It is near Halloween and the stories of the Rougarou are becoming more prevalent in Southern Louisiana as children are told about this legend of the swamps. Below I have excerpted portions of an article that was published in a Southern Louisiana university newspaper in which a professor and folklore specialist was interviewed about the Rougarou. The question I have is how does this legend relate to the legends of the Werewolf and Loup Garou? Please use you own knowledge in answering or references from the WWW. There are only two very brief mentions of the Rougarou in previous VR forum threads.
I have given references to the whole article and the Wikipedia article that is at odd with the local article.
Excerpt from "Rougarou remains strong figure in Cajun folklore"
As the end of October approaches, a mood shift can be seen across south Louisiana. For many, this time brings the cool weather they love, Halloween and trick-or-treaters and the accompanying bonfires with stories about the mysterious night-wandering creature known as the rougarou.
Patricia Perrin, retired Nicholls English instructor and folklore specialist, says the rougarou is an important "identification marker" for south Louisiana's culture.
"Many people may know about a werewolf but not a rougarou," Perrin says.
Although the legends of the rougarou are closely related to European werewolf tales, there are several distinctions between the European werewolf, the French loup-garou and the night lurking, bayou-wandering creature called the rougarou.
"The most common motif is of a night time exposure to the rougarou," Perrin says. "The person who encounters the rougarou draws one or three drops of blood, that person then has the spell, and from there, the tale can be either light or dark. In the darker tale, usually the person who encounters the rougarou commits suicide. The darker tale is almost always associated with a person who told of the encounter in less than a year."
Because wolves are uncommon in the region, local stories of the rougarou typically replace wolves with other animals- dogs, pigs, cows and chickens- which are usually white.
According to local stories printed in several sources found in Ellender Memorial Library archives, these animals roam the streets at night, antagonizing wandering people until they attack the creature, usually stabbing or shooting it.
At the first drop of blood the animal will return to its human form, at which point he will tell the attacker who he is.
Often the rougarou is someone the witness knows or has heard of, and the rougarou usually tells the witness if he informs others of this encounter within one year and a day, he too will become a rougarou.
"The rougarou has evolved into a threat to bad children," Perrin says. "Parents tell their children if they're not good then the 'rougarou is gonna get them.' The rougarou plays a similar role to the boogeyman in other cultures."
REFERENCES: Rougarou remains strong figure in Cajun folklore
Wikipedia - Rougarou article
