In 1764 an area of France was experiencing a rash of murders among sheep herders who worked in the desolate mountain pastures. Rumors began to surface about the "loup-garou". Witnesses claimed to have seen a creature with short red fur and a pig-like snout. The king of France sent soldiers to the area to kill the creature. Once there, the soldiers encountered and shot the beast. The wounded beast retreated into the heavy brush, and for a few months the killings stopped. Later that year the killings started again. A hunting party was formed to try to rid the area of this terror. One of the hunters, Jean Chastel, loaded his gun with silver bullets. He caught sight of the beast and shot it twice. The party then took the dead beast down to the town for display. It was buried in the town and Jean's gun is still on display in a local church.

In the sixteenth century, there was a case of a whole family being accused of lycanthropy. The strange habits of the Gandillion Family were brought into the public eye after sister Pernette attacked two small children, killing one. Soon after, she was killed by an angry mob for her crime. A day later, her brother Pierre and her son Georges were both accused of witchcraft. They both admitted to being werewolves, transforming by using a magic salve. They were imprisoned, and were said to have acted like maniacs, their bodies covered with wounds and scratches, which suggested attacks by dogs and others during their late night excursions. Their inability to transform while in prison was rationalized by their inability to obtain the salve. Both Pierre and Georges, along with another sister named Antoinette were executed.