The report suggests that these two encounters took place in roughly the same area. Or else you may find yourself prey to the legendary Rougarou. Louisiana Urban Legends, Monsters, and Haunted Places In this version, the Rougarou would live life as a normal person until some event occurred that triggered their condition. Across French Louisiana, it is a very common legend, and most Louisiana natives are very familiar with at least the name, if nothing else. Origins of the Rougarou lie in 16th Century medieval French Folklore. It had a face like a man and the body of an animal, said Herman Broom. Most Christians believe any spirit that is not a holy one is a demonic spirit. During this time, however, the Rougarou was called Loup-garou. I found a report from Civil War veteran Fredrick Kliebert who was walking home from a squirrel hunt when he saw what he described as a giant. Discovering the Rougarou - ArcGIS StoryMaps . I had been riding my bike through the trails in the woods that were in the back of Laplace Park. Also known as Cajun fairies, these creatures can be either good or bad depending on the circumstances. I was compelled to dig in further to see if I could find more sighting reports in the Southeast Louisiana area, if only to substantiate these other reports. The bright lights of the stars flicker in the murky licks of the waves near the towering, ominous Cypress trees. Despite the fact that it was originally a legend, there are still claimed sightings of the Rougarou to this day, though it has died off a bit in the past decade. With the head of a werewolf and the body of a man, the creature is said to prey on misbehaving children and dates back to medieval France. The only credibility I can give to these reports is that they ran in the paper. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Design a site like this with WordPress.com. Once the human is cursed, it is permanent. For the sake of anonymity this family friend will remain nameless, so I will refer to him as Mr. Nameless. The boy saw the dog turn into a man, then ran home to tell his family. Stories of cajun folklore monsters have been passed down for decadescenturies even. 9 REAL Sightings of the Rougarou | Darkness Prevails - YouTube When the first drop of blood is drawn, the creature returns to human form and tells the attacker who it really is. After Ford's death, a grainy film reel was found in his attic that shows a large and hairy figure shuffling upright between the trees. As the name implies, it pays homage to the legendary beast. Foret is now director of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, a nonprofit that educates students, in the classroom and on field trips, about the challenges of sea level rise, climate change, and living in a coastal communityone still recovering from 2021s Hurricane Ida. Even if I didnt believe his story, I believe his demeanor when recounting it. And as the stomping grounds for the rougarou have disappeared, so have tales about the beastuntil Foret made it his mission to save both. The Rougarou Supernatural Cameo Explained, Legend of the Rougarou: The Complete Loup-garou Guide, US Ghost Adventures New Orleans Ghosts Review. There was also a story that was told to kids that if they didnt do what their parents asked, a loup-garou would come and steal them away in the middle of the night. Your email address will not be published. There is also a Native American story of the "Rugaru." The Rougarou ---- The Louisiana Swamp Monster - YouTube Required fields are marked *. Apparently, when a person changes into a Rougarou they forget how to count past 12 (probably since they only worry about midnight and the moon at this point). I had relatives that lived in Covington," Brettel said. My Encounter With a Rougarou "aka Louisiana Werewolf". The 2015 short film Atchafalaya centers around a game warden searching in a Louisiana swamp for a missing person who is hinted to have been taken by a loup-garou. The article reported the murder of a man killed because his whiskey was too good and too profitable. According to folklore, a Rougarou is a human that has been placed under a spell. Your email address will not be published. Over the last century, hurricanes, sea level rise, and problematic development projects, such as damming the Mississippi River, have caused Louisiana to lose more than 2,000 square miles of land. Well, the rougarou of the Bayou country has a pretty strong link to the werewolf of ancient times in Europe and France. This was a deep dense pine forest with rolling Knolls and the occasion small marsh(bayou). Overall, Weve seen the evolution of the werewolf become a more sophisticated, debonair character, Ancelet says. That festival is cool because it links folklore to current issues and things that people need to be aware of, Rabalais says. In an attempt to keep occupied and at home during these various phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, on a whim I decided to search out Louisiana based Bigfoot sightings. In this region; cities, towns, and neighborhoods tend to arise on the dry patches of earth that are surrounded by vast, thick, primordial swamp. In some cases, they are your loved ones coming to greet you and bring good fortune. The Rougarou is often also associated with the Skunk Ape or the Honey Island Swamp Monster, likely due to another variation of the myth that states the creature is a shapeshifter that can change forms between human and animal at will, sometimes making it seem more like a swamp Sasquatch than a werewolf. Back in the thick, fog-covered swamplands is where youll find the true beauty of Louisiana and perhaps even a monster or twoincluding the legendary beast called the Rougarou. There was a significant belief in the beast by the populace that people were put on trial and found guilty of being the fabled beast. When French settlers came to Louisiana, the story came with them. one football field of coastline was lost per hour. Their property backs up to a vast cypress swamp. Bobby Brettel grew up in New Orleans, nearly 40 miles away from the moss-tangled bayous of eastern St. Tammany Parish's Honey Island Swamp. The creature is only vaguely seen in the film with a head resembling a bear. Mr. Nameless wasnt sure what he saw, but I was convinced. Past participants have described the festival as fun, and until COVID it had managed to attract a decent crowd each year. He let his mind wander. There she saw standing next to a tree 25 feet away a creature that she described as being extremely tall and white. The Rougarou, The Louisiana Swamp Werewolf - YouTube In the swamps within the Greater New Orleans area and the Acadiana is where this beast has come to live. That these creatures are flesh and blood, but the reason they go undetected is because they are inter-dimensional beings that pop in and out of our reality. Its true! I am a journalist from Louisiana who has always been fascinated by folk lore and its cultural impact. Lurking in the woods and wetlands of southern Louisiana, according to Cajun legend, theres a ferocious monster that attacks the wayward and the wanderer. What he described to me, in my mind was a Bigfoot sighing. Jerry Major's Curious Louisiana question is more than an inquiry about a pronunciation. French and Canadian settlers as they migrated brought with them the legend of the beast to Louisiana. There are many people in Louisiana who practice magic and wish curses upon us. While most likely these stories are cautionary tales meant to keep kids from wandering into dangerous situations, it does make you think! He told himself if whatever that was jumps out at me, I can always hit the accelerator. When he got to the area where the creature crossed the road, he looked out the drivers side window but did not see anything. This terrifying creature has evolved over millenniabut never lost the need to feed. Ruston doesnt have a swamp, but if it did. These canine-humanoid shapeshifters travel between worlds using magical doors. ", This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. Louisiana Werewolf: Rougarou of the Bayou - Exemplore The story of the Letieche is Louisianas Jungle Book. THE ROUGAROU - Folklore, Myths & Legends The Rougarou life involves shapeshifting into its beast form every night, then being forced to transform back into a human at sunrise. It was getting late so I was heading back to my dads house for the evening. I suppose anything is possible, and while the Bigfoot sighting phenomena originated in the Pacific Northwest, it seems more than plausible that such a creature could exist here. If you thought voodoo was a thing of the past, think again! A long-simmering proposal to dam the Pearl River near Jackson, Miss., has prompted concerns in southeast Louisina and southwest Mississippi about how such a project would impact the lower Pearl River. They described it as a cross between a whimpering dog and human crying. Loup is French for Wolf, and Garou refers to a man that transforms into an animal. The Rougarou, Beast of the Louisiana Bayou, Gets a Makeover One man hopes to turn the wolfish cryptid into a mascot for saving the state's imperiled wetlands. The woman also reported finding hair all over the yard front steps, and porch. The friend described a chilling encounter one warm morning. All rights reserved. He has the body of a man, head of a werewolf, and sharp teeth that can seamlessly tear through flesh. One recent supposed sighting came from a woman in Harvey, Louisiana, who claimed she saw a Grunch eating one of her neighbor's dogs. The seminary student had the urge to run back to the monastery to tell someone but a thought emerged NO. Some months prior to this her entire family told her they hear a woman screaming at the top of her lungs, followed by a gurgling noise coming from the woods. The Legends Of The Rougarou In Louisiana May Send Chills Down Your Spine Since the dawn of time, people have been telling stories. The Same LObservateur article that mentioned the Laplace mans sighting near Ruddock in 1983, also makes mention of another Laplace man that had a strange encounter on top of the levee near Bayou Steel. I hunt all over america and even in Africa a couple times ive run across crap that has made me avoid entire states and run across other things that i tried to stalk and kill one of these things i tried to kill is a loup garou i lived in deep louisiana until i was 11 i know about these things your gonna need some back story for this i subscribe to the idea that they are cursed humans and will have the curse till they die like wherewolves and the loup garou may even be a wherewolf because the only time ive ever found a claim of one that i couldnt easily blow off the description was the same as a where wolf like a humanoid grizzly bear on two legs with lots of steroids that aside i was doing some hunting one night for hog and saw a huge animal walk out stood 6 or 7 feet tall on two legs couldnt make out fine details due to light but i took a shot at it after i saw enough to realize it wasnt human i shot it in the head with a 45-70 those of you who dont get that its a rifle capable of taking large game like an elephant with one shot very strong round and for those of you who are gun people ill give some specs it was a 500 grain soft lead bullet hot loaded on 72 grains of powder (that doesnt sound like much but i shoot black powder in it not smokeless and no its not a muzzle loader it shoots brass cased bullets like a normal gun) anyway i hit it in the head and it got really pissed of and started to charge from about 200 yards away i shot it again in the chest and it ran off i spent the night tracking it mind you this all happemed at about 10 i only quit when i lost blood trail and foot print trail right around daylight i went home and that night there was a story of a man whos body had been found with two large holes that resembled bullet holes but it was ruled out because there was no trace of any lead or powder and he was drained of all his blood that chalked it up to a satanic ritual now to me it sounds like i killed a loup garou but hey maybe its still out there and just really pissed off. It was late in the evening when Mr. Nameless flagged me down. He was only about 100 yards away when it crossed so a person would not of had time to get far enough to disappear into the swamp. It stands upright on two legs, and is covered in hair. I dont remember verbatim what he told me that day but the gist of that conversation has stuck in my psyche with clarity for nearly 30 years. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. According to some other accounts, the process of transferring the curse involves the willingly human drawing the blood of the Rougarou. What is a Rougarou, Exactly? - CryptoVille Enjoy these allegedly. Have you been told a different story about the Rougarou? The creature was black, hairy, and walking upright on two legs. http://www.gcbro.com/LAassumption03-12-2016.html, http://www.gcbro.com/LAlivingston0001.html, http://www.gcbro.com/LAsttammany0004.html. 4 Unique Tales of the Rougarou from Southern Louisiana - OnlyInYourState The creature in question was described by the officer as being an eight foot talk, bipedal hominid, dark hair (not fur), and massively build. Well written and well documented. However, it is unlikely you will find any real pictures of a Rougarou, if there are any, as most claims of sighting have turned out to be a hoax. I had been riding my bike through the trails in the woods that were in the back of Laplace Park. For instance, there is a legend that says placing 13 pennies at entrances you wish to protect is the way to go. The plantation's most popular (and yet to be debunked) encounter is the apparition of a young .

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