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I am fortunate, Never had a wild animal come after me outdoors. Only seen them in zoos and the like.
We do have wildlife out here though, Underground in the NYC subways.
One of the scariest things I've ever experienced was a tiger STALKING me... at the zoo. Her large enclosure allowed people to view her from all sides, in a natural setting and on one side there was a viewing platform. As I walked to the platform she crouched and stalked me, and when I caught on I focused on her face and I COULDN'T MOVE. My heart was pounding as she charged. Even though I knew in my head I was completely safe, I sure didn't feel it...
A species of wolf that was common in stone age Europe and Asia. Actually a tad smaller in height from a modern timber wolf...heavier bodied tho...with shorter stouter back legs and slightly taller front. They were common to North Am as well. La Brea is full of them.
Pleistocene mammals that survived and became the beasts of lore.
That is an interesting possibility... after all, the Earth is a big place. Quite a few tribes and remote groups of people have stories about creatures that either aren't known to science, or were not known to science for a long time - like the Coelacanth fish, or giant squids, or polar bears (polar bear legends went back to ancient times, but weren't confirmed by Europeans until much later).
And you're right - in the mid-1700's, France only had around 25 million people in an area the size of Texas (compared to over 63 million today) with many of them concentrated in the north of the country around Paris and the coasts. The area where these attacks took place is far in the south of France, and was about the size of Delaware, and even today it only has around 70,000 people. Much of the countryside in that area looks like this:
(Lozère Department, southern France, from Wikipedia)
Basically, hilltops and highlands descending into gorges and forested valleys, all of which was sparsely-populated. So it certainly seems possible that "ancient" animals might have persisted in a landscape like that for quite a while.
I keep coming back to this...it rouses my imagination...and the fascination with prehistoric animals i had as a kid and still have. IF the attacks in France were done by an animal of tbe type we are discussing ..imho it/they were more likely wanderers rather than residents. Cruised in from wherever...looking for food. More than likely ths people attacked were the first humans these/ this animal may have seen. The critter couldnt believe his good luck finding such easy prey. Oh...the what if factor is huge here. Fun...but huge.
Wolves rarely go after human prey unless there are extraordinary circumstances. Starving, wounded or rabid wolves are usually the ones that are problematic. Also, she wolves protecting their litter.
I can't say what happened back in the time period that you referenced (i'm old but not THAT old) I would be willing to bet that it was a mixture of actual wolf attacks, hysteria and urban legend gone wild.
Then again, ya just never know..................
Uhh...no. Wolves will go after human prey if the opportunity presents itself....they don't have to be starving, or injured, or old or any other old wives tales. True if food is plenty, they will be less aggressive, but, if hunting is not allowed, wolves HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR to slowest weakest animal in the world.
Wolves are alpha predators....they are kings of the outdoors and KILLING, eating and procreating are what they are built for. They are an amazing predator, cunning, fast, quick,aggressive and organized.....there is EVERY reason to fear them
It's interesting how many fantasy creatures were real at on time or another in history. (or will be, should genetic manipulation become more common). !
I read on theonering.net years ago that Peter Jackson based his warg design on this extinct hyena or one like it (though the warg was much larger):
The Beast of Gevauden was a tortured lion in spiky armor at the beck and call of a demented aristocrat's whistle who was using the beast in a conspiracy against the French Revolution. Or something like that. Great movie, but to this day the ending makes absolutely no sense to me at all.
The Beast of Gevauden was a tortured lion in spiky armor at the beck and call of a demented aristocrat's whistle who was using the beast in a conspiracy against the French Revolution. Or something like that. Great movie, but to this day the ending makes absolutely no sense to me at all.
Actually, the movie was titled "Brotherhood of the Wolf". I enjoyed it very much, though you definitely have to suspend your disbelief to do so. 72% on Rotten Tomatoes ... *very* loosely based on the Beast of Gevaudan legend.
Actually, the movie was titled "Brotherhood of the Wolf". I enjoyed it very much, though you definitely have to suspend your disbelief to do so. 72% on Rotten Tomatoes ... *very* loosely based on the Beast of Gevaudan legend.
GREAT movie ... up until the last 15 minutes. Then it just turned into a video game.
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72% on Rotten Tomatoes ... *very* loosely based on the Beast of Gevaudan legend.
