The Rougarou: Louisiana’s Werewolf.

 

Hey Everyone. Todd here with Paranomaly.

Way back in the Bayou out in the thick, fog-covered swampland's is where you’ll find the true beauty of Louisiana and perhaps even a monster or two—including the legendary beast called the Rougarou.

The Rougarou is as Infamous as Bigfoot and just as elusivet, but that doesn't stop the lore of this creature spreading from generation to generation. 

The history of the Rougarou is centuries-old and has many different origins, but the earliest mention of the infamous, mythical Louisiana werewolf comes from medieval France.

Now back in the 16th century, they’d regularly blame various crimes on loup-garous.

The villagers would capture people they believed to be a loup-garou and then hold a public trial. Usually they’d find someone in the woods or someone in the village who was just “acting strange.” 

The court would ask the public if they believed the accused to be a loup-garou, and usually the public agreed (mainly for fear that they’d be outed as a witch or a loup-garou themselves).

These loup-garous became a fear for many people in the country, leading to them earning their place in legends passed down to children.

There was also a story that was told to kids that if they didn’t do what their parents asked, a loup-garou would come and steal them away in the middle of the night.

When many of the French migrated to Canada and the southern United States, they took the legend of the loup-garou with them.

Since the migration, many of the legends began to change to match the times and the dialect. Since Cajun dialect is a mix of French and English and well-known for changing words completely to roll off the tongue easier, the name of the beast changed from loup-garou to Rougarou.

In the swamps within the Greater New Orleans area is where this beast has come to live. He might even be neighbors with the Honey Island Swamp Monster, which is also known as Louisiana’s “Bigfoot of the swamp.” 

Cajun legend says that the Rougarou is under a 101-day curse, unless the affected person can transfer the curse to another human being. Their curse usually comes from a local witch, sometimes a Voodoo priestess.

It is said that you can protect yourself against the Rougarou by laying 13 small objects by your doors. 

The Rougarou will see the 13 objects, try to count them, and be unable to count them all. This will perplex it, and it will keep recounting until the sun comes up and it must flee. 

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. 

What are your thoughts about Louisiana's Rougarou?

Let us know in the comments below and as always thank you for listening.