggest mess of a legend that I’ve ever heard. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now and have come to my own conclusions based on the research, but also my “gut” feeling.

Clearly oral tradition has fanned the flame of this legend throughout the Southern Cajun culture and geographic area. I think nowadays, we don’t realize the power of oral tradition since we are so electrified with TVs, phones, tablets, computers, you name it. But in an era when that stuff wasn’t available, all they had was each other to entertain themselves. And so these stories grew and seemed to have literally taken on a life of their own.

The fact that there are so many variations and each from a different locale seems to indicate that for whatever reasons, the original basic story was altered by communities over time.

When there is a lack of education, as happens in some areas, particularly poorer areas, superstitions get deeply entrenched in the psyche, usually not for the better.

BigfootinDarkOn the other hand, if you’ve read my articles about Bigfoot, then you’ll know I absolutely believe Bigfoot and his many cousins around North America and beyond are real. As far as I’m concerned they are just great apes waiting to be definitively discovered by science.

I think the Rougarou encounters that some people have are really Bigfoot. He’s big, hairy, can be menacing, and in that area of the world, they might be more bad tempered than say, their cousins in the Pacific Northwest.  Bigfoot reports around the country state that Bigfoot has large, glowing red eyes at night – something he has in common with many other animals long known to science.

The Native Americans see their Rougarou as a peaceful part of nature, stronger than men, able to run fast like an animal, hunters of prey. That sounds a lot like Bigfoot.

There’s also another element to this story. That is the human element. We know there are psychopaths in the world and always have been. Some are outcasts and some are people who engage in evil things, all because of their own troubled nature and personality.  It’s probably fair to say that a lot of these stories about people “disappearing” and bodies being found mutilated in the swamps and bayous could be victims of their own kind, humans.

BayouAnd let’s not forget how treacherous that entire area is – teaming with animals, plants, and quick sand that could kill you by themselves, not needing any help from a cryptid.

Bottom line: I think the Rougarou lives in the hearts and minds of the Cajun people, while Bigfoot is the one actually roaming the swamps and bayous scaring people. Beyond that, I think other humans are the ones who perpetrate the unspeakable crimes that are occasionally uncovered throughout that area.

What do you think? 

PS — And for a new twist on the Rougarou legend, check out this band named after the mysterious creature!  😀

http://rougarou.us/

Please be sure to come back and visit CryptoVille any time. We’ve got lots of articles about all sorts of things that should interest lovers of strange and mysterious creatures, as well as strange phenomena. The Search bar (near the top right corner of the home page) works very well.  There is also a list of categories further below that, which you can browse.

Please also stop by our Facebook page, CryptoVille, where we share all manner of strange, beautiful, and sometimes silly things related to all things cryptid! Please Like our page while you’re there.

References:

http://unnaturalworld.wikia.com/wiki/Rougarou

http://www.thenichollsworth.com/lagniappe/rougarou-remains-strong-figure-in-cajun-folklore-1.2079477#.UznBRahdWSo

www.thenichollsworth.com/lagniappe/rougarou-remains-strong-figure-in-cajun-folklore

www.dailycomet.com/article/20061022/FEATURES/610220321

36 comments

    • I don’t know Skylar. From my research, people claim to have seen them throughout Louisiana, and even now near New Orleans. The reasoning goes since the great floods in recent years, Rougarous have been driven closer to the city in search of food. People claim to hear strange growls at night.

      Keep your camera handy! 😉 … Susan (CryptoVille)

      • It is very real and not a big foot I think it may be demonic in nature and may even latch on one person to hunt at a time I believe one is stalking me read my above comment about what’s going on it’s interesting

  1. I most definitely believe that there is a Rougarou living in Louisiana. There is often some truth to folk legends and I believe that some of this story is based on actual encounters with the Bigfoot. What started out as an account with the mythical Harry One somehow morphed into a tale of a blood sucking demond.

      • My great great grandpa seen a Rougarou a man with the shape of a wolf’s head it hunted him as a boy it killed his dad and now it came for him each night it came sometimes as a werewolf others as a goat man or a shadow figure it would leave scratch marks down his cabin he stayed deep in the bayou so he had guns and when he shot the creature one night it ran he said the blood was black as night and thick it had glowing red eyes to he was like I Creole decent so the story is deep in the culture it is a demon that shapeshifts it can be your worst fears it can mimic your or a love ones voice even look like them

        • Thank you for sharing your family’s story, Joshua. Very interesting. I’ve often wondered if these sightings weren’t of something demonic, when you consider the amount of occult practices that go on in remote areas. Very scary stuff.

          Thank you for visiting CryptoVille! … Susan (CryptoVille)

          • You are welcome my story telling not real good jumped around but its a family story and I believe in this creature I never seen one nor do I but I was always told its a demon a creature from hell or some where evil

  2. We would like to exchange links. We want to link your page in our website so people can better understand the Rougarou. Please add a link to our website in yours so people can reference our band. Thanks

    • Hi Eric! Well that puts a new twist on the legend of the rougarou – now it’s a band! LOL!! I don’t mind putting your link in the article. Good luck with your career!

      And thank you for visiting CryptoVille! … Susan (CryptoVille)

    • That’s fascinating Mac! Were you out hunting or fishing, or driving along the road? Was it at night? What did it look like to you?

      … Susan (CryptoVille)

  3. Let me tell as a Louisiana native what a rougarou is, it’s a shapeshifter of immense power, it’s not related to the wendigo as it has nothing to do with simple cannibalism nor is it an outright evil creature, it’s a were creature that can take on different were forms, usually wolves, dogs, pigs, or gators, sometimes its depicted as a punisher of sinners, a curse, and even sometimes a natural born ability. Just as with many monsters there’s many different forms and variations just depends on what town or region you’re in.

  4. Though i do believe them to possibly be real it’s certainly not bigfoot, though the honey island swamp monster could possibly be one

  5. It’s also important to note that rugaru and rougarou are more likey two different species if they are real

    • Ashton, I really appreciate you sharing your perspective with us. Especially as you live right down in Louisiana – you have a front row seat, kind of!

      Thank you for visiting CryptoVille! … Susan (CryptoVille)

  6. I’m currently writing a comic based on cryptids and I was looking to use a Rugaru as one of the characters in the story. I have done some research and came across a legend that there is a tribe of Rugaru living in North Dakota near Devil’s Lake. Just curious if you’ve heard of these intrepid cryptids living that far up north. I want my story to be as accurate as possible and I chose Devil’s Lake because of the odd occurrences there. If the Rugaru are not anywhere in that area then i may need to switch settings! Thanks for reading!

    • Hi Ray! I’m intrigued by this possibility of a Rougarou living in North Dakota. I’m looking into it and will put up a new article by tomorrow at the latest.

      Thanks for bringing this to my attention! I wish you all the best with your new cryptid comic too!

      Thanks for visiting CryptoVille! … Susan (CryptoVille)

  7. dogman rougarou loup garou bigfoot.
    i live in deep east tx and grew up with all this and my family’s sightings and stories.
    i have never been one to belive in all this but who am i to say that they are real or not.
    the fact is is that most people lie about these crytids some where in all of these stories is some truth.

    • Hi James,

      I know what you mean – it seems that way with most cryptids. Some people are lying/hoaxing, but there are so many accounts of people seeing these things that you have to believe there is some truth in it somewhere. It’s a frustrating journey, but at least with Bigfoot, I believe we’re getting some good evidence thanks to the efforts of some really good and seasoned researchers.

      I don’t think we’re anywhere near that for the rougarou, et. al, though. Maybe one day!

      Thank you for visiting CryptoVille!

      Susan (CryptoVille)

  8. I believe that the Rougarou is a type of negative energy or “spirite” that effects/processes people and animals to go into a rage type state attacking anything in sight. I wouldn’t count out that a big foot might be there, but werewolves are not well known to be the best of swimmers. The only thing that it could be closely related to is a windego. Because there have been sightings that this creature/being has been seen is many different environments then disappearing with out a sight. Bring it to a creature of biological and supernatural if you believe in that kinda stuff.
    Check out the History channel short series “Cryptid beast of the swamp”

    • Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Lone Wolf. You mention that you think it’s a type of negative energy or sprite, but then you mention a supernatural aspect “if you believe in that kinda stuff.” But surely a sprite or negative energy would put the rougarou in the supernatural realm, right?

      Thank you for visiting Cryptoville! … Susan (CryptoVille)

  9. I lived in Louisiana for a few years in a woody back area 2 hours from a town and further from what most call a town and I ran into something while I was rabbit hunting one night stood about 6 or 7 foot tall (I’m 6foot 4 and was at the time the same height) it had red eyes and an evil growl I looked like the worlds biggest black bear at first as it was on all fours but then it stood up and bum rushed me I dropped my squirrel gun and pulled out a pistol I fired 7 rounds into it and it fell back screamed an unearthly scream that terrifies me to today and ran off on two legs I soon after moved to a woody back area in east Texas a out the same deal an hour and a half from a town and nearly 2 and a half from a hospital and the thing followed me I see it fairly often but only at night I watched it walk one night in my field it has a bit of a limp now (I assume from me shooting it) and doesnt really bother me hell of anything I think i gained its respect I’ve watched it kill a feral hog that was bothering my land and a coyote that was killing chickens I dont know if it has any plans for me but I do know i am still scared of it it has caused me no less than two wrecks on the back road by my house and a friend even witnessed it I have since moved to hallsville Texas just two weeks ago and plan to use the old house as a hunting lodge I havent seen it since the move but a neighbor (guy pays me rent to live about 75 yards from the house in a field) said he heard a loud sound and saw what looked like a bear rip my door off its hinges and go inside says he tore it up pretty good I plan to go tomorrow to check on the house and see what happened my neighbor had heard this story before and says he is kind of nervous now it may be angry I left for a city where it cant hide he thinks it may go for him next I dont know but I’ve seen it in multiple forms the large bear like one a huge cat like one and a vaugly humanoid one that terrifies me the most because it looks like a demon straight from hell

    • Hunter – what a CHILLING tale!! I don’t know how you can be brave enough to keep going out into the woods, especially at night! That’s very interesting what you said about it being demonic. Unfortunately a lot of people in the past (and even now) have dealt in the black arts, and from what I’ve read, they always seem to go out into the woods at night. God only knows what they might have conjured.

      I hope you are safer in your new home, and that that other guy in the field gets out to a safer place too. Please keep us informed of any more sightings and encounters. It’s a terrifying read, but super interesting.

      Thank you for visiting CryptoVille! … Susan (CryptoVille)

  10. You should check out the legend of Roche Percee, Saskatchewan Canada. I am a citizen of the small community and have always felt unsettled living there.

  11. Hi, I’m from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and have lived here my entire life. I have an intense interest in our unique supernatural history, with the blending of Cajun, Creole, French, Haitian, Spanish, British, Dutch, and West African cultures and traditions. I’ve traveled to Lafayette New Orleans many times, visited the cemeteries, been inside a real magick shoppe, toured The Myrtles plantation, spoken to countless tour guides. The loup-garou is a creature of particular interest to me because of its association with the famous Louisiana painter George Rodrigue. He is famous for his kitschy, colorful depictions of Louisiana life and his iconic “Blue Dog” portraits. (If you have ever seen these paintings, you know exactly which ones I’m talking about.) Apparently, the origin of this happy little dog was actually a series of ghostly, ethereal paintings of a blue-white dog with red eyes, inspired by tales the artist was told as a child. This was my introduction to the loup-garou.

    In my time researching this creature and talking to people about it, there are several shared features to each of the stories, but they still contradict with some of what you have recorded here. The versions of the tale I’ve heard from others (as first-hand and second-hand accounts), do not involve a tall or human-like figure at all. The only shared features are the wolf-like image and the red eyes. Therefore it’s my belief that the creature you have profiled on this page is at least 2 different cryptids from the area, if not 3 or more.

    One is the loup-garou and the other is the Honey Island Swamp Monster. I believe another user mentioned this cryptid to you. It is pretty much the South Louisiana great ape story. The accounts offered on this page about meat-eating or flesh-eating, upright, human-like figures bare no resemblance at all to the stories of the loup-garou of which I am familiar.

    Your mention of the wendigo also seems to indicate an overlap of mythologies. As someone who has studied Creole legends, Native Louisiana legends, and local folklore, I have never heard anyone conflate the Wendigo with the loup-garou OR our great ape. We know what the Wendigo is and they are not the same thing.

    Only two stories in the comments rang true for me. One person mentioned childhood stories along the lines of “come home before dark or the loup-garou will get you.” This is the most common version of the story I have heard. This is the way Creole-born painter George Rodrigue knew of the loup-garou. It’s even mentioned in this article under the oral history section! This version of the story is pretty much just a deep-woods, South Louisiana version of the boogeyman. There ARE implications about getting children to behave, or keeping 16th century French kids from getting eaten by wolves, or even keeping young Creole kids from being attacked by bears, etc. However, I’d like to point out the very important common elements in many of those cautionary tales: the woods, the return to safety, and the darkness.

    Now this is where the two versions split, and I believe what is being referred to as the “loup-garou” or “rougarou” is actually two different things. One of these is a phenomenon, a set of supernatural, mystical, cult-based, religious-based, or ritual-based occurrences. The other is the actual cryptid creature. I’ll give you my stories about the creature first, since those are more straightforward. I have two stand-out accounts that immediately came to mind when reading this article. First is a basic story I have heard, from one particular girl, but it stands out because I have heard this story from several people, over and over, with little variation.

    The story goes that she was walking home one evening along the edge of the woods. (Here we already have the important elements: the woods, returning home, and darkness. These stories always take place at dust or during the night.) As she was walking, she began to notice a figure in the woods. It was large and dark, covered in hair. (Here we have our hairy beast of the woods.) It appeared to be a giant black dog, maybe a wolf. And it was keeping pace with her. At first she just saw a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye and got a bad feeling. Then when she hurried her pace, she noticed the thing quickened its pace as well. If she slowed for a moment, it waited up and kept trained on her movement. (The girl I spoke to did not see the creature’s eyes, but this is usually where people describe the animal turning its bright red eyes on them.) She was terrified and broke out into a run and did not stop running until she got home. The entire time she said she could hear the creature stalking her, following her, making terrifying noises. (Now what’s interesting is the story always ends with the person getting back to home or safety, experiencing extreme terror as soon as they encounter the creature, being compelled to run when they see it, and the creature’s noisy and close pursuit of the person until the very end.)

    This may sound very basic, but I have heard some version of this story THROUGHOUT Southern Louisiana. I’ve heard it from women, from men, from teenagers, from old ladies and an old man, from journalists and electricians, from hunters and teachers. There is always a large, dark canine figure, like a dog or wolf but much larger in size. It is always black or dark gray in color. If the person sees its eyes, they are inevitably red and stare straight at the person. They always feel a sense of immediate dread once they are aware of the creature’s presence. They always take off running in a sort of panic. They are always pursued to the last moment in a way they are able to see, hear or feel, or at least the person perceives that the animal was right on their heels. But the story always ends with them reaching safety.

    Now there’s a couple ways to look at these stories. One is that someone saw a damn fox or wolf or dog and it tracked them and they panicked and ran like any good animal with a fight-or-flight response would do. And obviously all the stories would end up with the person getting home or getting to their vehicle safely or else we wouldn’t hear the story… right? But we DON’T have stories about attacks from giant dogs in the woods, from foxes, or from wolves. Why not? Well imagine that you live in Louisiana woodlands or swamps throughout history, imagine living in 16th and 17th century France, living in pre-Colonial Haiti – these places have real dangers, fierce animals, harsh environments, dangerous landscapes. It becomes imperative that you keep your children safe from harm, even when they can’t understand the bad things that could happen to them. So you do what any good parent would do and you make up a boogeyman. You tell your kids that they have to come straight home, make it home before dark, and stay away from the edges of the woods. This legend conveys all of that.

    So what is happening here? One conclusion I have is that these phenomena are purely psychological: the person experiencing the event has heard of or grown up around stories of the loup-garou, subconsciously on the lookout for a large black dog (a very common figure of fear for several of our cultures, for several different reasons, meaning this programming goes very, very deep in the human psyche). Add to that our instinctual ability to pick up on danger around us and our intellectual inability to understand what our senses are perceiving. It seems to me that in each of these cases, the person saw or perceived some sort of danger – whether that was movement out of the corner of their eye, strange noises or growling, or even the hairs on their arm bristling – on some level they knew they were not safe, and their instincts kicked in. That’s when the brain goes *snap* and thinks “Oh shit, it’s a loup-garou!” and allows your automatic nervous system to take over. Then you can block out all distraction and run faster until you reach safety. The reality OR perception of a threat becomes irrelevant, because the person has already engaged their ‘flight’ mode. One could chalk the creatures’ avid pursuit of their target up until the very end as a terrifying supernatural impulse, or we could see it as the heightened sense of grandiose danger that comes with a state of panic, or even heightened senses of the body during stress allowing for the person to more easily pick up on real sounds that would otherwise be less frightening. So is this whole “loup-garou” thing just a bunch of people freaking out and bolting because they grew up on stories of a furry bogeyman in the woods? I’m not so sure.

    If you’ll stick with me, I do have one more account to share. (And I know this “comment” has already become a thesis, but I find this subject SO fascinating and this is a story that was shared with me very recently in fact, making me wonder if it’s all a coincidence that people are talking about the loup-garou again.) As in many cases of oral history and legends, this story was told to me by a friend who heard it from another person (my second-hand account story). I have spoken to people who have seen what they think is the loup-garou and spoken to people who know someone who has seen the loup-garou, but I have never seen it. (As is always the case with urban legends.) Anyway, this friend of mine is pretty reliable. He’s not one to tell tall tales or lie for attention or drama, we know each other fairly well and have known each other for a long time. He’s a young black family man who lives in a quiet neighborhood in the south side of Baton Rouge. He goes hunting sometimes with his family and friends when he has days off. I didn’t really think of him as an outdoorsman, but this is pretty common here in South Louisiana; you get a few days in the fall, you go into the woods and have some beers with the guys and try to shoot a few deer to turn into a stew or jerky. There’s a place outside of town they hunt and a friend of his says he had an encounter there with the loup-garou.

    What’s interesting about this story is that it both differs from the other versions I talked about, and it has many of the same elements as well. This wasn’t some young person walking home from school, or a kid hurrying on after dark. This was an older man, old enough to be an uncle or grandfather to me or my friend and we’re in our 30s. So you’re talking about an adult in his late 50s to mid-60s with lots of hunting experience. This night he was alone, for whatever ungodly reason, and was making his way out to the deer stand in the darkness. He heard noises rustling in the woods around him and knew from experience that the sounds were not the sounds of any animal from the area. My friend recounted multiple times how his friend was certain the sounds were not from any animal he knew, going down the list of animals he was familiar with, crossing them all off. He said his friend even recalled in that moment how he’d heard some unfamiliar noises in the woods on hunting trips before, but he had always had other people with him. He took the safety off his rifle and gripped it tightly in his hands as he decided to abandon his hunting plans and return back to his parked truck. I remember vividly my friend describing the death grip this guy had on his gun, the absolute terror he experienced, which so reminded me of the story another user shared where he dropped his rifle and took his pistol out, removing the safety and gripping it tightly. Like they might be attacked at any moment. Like a very real sensation of danger experienced by a trained individual. Eventually he was making a flat out run for his truck as the sounds pursued him through the woods. When he finally reached the sanctuary of his vehicle and got inside, the man risked pointing his light back at the creature that had been chasing him. It was the loup-garou.

    My friend pronounced it “rougarou” but I knew exactly what creature he was talking about. I asked, “What did the thing look like?” And my friend said, “Exactly how they say.” I wanted to verify the basic details at least, so I said, “Huge? And dark? With bright red eyes?” And immediately he said, “Oh yeah, he said the eyes was terrible!” He recounted his friend’s words: “Now I’m a grown man but.. I sh*tted myself.” Now it may seem funny, but this is what made me believe the story was true. What would make someone have a reaction so violent, so fundamentally basic and instinctual, that they actually let loose their bowels in fright? It’s unheard of! And if the motivating factor in these urban legends is to get a little glamour or attention in your life, I can’t imagine a grown man in his 50s or 60s willfully admitting to his family and community that he involuntarily shit himself because he saw the boogeyman in the woods. He never hunts alone anymore, says my friend, and I believe him. So what’s going on here? What I find interesting is that, despite the differences in the details – the age gap, the different circumstances, the different locations – there are still the same common elements from the other South Louisiana loup-garou tales: the woods, returning to safety, and darkness.

    While most versions of the experience tell of running home, trying to make it inside the door before the monster nipping at your heels can catch you, sometimes the story takes place deep inside the woods, and drives the frightened person out of the dangerous area and to a place of relative safety. In the case of the story above, this was the locked truck of his friend’s that was parked outside of the deep woods. In many cases the person is running to their car or somewhere “safe” and the tale ends when they reach it. Even the description of feeling fear once instincts indicate a nearby danger is the same. Did this hunter pick up on some sound or threat and run to safety based on instinct, just as the young people in so many other occasions might have? I don’t know. Maybe it’s possible an old, drunk Southerner got scared in the woods alone at night and imagined something that wasn’t there or exaggerated the danger of a creature that was merely corporeal. Maybe he heard a big dog and when he finally saw one for real, confirming the perceived threat, his mind blew the event out of proportion due to an elevated state of fear. Maybe he voided his bowels because he was actually that scared, or because the reaction was so physical and illogical, or just because he was some liquored-up old Cajun. I don’t know. But the chills I got in my body when my friend told me the story were real. The buzzing skin and lifted hairs on my wrists were real. My eyes scanned the darkness and the tree tops when he spoke.

    There is a real and deep programming inside of us that dictates how we react to fear, how we react to perceived threats or actual dangers. Our bodies cannot always distinguish what is real or what is not because we are operating on instinct alone and all functions seem to bypass our logical mind altogether, forming impressions and sensations that we cannot consciously understand.

    So do I think the loup-garou is just a psychological phenomenon? Certainly not. It may be one of the more scientific theories, besides the idea that these are collections of stories about real animals that simply have not been classified. Maybe the loup-garou is just a giant swamp wolf, descended from giant dire wolves and running around our woods on the edges of human civilization. Maybe there are great apes undiscovered in the deep swamp, terrifying sportsman when they cross territories. Who knows? My personal belief is that the loup-garou is real, something distinct and wolf-like, living or inhabiting the woods of South Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi, which hunts at dusk and is active at night. I believe that this may be a real animal with great tracking abilities which humans sometimes encounter and are therefore tracked by for a period of time.

    But the persistent fear, the visceral reactions, the common elements, the childhood connotations of boogeymen, just brings me back to wondering – is that all there is? My final theory is that there is something supernatural happening here, but perhaps not as straightforward as a demon or werewolf or even shapeshifter. When you consider the psychological implications of thousands of years of fear, centuries of instinctual programming about animals and dangers, the harsh environments of the New World, the methods of defense developed by the Haitians attempting to preserve their Voodoo traditions in the midst of Catholic conversion, the rich history of magical forces and strong magic users in this area… it doesn’t become so difficult to imagine that there is something more to the stories of the loup-garou, whether it be in his form as the ape-man, the big black dog, or the wolf of the woods. Many strange things have happened here in Louisiana over the years, and I can’t imagine that we haven’t let loose any little spirits or demons or ghosts or any other number of things upon the Earth and lands around us. There may be things that we brought here from France, or things that were already here that were awoken with our presence, things deeper in the woods than anyone usually goes. All I know is that, these feeling of “frissons” as the quoted author describes them, are very universal.

    So there you have it. I think the loup-garou you have profiled here is a combination of stories about different creatures, cryptids, legends, and phenomenon. 1) The giant wolf that stalks the woods. 2) The hairy ape-man of the swamps. 3) The cursed cannibal Wendigo. 4) The curse/phenomenon of the werewolf. 5) Multiple shapeshifter stories, which are common in this area and retain a different set of common elements to their stories. [See the commenter above with his account of an animal pursuing him from location to location.] 6) Descriptions of encounters with magic or ritual or religious rites, esp. Haitian Voodoo. 7) Encounters with real animals that have been hyped by fear and exaggerated by oral tradition. [ie the “big fish” theory or the Flatwoods Monster]. 8) Old wives tales/cautionary folk tales that have been modified or exaggerated by oral tradition, possibly going back as far as the 16th Century and still being handed down orally in South Louisiana to this day. 9) Supernatural phenomena which are not in fact linked in any way, but describe sets of common supernatural occurences and are then falsely attributed to a single common entity or origin. Or 10) Complete and utter fabrications from people swayed by the drama of a great story. It’s no wonder you can’t make heads or tails of this legend! Anyway, thanks for listening if you’ve stuck with me this far and I hope I was able to shed a little bit of light on how we see the loup-garou here in Louisiana. Whatever this thing is, the tradition of these tales are still alive and well down here in Baton Rouge!

    • Hi Andrea! Thank you for sharing all this wonderful information! I’m at work at the moment, but will read it all this evening. Looking forward to it! 🙂

      Thank you for visiting CryptoVille!

      …. Susan (CryptoVille)

    • Hi Andrea! I just had some time to sit and enjoy your commentary on the Loup Garou/Rougarou legend/creature. I really enjoyed reading your witness accounts and how the locals of Louisiana view the creature(s). It certainly is a complicated situation and given how tough it is to pin down, I don’t have much hope of ever getting some real proof (e.g., DNA) to help identify whatever the heck people are seeing and experiencing.

      It certainly is mysterious and frightening! I could deal with an animal, scary or not, much more easily than the possibility of it being something demonic/supernatural. The rampant occult practices of that area frighten me as much as these terrifying creatures. Perhaps more so.

      Well, if you hear any more accounts please come back and share with us. It’s a fascinating topic and one that clearly isn’t well understood around the cryptid world. You’re doing a great job keeping up with your research into this complicated topic!!

      Thanks again for visiting CryptoVille! … Susan (CryptoVille)

  12. Thanks for your kind words! Glad you got to read my long “novel” of a comment!! LOL

    I will definitely come back & share if I hear anything new!

  13. I just read your article on the Rougarou of South Louisiana. Not bad. You got some things right and while we are all entitled to our own opinions…..From my experience I have to agree with the notion that the Rougarou is a shape-shifter. And yes, it could be someone we know. It exists in human form by day and depending on certain conditions, morphs into a Rougarou at night. It HATES ths condition but can’t do anything about it. The Rougarou has a BAD Temper, even when it is in the human form. But the curse is on Him…..How did he get this way? God only knows. I experienced a Violent Assault by what I thought was a person but later described (in writing years later) as “a werewolf about to bite my head off”! This happened in 2012 and I suffered symptoms of Complex PTSD from it. It began as someone I thought I knew walking calmly up to talk to me…. and turned into an event that I’ll never forget! It started with a question from him , one there was no answer for. (It wasn’t there for answers or to ask me anything, and didnt matter what I would have said anyway…. It needed a trigger! As soon as I began to talk, this person/beast went crap stomping, shit flying, hyper velocity,
    (expletive) berserk! I mean completely out of his mnd and out of bodily control! He stood up tall, all stretched up next to me and turning away to hide his eyes as if not to let me see what was happening, with his head looking away to the distance toward the west and opened his mouth Bigger Than I Ever Saw Any Human Open it’s Mouth and let out a yell/growl/moan! Blasting out words that didn’t make sense with a Force SO Powerful that it Defied All Sensible Comprehension! A SUPER LOUD Moaning kind of growl began with wordlike sounds barking out while it was in the throws of a conniption fit that looked Very Painful! This Son of a Bitch got at least 6 inches taller and his clothes got tight and his chest expanded to iabout twice it’s normal size while it inhaled enough air to blow down a water tower! His hands stuck out at his sides with his fingers stretched straightout except for the the digits with the fingernails that turned down. His eyes got way bigger and turned from a light ice blue-gray to brighter more yellow-green with pinpoint pupls. (And I just got a glimpse of him). Scary Scary Shit I Mean To Tell You! The volume of his Grrrrowl Scream Howl started like a little “pop” in my ears followed by an instant of silence then It Got Nuclear! It was louder than any sound Ive ever heard from any kind of turbine or machine, let alone a human… before or since! I told someone he could be in the guiness book of world records for the loudest human voice, easy! But now that I think about it, that would give him away. But was this guy human?? I didn’t think about any other possibility at the time but it was unhuman! It was Freaking Supersonic! And the sound pressure made the surrounding area distort visually to me while it was going on! It was like being inside a sonic boom for a second or two! It busted my left ear drum and both of my ears rang for weeks and months after. What happened next was (expletive) horrible. My fight or flight response was activated but I could do neither one. I scanned the ground around me for a weapon, a branch or a piece of 2×4 or something, anything to clobber him with! I was going to part this dudes hair with a stick or whatever I could find!.But there was nothing. I was stuck in a timeless disability, between fight or flight and couldn’t move! Then my body (or my brain) secreted some kind of drug, or harmone or something like a megadose of dopamine or seratonin or whateve it did and my whole body just went dead f’n calm….. But whatever this beast was, it looked like it began to transform but because of something that wasn’t just right, it couldn’t ….probably because the sun was coming up over the trees to the east. I don’t know but the sun was beginning to shine a little. (Later after I thought about it more, I’m glad that I didn’t even try to defend myself because nothing I could have done would have hurt this thing). After about what seemed to be a minute (but it was like time stood still while this was happening)…He shrunk back to normal size, regained his composure and calmed down in just a second or two and then I was able to walk away. I didn’t see any extra hair grow or long fangs or any other kind of turning into a Werewolf other than what I just stated but the whole thing was SURREAL! Ridiculous!? Yeah, I know that sounds impossible go believe but that’s what happened. What’s worse is, it happened again! Same person, same place, same story but about a month later. I was in shock from these encounters, but I couldn’t do anything about it. (What Be Brother Paul Smoking These Days)…Right? But If you complain about it and say what I just wrote about (All True) people will think you’re crazy and won’t take you seriously…I know that. So, even though I complained about it (it happened while I was at work) I had to tone it down a lot, and so even though my complaint was taken into consideration, nothing was done about it tto help me in any way. Talk about a Hostile Work Environment On Steroids… ..You have no idea! The PTSD resulting from that and having to continue to work with this same “creature” home wild, a shape-shifting maniac, who looked like a human, dressed well, had NO compassion for anything good or less for good people, (has no virtues, doesn’t understand what that is, it can’t ) has NO skills of his own, hides his “condition” (to put it mildly) by covering up with a nice three piece suit, plays the part, continues to deceive and pretends his way around , slipping by undiscovered to this day. My mind really became obsessed with thoughts of killing him for years. Seriously! I had to seek help from mental health professionals for the next year and a half after I left that place to keep from going nuts about it! I didn’t tell them the whole story or the details of these ecperiences (or my sighting in my best rifle to hit bottle caps at a hundred yards, making a silencer for it, modifying lineman’s pole climbing spikes with longer and sharper spikes so I could climb any tree with them….and I was just about to start looking for the right tree to stalk this maniac) because they would have either really laughed or had me locked up! I was serious about killing this bastard! When the psychiatrist asked why I wanted to kill this person…. All I could say was that they needed killing…. I even looked up the definition of murder in a Catholic Bible so I could prepare for the inevitable . (Murder: The killing of an innocent person). Figured I was good to go cause this a**hole wasn’t innocent. And I wasnt worried about prison or death, I was only worried about what comes after. She prescribed a medication for PTSD and OCD which worked a little, but it was only time and good sense that helped me get that off of my mind. I still think about it sometimes…. The classic descriptions and stories about Werewolves and the Rougarou (they’re the same thing), are so, so very true. It’s bizarre and at the same time amazing because I never believed in anything like that before. The fact that stories, myths and legends are getting harder and harder to believe as time goes on, the population increase, the fact that they assimilate with the local culture well makes it all the better for them. There was no Rougarou in South Louisiana before the Acadiennes arrived. And this one damned sure came from the old country. And so I did so I did a little research/digging into his bloodline. And I think at least his ancestors came from south central Europe’s Alsace Lauraine near the Swiss Alps. There was considerable hinting down of Werewolves, Vampires and related humanlike people who had the curse of those conditions. Then probably after being hunted to the point of desperation, they hid out I’m the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains before escaping to Canada via an ocean going ship along with the French people who fled Europe for one reason or the other and settled in Quebec, later migrating down to South Louisiana during the Grande Derangement. That’s all I have to say except that the Rougarou IS still alive and living in places like Lafayette, Lake Charles, New Orleans, New Iberia, Abbeville, Houma, Thibodeaux….Anywhere it can live without working, (they are still without skill or talent other than pretending to be what they ate not, usually if not always at the expense of others), in a city or at least a well populated area where they can blend in, undetected. It has a lust for blood and an appetite for debauchery. So, don’t go into the deep woods alone at night during a full moon if you don’t want the Rougarou to get you because…. It can!

    • WOW Astropelago – that is some account!! Very scary, to say the least. From what you said it sounds to me like there is a demonic aspect to these creatures (or at least some of them), hence the supernatural ability to shape shift, which I still don’t think is possible for a regular human.

      I think your last words of advice are the best – we’d all do well to stay out of the woods, especially at night and during a full moon!

      Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, and thank you for visiting CryptoVille! … Susan (CryptoVille)

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