1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:18,080 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Polly Fry. So recently 4 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: I asked for Halloween episode suggestions because I had this 5 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: whole list of Halloween episode suggestions and really none of 6 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: them were peaking my interest at all. That happens, Yeah, 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: it's I had sort of analysis paralysis about Halloween episodes. Um. 8 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: Then Helene suggested the Beast of Jeffadon, and the second 9 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: that I made sure that there was a legitimate academic 10 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: source in English that I had access to, I stopped 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: looking for any other Halloween topic because this one is 12 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: frightening and grizzly and just deeply fascinating. So, uh, that's 13 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: your heads up if you if you need for a 14 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: warning about frightening gresley things, this is frightening and grizzly. 15 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: For hundreds of years, wolf attacks in Europe were really 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: not all that rare. Today, the sort of ecologists motto 17 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: is that healthy wolves don't attack humans, but this was 18 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: absolutely untrue in early modern Europe. There were thousands of 19 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: attacks by rabid wolves, and thousands more attacks by apparently 20 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 1: healthy wolves. There had even been multiple incidents in this 21 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: period in which the same wolf or a group of 22 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: wolves killed multiple people over a period of weeks or months. 23 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: So wolves in general were considered to be a threat 24 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: and uh any kind of outdoor work, especially if it 25 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: was around animals like sheep or goats that might attract wolves, 26 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: was considered to be inherently dangerous. But the attacks that 27 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: struck the Javadan region in the seventeen sixties really stand 28 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: out in particular, almost exclusively, the victims were women and children, 29 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: mostly attacked while they were tending animals. Um. The men 30 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: were generally left alone, even when they were doing the 31 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: exact same work. The beast method of killing was also horrific. 32 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: In description after description, people talked about it dropping onto 33 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: a victim in broad daylight, ripping out its throat, often 34 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: decapitating the person entirely. So people were scared of wolves, 35 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: but they were terrified of this beast um, which is 36 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: why we're going to talk about it today, Happy Halloween. 37 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: Uh So, for some context, the Javidant region in the 38 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: south of France was remote and sparsely settled at this time, 39 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: so most of its people made their livings as farmers 40 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: and shepherds. The terrain was forested and mountainous, there were 41 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: lots of rocky outcroppings, and all of this put it 42 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: kind of made it an area that was sort of 43 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: perfect for, or perfectly dangerous for wolf attacks the beasts. 44 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,519 Speaker 1: First recorded victim in the Javadon was a fourteen year 45 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: old named Jean Boulet, who was killed while watching over 46 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: livestock at the end of June seventeen sixty four, and 47 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: then on August eight, a fifteen year old girl was killed, 48 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: followed by a sixteen year old boy. A couple of 49 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: weeks later, in September, things took a deadlier turn, with 50 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: four attacks claiming the lives of a thirty six year 51 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: old woman and several more youths. Because the wolf attacks 52 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: were already so common, and because some of these, in 53 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: particular happened more than twenty miles apart from each other, 54 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: it was only after this particularly deadly period in September 55 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: that people realized something different was going on. During this time, 56 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: France was divided into administrative regions no a generality. By October, 57 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: the generality second in command, Etienne la Fran, started trying 58 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: to organize a constant series of patrols to protect people 59 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: and find this wolf. Working with a local landowner, he 60 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: tried to keep eight or ten people on watch at 61 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: all times, but he had a little bit of trouble recruiting. 62 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: People were already pretty scared to stray far from their 63 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: homes and into their own fields. Uh So getting them 64 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: to go patrol other people's fields was not exactly the 65 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: easiest cell. Lafon wound up securing funds to actually pay people, 66 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: and he started talking to the higher ups in the 67 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: generality about the possibility of bringing in professional soldiers. Dragoon 68 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: captains Jean Baptiste Duamel was stationed nearby and was also 69 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: active in the hunt. He and his men started scouring 70 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: areas near where the attacks had happened, hoping to find 71 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: the culprit. It was around October that and people minds, 72 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 1: at least the culprit shifted from being an animal to 73 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,559 Speaker 1: being some sort of monster. People's letters and even news 74 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: reports went from describing a bete fero's a general sort 75 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: of generic description of a ferocious beast, to talking about 76 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: the bets with a capital B or laments, so the monster. 77 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,559 Speaker 1: People in more urban and affluent parts of France didn't 78 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: really believe in werewolves anymore, but that idea was still 79 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: pretty entrenched in the more rural parts of the country. 80 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,799 Speaker 1: The beasts decapitated a twenty year old woman on October seven, 81 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: and it took a week for people to find her skull. 82 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: Between October seven and fifteen, six teenagers and a ten 83 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: year old boy were attacked, with most of them sustaining 84 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,359 Speaker 1: huge injuries to their heads and faces. Only four of 85 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: these victims survived. Newspapers started describing the beast as being 86 00:05:55,839 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: deliberately bloodthirsty, apparently drinking the victim's blood from their x 87 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:05,160 Speaker 1: before moving on to the flesh. Ettienna Font advised the 88 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: women and children tending the flocks that they'd be escorted 89 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: at all times by armed men, and this unfortunately opened 90 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: the door to some victim blaming. The economy in this 91 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: part of France was still really feutile. Men and women 92 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: and children all had work to do, and all of 93 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: the work was necessary for their survival, so men really 94 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: did not have the option of dropping what they were 95 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: doing to escort women and uh women and children didn't 96 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: have the option to just stay out of the fields 97 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,119 Speaker 1: until they had a man with them. They also didn't 98 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: have the option of just swapping jobs, since all of 99 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,600 Speaker 1: these jobs involved being outdoors for the most part, and 100 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: people didn't just sit around cowering. Though It's important to 101 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: note the hunting parties and patrols that had been established 102 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 1: cleared brush, and they gave chase whenever they saw an 103 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 1: animal that they thought might be the culprit. They killed 104 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: more than one wolf in all of this, but the 105 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: attacks went on. By the end of October, pretty much 106 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: everybody in the Javanant region agreed that they were not 107 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: dealing with a normal wolf. I witness accounts really very 108 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: dramatically in what the beasts looked like. Some of them 109 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: described it as having talents, Several described it as having 110 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: this dark stripe that ran down its back um. The 111 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: one unifying part of all the descriptions was that it 112 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: was much bigger than a normal wolf. People theorized that 113 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: it could be a range of animal suspects, including a 114 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: wolf of course, uh hyena was also mentioned, some kind 115 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: of wolf, dog, hyena hybrid, even a monkey was brought 116 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: up as a possibility. And this last seems to have 117 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: started by a report in a newspaper called Curier, which 118 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: quoted an American woman who said her country was full 119 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 1: of fearsome monkeys that did exactly this kind of thing, 120 00:07:52,840 --> 00:08:00,120 Speaker 1: which makes me go, really, I'm like qua, really, American lady. So, 121 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: the explanation for how a hyena or a monkey could 122 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: have gotten into the south of France was that they 123 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: had stowed away aboard a ship or maybe escaped from 124 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: a menagerie. Um. This theory was actually a source of 125 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: hope to people who thought that if this was some 126 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: kind of tropical animal, that it would just die when 127 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: the winter came. It was probably also somewhat soothing to 128 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: consider that it could be something escaped from a menagerie 129 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: rather than an actual, uh sort of unnatural monster, that 130 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: that would be more of an unknown, slightly less brightening uh. So, 131 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: late in October, a small group of hunters on the 132 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: search for the beast flushed a large wolf from its den, 133 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: and they shot it repeatedly. And this large wolf was 134 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: slowed by the bullets, but it could still move more 135 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: quickly than the men that were chasing it, and so 136 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: it got away and they never found the body uh 137 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: and came to the conclusion that it had somehow survived 138 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: their gunfire. This attributed to the idea that there was 139 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: something supernatural at work. It really shouldn't be surprising that 140 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: as these attacks went on, since they were just spectacularly 141 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: gory and horrifying, newspapers became increasingly sensational in their coverage 142 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: of it. Here's an account of an event in November. 143 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: Quote on the twenty three, at five o'clock in the evening, 144 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: this cruel beast throttled a woman in a village, and 145 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:28,320 Speaker 1: after having eaten the neck all the way down to 146 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: the shoulders and having sucked the blood from the body, 147 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: it carried away. The head hunters, Uh, in sort of 148 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: a grizzly move, began using the remains of the beasts 149 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: victims as bait. They were hoping to draw the creature 150 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: out again. Uh. Not only did it not work, it 151 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: also upset people understandably, and as the fall turned to winter, 152 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 1: the weather started to seriously get in the way of 153 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: effectively hunting. Before we talk about the next major shift 154 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,680 Speaker 1: and all of this, Holly, would you like to take 155 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: a moment for a beef word from a sponsor? And would? Indeed, 156 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: in December, the dragoons led by Jehan Baptist duam L 157 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: found what they thought was the beast while they were 158 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: hunting through the forest. Du am L himself was prepared 159 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: to fire on it. He had it in his sights, 160 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,559 Speaker 1: but the other men, not realizing what was going on, 161 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,319 Speaker 1: came up behind him and startled it. They unfortunately lost 162 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: sight of the beast as the sun went down. Doom 163 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: L was deeply distressed by this, not merely because he 164 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: had missed their corey at the likely expense of more 165 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: lives being lost, but he also had a little bit 166 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: of an ego element in the in the mix. He 167 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: didn't want to lose the glory of being the one 168 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,440 Speaker 1: that took the beast down. Yeah, he was a soldier 169 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: and had you know, gotten a claim on the field 170 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:52,720 Speaker 1: of battle before, and now that he was not in 171 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 1: a battle, he was very frustrated by the failure to 172 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: get more acclaim. And fortunately this is just the first 173 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: of many of doom L's failures to capture his quarry. 174 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: As people started to question whether he knew what he 175 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: was doing, he started distributing drawings and telling people really 176 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: vivid accounts of this monster to try to convince everyone 177 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 1: that it wasn't his fault. He was sort of building 178 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: this mythology that the creature was too powerful and too 179 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: obviously supernatural to be caught quickly, And as seventeen sixty 180 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: four drew to a close, a bishop from the church 181 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: put out an official circular that said that the beast 182 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: was a scourge sent by God. So it just built 183 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: that mythology up a little bit more. In January of 184 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,479 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty five, doom L started sending out his dragoons 185 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 1: dressed as women to try to escort women and children 186 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: about their duties in the fields. He was hoping that 187 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: the wolf would mistake them for a woman in attack, 188 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: since they mostly attacked women and children. Uh, this didn't work. 189 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: I like that the beast could clock their drag um. 190 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,440 Speaker 1: On January twelve, a twelve year old boy known as 191 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,080 Speaker 1: porta Fe reportedly chased down the wolf and attacked it 192 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: with a bayonet after it had attacked and dragged off 193 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 1: a small child. Uh. Porta Fe became famous for this 194 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: act of extreme bravery or foolishness, depending on your point 195 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,680 Speaker 1: of view, Although there were accounts of it that were 196 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:24,559 Speaker 1: heavily embellished, and the different accounts of what actually happened 197 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: very quite a bit from one to another porta Fay, however, 198 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:33,719 Speaker 1: became a rallying cry. Duomel, becoming kind of desperate to 199 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: uh to catch the thing and to maintain his his reputation, 200 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: organized a massive hunt to take place on February seventh, 201 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty five. This was not the first coordinated hunt 202 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 1: that was going to take place for multiple parts of 203 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:51,160 Speaker 1: this area in France at the same time, but it 204 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: was definitely the biggest. About twenty thousand people gathered in 205 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,319 Speaker 1: about one hundred different parishes, and in spite of there 206 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: being heavy fog that day and about six inches of 207 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: snow on the ground, search parties spread out from their 208 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: respective communities at the same time to try to find 209 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: the beast. One party thought they did, and as they 210 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: pursued the animal that they believed to be the beast, 211 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:19,320 Speaker 1: it tried to escape down a river. Villagers in the 212 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 1: town of Malzieu were supposed to be patrolling the river banks, 213 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 1: but one of that town's most prominent citizens had said 214 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: he would stay home if the weather was bad, and 215 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: enough people followed his example that the beast easily slipped 216 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:36,920 Speaker 1: through this hole in the defenses, however, and perhaps in 217 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: an effort to save face, a hunting party from Malsu 218 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: claimed that it had seen and shot the beast, so 219 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: Duomel abandoned his original plan, which was to have a 220 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,320 Speaker 1: second massive hunt on the eleventh if the one on 221 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 1: the seventh failed. Instead, he arranged a smaller hunt to 222 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: focus just on the area around Malie, to take place 223 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,199 Speaker 1: on the tenth. As they were hunting, a teenage girl 224 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: was killed while feeding her livestock. Du am L regrouped 225 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: and prepared to keep hunting near where that attack had 226 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: occurred on the eleventh, using the girl's body as bait. 227 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: They did not succeed on the eleventh, and they tried 228 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 1: again on the twelfth, this time fighting biting, windy weather, 229 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: and in spite of their multi day attempt and with 230 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: so many hunters on the on the team, they found nothing. 231 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: On his return from this hunt, duom L again tried 232 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: to explain his failure and retain his position with a 233 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: supernatural explanation. According to him, the beast was a witch 234 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: or the devil. After all, twenty thousand men, which he 235 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: in his telling rounded up to thirty thousand, had failed 236 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: to get it, so it had to be magical or supernatural. Okay, 237 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: he was really getting desperate to hold onto his position. 238 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: What he did not know was that his replacement, says 239 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: by sickly wolf Hunter in Chief, had already been chosen 240 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: and were on their way to the Jevadon. Jean Charles 241 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: marc Antoine de Vonzelle Doneval of Normandy took Jean Baptiste 242 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: Dummel's place in the fight against the Beast of Jebudon. 243 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: They arrived in February, with Jean Charles's son, Jean Francois 244 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: accompanying his father. The DNA Val did not get along 245 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: with the wolf hunters and the Jevadant. They made demands 246 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: for help and for accommodations that rankled people. They were 247 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: simultaneously overconfident and underprepared. Some of the other wolf hunters, 248 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: who had been searching the Jevadon for months, decided that 249 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,520 Speaker 1: they were frauds. You know how in bad, badly written 250 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: crime dramas, you have the scene where the local police 251 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: have been trying really hard to catch the killer and 252 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: then some really slick FBI guys come in and stop 253 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: all over their investigation. It was like that, Yeah, they 254 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: were all swagger and did not really have the skills. Meanwhile, 255 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: In March, the London Chronicle published an obviously satirical article, 256 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: possibly written by Horace Walpole, about the beast, saying that 257 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: it had eaten the entire French army and was found 258 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: to have mortars, cannons and at least one hundred small 259 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 1: arms in its belly when it was slain. This really 260 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: annoyed the people of France in the monarchy because a 261 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: lot of people had been killed in the Gevaudan already, 262 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 1: so to kind of make fun of the whole thing 263 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: was kind of a slap in the face. We should 264 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: put these years into the was England at war with 265 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: France websites? Yeah, I don't think that they were, but 266 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: they were socially they were having some issues. Um, even 267 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,480 Speaker 1: in light of the fact that France was facing facing 268 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: international criticism for its failure to take care of this 269 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: wolf problem, and King Louis himself was eager to have 270 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: this beast killed, the Dentivals did not do much in 271 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: March or April. They just did not seem to be 272 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: in a big hurry. They blamed local people for all 273 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:08,400 Speaker 1: manner of ills and for their failure to get the beast. Meanwhile, 274 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: there were fourteen deaths over those two months. One death 275 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,440 Speaker 1: in particular of note. On March thirteenth, the beast attacked 276 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,160 Speaker 1: a group of children in the garden outside their home, 277 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:24,160 Speaker 1: and their mother, Jeanne Varley, was with them and reported 278 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: to be pregnant. She turned to see the beast attack 279 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,479 Speaker 1: her six year old, and in a struggle that went 280 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 1: on for several minutes of Varlet climbed onto the beast's 281 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: back in an effort to wrestle her child from its jaws. 282 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,639 Speaker 1: When she fell off, it jumped over a hedge, and 283 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 1: she gave chase. One of her older children was inside 284 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: the house and he heard the commotion and came out 285 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,879 Speaker 1: with a lance and the family sheep dog, and he 286 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: chased the animal and they basically fought it until it 287 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 1: tired out, abandoned its quarry, and ran away. The six 288 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,439 Speaker 1: year old, unfortunately didn't survive, although the rest of the 289 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: family did, and Varley's story spread as one of heroic tragedies. 290 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: So she became kind of an emblem of the need 291 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,439 Speaker 1: to get this over with. Yeah, I'm sure that was 292 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:13,919 Speaker 1: a little bit of an ego blow to all of 293 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: these hunters that a pregnant woman and her children had 294 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: kind of had better luck at least kind of running 295 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:22,680 Speaker 1: this animal down than they had with their firepower and 296 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: hunting knowledge. Uh. In early May, the Denival started trying 297 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: to combat the wolves by poisoning the bodies of their 298 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: victims and leaving them out as bait. This did not 299 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: work and once again upset people. Then in mid May, 300 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: there was a two week period with no wolf attacks. 301 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: The Denevals took credit for it, and they said they 302 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: must have actually killed a wolf that they'd shot and 303 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,920 Speaker 1: had then gotten away earlier in the month. Then, when 304 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,199 Speaker 1: another attack happened on May nineteenth, they started trying to 305 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: seek the protection of the king at Versailles. They were 306 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: afraid that their actions were going to catch up up 307 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 1: with them and that they themselves might come to harm. 308 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: They were finally forced to leave town and their reputations 309 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: were in shreats. And before we turn to a little 310 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: happier part of this story, let's take another brief movement 311 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:17,880 Speaker 1: for a word from a sponsor that sounds grand, and 312 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,879 Speaker 1: now we will get onto the resolution of what happened 313 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:26,439 Speaker 1: in Jeviden with this beast. So the Dnevals who have 314 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: been run out of town were soon replaced by Francois Antoine, 315 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,359 Speaker 1: who was the king's gun bearer. He organized hunts with 316 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: dogs and men, using dogs in particular to try to 317 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:40,439 Speaker 1: cover the regions more difficult to rain, and unlike the dnevals, 318 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,159 Speaker 1: he was extremely polite. He gained the trust and the 319 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: affection of the locals. He did not walk in with 320 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: a bunch of attitude and swagger. He really tried to 321 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: work with them, and he worked through the summer of 322 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty five as the deaths continued to find the beast. 323 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:59,399 Speaker 1: On September, Antoine caught sight of a wolf so big 324 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,920 Speaker 1: that at worst he thought it was a donkey. From 325 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: about fifty paces away. He shot it with a long 326 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:08,439 Speaker 1: barreled musket that he loaded with a lead ball, along 327 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: with lots of other smaller pieces of shot. The animal 328 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:14,120 Speaker 1: was hit, but it wasn't killed. It got to its 329 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: feet and went after Antoine, who had to retreat. Rather 330 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: than trying to reload his weapon. Monsieur Riehard, who was 331 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: an officer of the hunt, delivered the actual killing shot. 332 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: They took the wolf's body to a nearby chateau, and 333 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:31,719 Speaker 1: then they brought in people who had either witnessed or 334 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: survived attacks to identify it, they all agreed that this 335 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,200 Speaker 1: was the wolf that attacked them, and even so Antoine 336 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 1: urged people not to drop their guard. Yet pretty much 337 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: everyone in the Javadan who looked at it agreed that 338 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 1: the thing was enormous, and as Antoine and others told 339 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,600 Speaker 1: the story over and over at depositions and when talking 340 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:56,639 Speaker 1: to the newspapers, this description just got bigger and bigger. 341 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,639 Speaker 1: Antoine said about hunting for any off bring the beast 342 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 1: may have had, and ordering an artisan to construct a 343 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: frame for its skin so that it could be preserved 344 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: and sent to the king. It wound up being embalmed instead, 345 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: and by the time that happened, it had already started 346 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 1: to decompose. The beast body arrived at Versailles on the 347 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,439 Speaker 1: first of October, but the court of Versailles was not 348 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: nearly as impressed with it as the people of the 349 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:27,440 Speaker 1: Javadan had been. They had really suffered from some inflated 350 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: expectations by people increasingly talking about how more and more 351 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 1: monstrous this thing was. Also because of what we just 352 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,960 Speaker 1: discussed with the embalming it smelled, Antoine finished his task 353 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 1: of seeking and destroying wolves from around the area where 354 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,919 Speaker 1: the beast had been killed on October seventeenth, and for 355 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:47,640 Speaker 1: more than two months there were no more wolf attacks. 356 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,399 Speaker 1: This is actually a you know, it stretched into like 357 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: that was two months from when he finished killing, but 358 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:56,440 Speaker 1: it wound up that there weren't any deaths from when 359 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: he shot that wolf until December seventh, seventeen sixty five. 360 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 1: That day, two boys survived a wolf attack while they 361 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,640 Speaker 1: were guarding cattle, and then an eleven year old girl 362 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,679 Speaker 1: was killed on December twenty one. Unlike the first time around, 363 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 1: when it had taken so many deaths before people saw 364 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 1: it as a pattern. Everyone immediately panicked. However, there was 365 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 1: also this uh kind of issue of saturation everyone also, 366 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: while they were quicker to recognize this danger, they were 367 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: also kind of tired of talking about this beast. Uh. 368 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: So there are far fewer newspaper reports and other records 369 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:37,920 Speaker 1: detailing what happened between Francois Antoine killing a wolf on 370 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 1: September set and Jean Shastel killing another one in August 371 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 1: of seventeen sixty seven. Yeah, so almost two years later. 372 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,479 Speaker 1: The wolf that Shastel killed was big, although not nearly 373 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: as big as the one that Antoine had killed almost 374 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: two years before. However, Schastell followed what Antoine had done. 375 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,280 Speaker 1: He like followed his example. He rounded people up to 376 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 1: I d this wolf and say that it was the 377 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: wolf that had attacked them, and then he sent its 378 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 1: body to Versailles. However, by the time it arrived in 379 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: Versailles it was extremely rotten. The king was extremely insulting 380 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 1: to Chastel and his son for having just brought this 381 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: rotten wolf carcass into his presence, and the king ordered 382 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: them all away. Folklorist and researchers started documenting the Jebudin 383 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,919 Speaker 1: wolf loor almost immediately. Uh In the eighteen eighties, a 384 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,440 Speaker 1: man named Pierre Pouchet wrote an enormous history of the wolf, 385 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 1: and there are all kinds of theories about exactly what 386 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,760 Speaker 1: this animal was, and whether it was acting on its 387 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:45,479 Speaker 1: own or whether it had been trained to somehow attack people. 388 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 1: This last theory actually got a shot in the arm 389 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 1: when people realized that Jean Shastell had played a prank 390 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: on a wolf hunting party two years before. They had 391 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: basically said, hey, is this ground up here safe to 392 00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: walk on? And he was like, yeah, it's awesome, and 393 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 1: was actually a bog and so the wolf hunters sunk 394 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:07,919 Speaker 1: into it up to their chests while he laughed along 395 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 1: a sideline. Uh. There are people who were extremely suspicious 396 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: of him now and kind of wonder if he had 397 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: trained animals to attack other people, and that that gap 398 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: between killing one wolf and UH and another attack happening 399 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:25,879 Speaker 1: was because he was having to retrain another animal that 400 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,919 Speaker 1: gets a nest some kind of conspiracy theory ideas not 401 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 1: totally sure. We should call Ben and Madden and see 402 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: what they think. We will probably never know for sure 403 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 1: if this beast was actually a wolf, or multiple wolves, 404 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: or perhaps even something else that hasn't been identified. More recently, 405 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,920 Speaker 1: the beast makes an appearance in the movie Brotherhood of 406 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 1: the Wolf. I love that movie so much. I can't 407 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,280 Speaker 1: even describe. That goes into the category of cinema that 408 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: I like to call out fromage because it's a little cheesy, 409 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: but it's also really fanta plastic fun and which is 410 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: the important part for me. Uh. And the Jevadan region 411 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: is now part of the Department of Logier. That happened 412 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:11,919 Speaker 1: after the French Revolution though, so that was not in 413 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:16,199 Speaker 1: play when this was going on, right, So that is 414 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 1: the beast of Jevadon creepy and yeah, the book that 415 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: was the primary source on this. Normally when I researched episodes, 416 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 1: they're like fifteen or twenties sources at least. Um. This 417 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 1: one was mostly sourced from a book by J Smith 418 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,400 Speaker 1: called Monsters of the Jevadon, which was published by Harvard 419 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,480 Speaker 1: University Press in two thousand and eleven. That's pretty much 420 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:45,399 Speaker 1: the source in English on this story, so it has 421 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: a lot more detail about various things that went on 422 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: if you were interested in it. I had to get 423 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: it from inter Library loan Um, which is I had 424 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,919 Speaker 1: to time it just right. So if this story interests you, 425 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: I highly recommend that book. It sent to UM sort 426 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,440 Speaker 1: of the beginning of it talks a lot about how 427 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: the the search for what was this animal kind of 428 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,879 Speaker 1: distracts from the greater story of like why people in 429 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:18,119 Speaker 1: France were so obsessed with this thing when it was 430 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: going on. So it's a good read. I also have 431 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: a listener mail I'm gonna I'm gonna read two things 432 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: about spam, spam, spam spam. The first thing about spam 433 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: is from Lisa. Lisa says, Hi, Tracy and Holly, I 434 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:32,919 Speaker 1: don't actually eat spam. I'm vegetarian, but I did like 435 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: your episode this week. I was surprised that spam actually 436 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: doesn't include junk meats like hot dogs do, but it 437 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,160 Speaker 1: still looks a little gross to me. I've never actually 438 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 1: tried it, though, so I'll take your word that tastes 439 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: better than it looks. I live in South Korea, and 440 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,160 Speaker 1: seeing people in stores and dressed up in hand buck 441 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: which is traditional dress during the big holidays, selling large 442 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: gift sets of spam was one of those things that 443 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: that was really strange when I moved here. It's one 444 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: of those giftbox types that a lot of expats kind 445 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,720 Speaker 1: of joke about what your school get you for stuck 446 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,480 Speaker 1: any spam, No, just a box of tooth baste and 447 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,120 Speaker 1: so soap. But now that I'm used to seeing it, 448 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:09,359 Speaker 1: it's not strange anymore. I've heard from a lot of 449 00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:12,360 Speaker 1: people about how spam became popular here during the Korean War. 450 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 1: As you guys mentioned in your podcast, actually during holidays 451 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: they are still very common gifts, along with expensive boxes 452 00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: of enormous fruit, boxes of hanwo beef, which is really 453 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: the meat considered to be the luxury here now, and 454 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: everyday things like shampoo um and then she says that 455 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: we did okay with our pronunciations of Korean cuisines, which 456 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:38,439 Speaker 1: made me really happy. Or she's very kind. Yes. The 457 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: other story that I wanted to read about spam is 458 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,479 Speaker 1: from Samantha. Samantha says, I wanted to share with you 459 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: a little bit of spam history that you may or 460 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: may not have come across while doing your research. A 461 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 1: bit of backstory. I grew up a military brat and 462 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,159 Speaker 1: moved all over the world with my Navy parents. For 463 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,720 Speaker 1: two years, my family lived on the small Pacific island 464 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,159 Speaker 1: of Guam. The island is devastating and beautiful, and the 465 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:03,879 Speaker 1: shamorrow people love to throw parties, and the food of 466 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,639 Speaker 1: these parties is amazingly flavorful and delicious. I know you 467 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,439 Speaker 1: mentioned in the podcast that spam is popular in Guam, 468 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: but I don't think you understand just how popular. On 469 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: average Shamorrows. The native people of Guam sixteen tens of 470 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: spam per year, the highest per capita consumption in the world. 471 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: The island loves the can meet so much that the 472 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: McDonald's on the island have spam on the menu, and 473 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: my middle school spam fried rice was sold in the 474 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 1: cafeteria for breakfast and lunch, and even between classes you 475 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,480 Speaker 1: could grab a quick snack on the go. I rarely 476 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: went to a classmates house without being offered some sort 477 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 1: of spam based meal. And although it was nearly twenty 478 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: years ago, I vividly remember begging my mother to purchase 479 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: one of those locally written and published spam cookbooks so 480 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 1: we could learn to cook like my classmates parents. A 481 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: few years ago, the Hormail company actually created a limited 482 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,560 Speaker 1: edition spam can with flag of Guam to honor the 483 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: anniversary of the island's liberation from the Japanese occupation during 484 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: World War Two. I may be wrong, but I believe 485 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: they've done this a few times for similar reasons. Tabasco 486 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: is also very popular on Guam. They consume the highest 487 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:10,959 Speaker 1: amount per capita of the spicy sauce as well. Guam 488 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: was the inspiration and testing ground for the hot and 489 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: Spicy Spam spam made with Tabasco. In case you're wondering, yes, 490 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:23,760 Speaker 1: it is delicious. Thanks for making me crave spam like crazy. 491 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 1: We've gotten so many great spam stories. I have like 492 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: ten more of them flagged in the email for following up. 493 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: I doubt we will get to read many more spam stories. 494 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: I mostly wanted to read a couple more that were 495 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 1: from a couple of other places. I did eat some 496 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: spam after that episode. Yeah, while I was on my vacation. 497 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 1: It's a long story about the vacation, but we had 498 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: a theme of the vacation that was basically about Kaiju, 499 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,880 Speaker 1: some big monster movies, and we made a lot of 500 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:58,040 Speaker 1: foods that were from Asian cuisines um. And I had 501 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 1: told the person arranging the food that if she got 502 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: me some spam, I would like to try making some 503 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: spam musubi. And she did, and I wound up making 504 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 1: it little pieces of it instead of the big pieces 505 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 1: that they normally are. Because we had thirty five people, uh, 506 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 1: and I wanted more people than just me to get 507 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: to try it. We had a good time. It's quite yummy. 508 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: You sent me a picture and it looked very very cute. Yes, 509 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 1: like you did a good job with presentation. Yeah, we 510 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: put it on our on our Facebook wealth. I put 511 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 1: it a picture of it on there. So Uh, if 512 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:30,880 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us about spam or 513 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 1: werewolves or anything else, you can do that at History 514 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: podcast the House toff Works dot com. We're also on 515 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: Facebook at Facebook dot com slash mist in History and 516 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: on Twitter at miss in History. Are Tumbler is missed 517 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 1: in History dot tumbler dot com, and we are on 518 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 1: Pinterest at pentriest dot com slash miss in History. Our 519 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,360 Speaker 1: spreadshirt store, where you can buy all kinds of shirts 520 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: and things, is at mt in history dot spreadshirt dot com. 521 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:56,239 Speaker 1: And if you would like to learn a little more 522 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: about what we have talked about today, comes to our 523 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 1: parent company's website. It is how stuff works dot com. 524 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,480 Speaker 1: Put the word werewolf in the search bar. You will 525 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: find how Werewolves Work, which I actually wrote during my 526 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: days as a staff writer, which actually talks about the 527 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: Beast of Javadan, is one of the sources of werewolf 528 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: lore in modern culture. You can also come to our website, 529 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:18,720 Speaker 1: which is missed in History dot com, to find show 530 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: notes and an archive every single episode we have ever done. 531 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:23,960 Speaker 1: You can do all that and a whole lot more 532 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com or missing history dot 533 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 534 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: Because it how stuff works dot com