The Rougarou

Deep down Louisiana close to New Orleans, Way back up in the woods among the evergreens, you may hear stories from the locals about a creature they call the Rougarou.

The story of the Rougarou has its folklore roots in Europe and Medieval France in particular where belief in the werewolf was common place and rural communities were even in the habit of employing werewolf hunters to rid them of the unwanted murderous creatures. It is thought that these legends then followed French settlers over to the swamps of Louisiana and became rooted into local culture. Or, perhaps it was more than mere legends that followed the settlers over to the new world.

This Cajun cryptid is described as having the head of a wolf and the body of a man, glowing red eyes with long fingers and claws and of course very large sharp teeth, all the better to eat you with my dear. Legend has it that if your are unfortunate enough to have been bitten by or stare into the eyes of a  Rougarou then you are destined to become one yourself, much like the werewolf legends of Europe.  Thankfully if you do find yourself transformed into a  dog headed man or woman you can reverse the curse by  not reviling to anyone for a year and a day that you have been afflicted by a bad case of lycanthropoticitus. If you should manage this then you and the person who changed you will be returned to normal. Personally Im not sure I could manage to keep my trap shut if I turned into a werewolf type creature, Im positive id either spill the beans after a few pints down the local and then eat the landlord thusly expunging my bar tab or at the very least just blog about it.

Legend also speaks of a rather ingenious way to stop the Rugarou from entering into your house. It is a simple process of placing 13 small objects in the door ways and windows of your house. For some reason the Rougarou will feel compelled to count them, but as the Rougarou can not count past twelve he will be forced to start again and again until dawn breaks, when tradition dictates he has to return to the swamps.

The Rougarou dose has its usfull and unwittingly benevolent side, for the stories have been used for many generations to frighten children away from the swamps which, as you can imagain are a dangerous play ground for them.

As with most cryptids or zooform phenomena there is of course little evidence of any value but reports keep coming in of dogheaded or werewolf type creatures not just from the Louisiana swamps but from around the world. Are they all misidentification or fraud? 

But maybe and just maybe there could be a grain of truth to the stories, no matter how unbelievable . Sighting of werewolves and wildmen with the heads of dogs have endured through out the ages and continue to this day. Just imagine if you will what it would mean if just one of the stories are true. The idea that strange half man half wolf creatures stalk the night has fascinated and frightened us since pre Christian times and will probably continue to do so for ever more.