April 1765

Late spring snow in the land of the Beast

The Beast butchered several children during Holy Week, the days leading up to Easter. A total of six perished in April, out of 17 attacks. The d’Ennevals hunted, but with no results, stymied by hail and snow. And this month, for the first time, the Beast was seen in the company of another animal.

A large hunt involving 20 communities was held April 21, a surprisingly (to district administrator Lafont) similar strategy to that of Duhamel. The result: a sword-armed teenager chanced upon the Beast, but it ran off as he shouted for help. A wolf-stalk on the 23rd disbanded after the Beast was seen elsewhere. A small she-wolf was then killed. The month ended with more inclement weather and another hunt made up of participants from 56 parishes. Again, it was a nonsuccess.

Meeting in Mende

March 2014 in Mende, 249 years later

Representatives from the various Estates of the Gévaudan met for their annual meeting in Mende on March 26, 1765, to be led by the diocese's bishop. This year’s discussions would not focus on the usual topics concerning local communities, economies, and so on, but would understandably focus on the predations of the Beast. Lafont presented an action plan, which included a cautious arming of the peasantry, the hiring of poachers, the guarding of livestock in common areas, and allowing a local noble, count Morangiès, son of the influential marquis Morangiès, to to coordinate large groups of guards in locales frequented by the Beast. Lafont forwarded his proposals to his superior, Saint-Priest, intendant of Languedoc, but ultimately, the authorities replaced first hunter Captain Duhamel with the d’Ennevals, a renowned father/son duo of wolf-hunters from the French province of Normandy more than two hundred miles to the north. The d'Ennevals, given their own opportunity to perform at large, asked for the speedy reporting of Beast attacks and for bodies to be left in place until the hunters arrived.

Another force of nature

La Bessière, France, parish of Saint-Alban, March 13, 1765. 

Jeanne, the femme Jouve, wife of tenant farmer Pierre Jouve, was in the garden beside their house with three of her six children, when the Beast suddenly appeared and attacked, first her daughter, who was holding her baby brother, then her six-year-old son. Incredibly, Jeanne fought back, punching and pushing at the creature. The Beast growled and clawed at Jeanne’s arms and head, ripping out tufts of hair. It then seized the six-year-old boy in its jaws and carried him away. Jeanne somehow picked herself up and went after them. The Beast was strong, but the weight of the boy slowed its progress. Jeanne caught up, and grabbed the creature’s tail. [Some accounts said she grabbed a foot, some that she “seized La Bête in the place she judged to be the most sensitive” (Pourcher).] The Beast dropped the boy and howled, spinning toward the mother, clawing her once more.  Retrieving its prey, the creature made for a hole in a hedge before them, evidently striving for the open country beyond. Jeanne cried for help. Two older sons appeared with the family dog. Jeanne pointed to the departing Beast. The dog gave chase, dashed up to the creature, and threw La Bête to the ground. The six-year-old fell to one side. Enraged, the Beast wheeled and body-slammed the dog, throwing it head over heels. Jeanne’s older son rushed to aid his blood-soaked mother. The younger, brandishing a spear, joined the dog in combat and stabbed the Beast in its haunches. And at last, the Beast had had enough. It streaked away without its prize. 

Despite Jeanne’s efforts, the little boy died of massive wounds three days later. But the mother’s courage was lauded throughout France. King Louis XV would award her 300 livres, or pounds, for her bravery. Trophime Lafont, brother of Étienne, would deliver the reward to the grieving Jeanne on April 2.

February 9 horror

Two days later, a stunned parishioner from Le Malzieu beheld the Beast on the move, a human head in it jaws. It had just slain 12-year-old Marie-Jeanne Rousset. Its spoils were recovered by outraged neighbors. The poor girl’s body was used by Duhamel as bait with no result and she was buried. Hunts continued over the next two days; they were fruitless.

The February 7 hunt

On Mont Mouchet, in the country of the Beast

A complex hunt involving an incredible 12,000 participants was slated for February 7, 1765. Contingents of seigneurs (nobles), paysans (peasants), outlanders, and dragoons gathered in fog and falling snow in various districts of the region, hoping to surround and hem in the creature. Some received copies of a “composite sketch” of the public enemy based on a drawing made by Captain Duhamel himself after an interview with an attack survivor. 

The Beast was observed in Prunières that morning, and hunters trailed it to the river Truyère. Residents of nearby Le Malzieu had been instructed to guard the opposite bank, but, in protest of Duhamel’s pushy ways, the townsfolk were no-shows. (Their officials later received a royal reprimand.) And so La Bête paddled across and loped away. The Prunières party followed, braving the benumbing water and tracking the animal in the snow until it evanesced into a stand of timber.