3.10 When the Beast of Auxerrois prowls…
Thirty years before the appearance of the beast of Gevaudan, a similar creature terrorised the inhabitants of Trucy-sur-Yonne* in Auxerrois. The Beast of Auxerrois, also called The Beast of Trucy, made its appearance in the early eighteenth century and spread terror throughout the Yonne. On November 1731 near Trucy-sur-Yonne, the animal attacked a 12 year-old boy working in the woods with his mother. Although his mother managed to save her son Jean from the clutches of the animal, the boy died from his wounds. Several victims also succumbed to attacks of the Beast, so much so that King Louis XV promises a premium of 200 livres to the person who kills the animal (at that time a livre corresponded to 0.31gr of gold. Many drives to catch it were organised, carcasses of poisoned sheep left in the fields, many wolves killed but all in vain, the attacks of the Beast raged on …
In Mailly-la-Ville, the predator pulls a six-year-old child of from the hands of a nurse. By 1734, the number of victims had increase; the Beast is engaged in a real carnage! In the records of Fouronne, we find the following entry: ‘in the year of grace 1732, Jeanne Bonnotte, aged about 13 years, was devoured by a ferocious beast’ (signed by Witie, priest and pastor of Fouronne). By the end of 1734 according to the official death records, the beast of Auxerrois accounted for 28 victims. Then following an organised hunt, two wolves were shot and the attacks stopped soon after. To date, no one can say which wolf was responsible for these massacres that lasted three years. In 1817 in the same Trucy forest another mysterious beast was seen and 80 years later several attacks were recorded before the creature again suddenly disappears. Since then, rumors circulate about the origin of the beast of Auxerrois, some present it as a wolf, a tiger, a dog or a hyena.
* a commune located about twenty kilometres south of the city of Auxerre.
