The Peluda, also known as La Velue, the
Hairy Beast, the Shaggy Beast, the Shaggy One, and the Hairy Beast of La
Ferte-Bernard's origins can be placed to the banks of the Huisne River in
France. This creature supposedly was left behind from Noah’s Ark but somehow
managed to survive the Great Flood described in the book of Genesis. The creature
either overlooked by Noah or deliberately rejected resulted in the creature
bearing a grudge against all of humanity, devoting its whole life's purpose to
cause terror and to torment the human race. The creature would eventually be
found to plague specifically the village of La Ferte-Bernard, causing
destruction to both livestock and crops. The creature was covered in shaggy
green hair with long quills and bore the head and tail of a serpent, and was
the size of a large ox. It was quadrupedal and had short stubby tortoise-like
reptilian legs. The quills on the creature could be shot out of the skin like
arrows and were filled with an extremely deadly poison. As if these features
weren't bizarre enough, the creature allegedly was unkillable, with one exception
the beast's tail; it could also both breathe fire and spit either poison or
water from its mouth.
The creature would frequently attack La
Ferte-Bernard not being stopped by moats or walls and would proceed to attack
livestock and drag them into the river. When pursued, the creature, when
returning to its watery lair, would release enough water to flood the fields
around the river, destroying any crops that were planted there. This creature
would travel down the river and live under an ivy-covered bridge. The
creature's diet of sheep, cattle, and horses, however, would not be long-lived,
and soon other prey was chosen by the strange creature. The creature soon began
attacking women and children, attacking the mand dragging their remains back to
the river where it would feed. It was extremely fond of what would be called L'
agnelles or agnelles, which means "she-lambs," which were the most
beautiful and pure maidens in town. It would take considerable delight in
consuming them, but in doing so, it led to the creature's end. One of these
"she lambs" was consumed in front of her would-be fiancée, and as the
creature lumbered back to its watery lair, the man was filled with only one
thought revenge. The man proceeded on talking to an old Wiseman or wisewoman
who conveyed to him the only way to kill the Peluda. In doing so, the man
prepared. He put on an armored suit and grabbed a large sword, and like many
before him, went to slay a dragon.
The
man followed the trail of corpses and the path of the river and eventually made
his way to the Peluda's bridge. It hissed and roared as the man approached. It
clamored out from under its bridge and proceeded to move towards the man. The
creature released some of its poisonous quills, but the man's armor had stopped
the venomous projectiles from getting into his skin. The creature continued the
assault. As the man raised his sword, he moved towards the end of the
creature's sword raised and, upon seeing the beast's writhing tail swung his
mighty sword down. The creature screamed in agony and slumped into the water,
for the creature had died from the single blow. The villagers cheered about
this creature's demise and proceeded to celebrate the beast's death. They took
the body, embalmed it, and have a huge feast with drums, fifes, and dancing for
their salvation had come.
The tale of the Peluda is a bizarre one
that is similar to a variety of dragon legends that have occurred over the
centuries. Yet unlike typical dragons, its appearance is something totally
different. Its form is the dragon equivalent of the platypus, this strange
chimeral beast with hair and quills like a mammal, a reptile-like tail, head,
and feet, the venomous quills are similar interestingly enough to both the
porcupine in appearance, and the platypus in function, its other abilities like
fire breathing something that in the legend it never utilizes but is always
mentioned in connection with the peluda is typical dragon behavior even though
biologically we have no explanation for how and why this might occur. These
features are the interesting part of the creature, for it's something so
bizarre that if you remove the fire, breathing could be something that could
exist if the story is about real encounters with an unknown creature.
With this case, there is a lot of
assumption that this could be a real creature, but that is one of the things
about cryptozoology is that many of the older cases of creatures are based just
on that assumption. The interesting thing about the peluda is just how unique
it is and unimpressive compared to other dragons. Sure, it’s supped up to be
fire breathing and so on, but those features outside of the poisonous quills
are never featured in the legend, specifically outside a brief mention. It
could be possible that if this were a real animal, those features could have
been added on to fit with the larger world of dragon legends. The first
appearance of the peluda in legend comes from the 15th century, but
the legend was later embellished in the 19th century, so it's very
possible many of the more remarkable features were, in fact, added on those
four hundred years or so later, making an account of an aggressive animal into
a fictional beast.
Many dragon legends have since been looked
into for potentially real encounters with unknown creatures like, for example,
the Lambton Worm or the Tarasque. These creatures are lumped into dragon lore,
but they are not the flying fire-breathers or undulating fliers of Asia. They
appear as quadrupedal or serpent-like and are more plausible than the flying
variety. These "neo-dragons," which include the Peluda, could, in
fact, be one-offs of evolution that are extinct nowadays either because of man
hunting them or simply not being able to survive in their given environments. While
a lot of this is conjecture, it is not outside the realm of possibility, for
there have been stranger animals that have existed on our planet at one point
or another and creatures that were both reptilian and feathered were
commonplace it could be possible that the Peluda was descended from one of
those lines but because of competition with humans led to its current
extinction.
As stated before, all this is conjecture,
but a note that adds a hint of authenticity to the tale is the embalmed
remains. Many cryptozoological cases discuss a variety of encounters with
creatures that were later either eaten or embalmed. The most famous preserved
carcass case was the Beast of Gevaudan, but due to the smell, the body was
later buried. Could it be that the Peluda featured a similar fate once a smell
began? Possibly there are tons of tales of individuals losing pieces of sea
monsters because of the smell, which unfortunately left them evidence less when
telling their tale. The Peluda very well could have been such a case.
While the possibility that the Peluda
could have been a real animal is slim, it is not outside the realm of
possibility. Certainly, this creature is now extinct, so further study will
prove to be impossible, leaving this case to be a good thought exercise at
least. There are so many mysteries from the past as well as the present, and
these cases too need to be reinvestigated or rediscussed, for this is how we
can potentially come to a final conclusion to the truth of our and the animal
kingdom's history. Yet, with this case, it is just as murky as the Huisne
River.
*An endnote on the name Peluda- The
peluda's name is a direct Spanish translation of the hairy one or shaggy one
from the French name La Velue or just Velue. It is important to note that La
Velue is the proper name for the beast outside of Spanish literature and
arguably should be the one used. However, due to pop culture and the works of
Jorge Luis Borges, the name Peluda has become the most common name of the
creature hence why the article has been centered around this particular alias.
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