Slaying the beast…
Back in the 19th century, with the advent of more powerful rifles, along with an increase in world travel, big game hunting became a popular pursuit among those able to afford it. Also in this time period the interest in man-eating animals and the exploits of those who hunted them increased due to the expansion of travel and communications. There have always been such creatures that have occasionally fed up humans and related species, but only fairly recently have such horrifying accounts been well documented. Actually, some of these infamous incidents do go back further than the 19th century. One such account, which has inspired many a monster movie, is the Beast of Gevaudan. This creature (or creatures, as two animals were killed before the attacks were finally halted) killed dozens of people, mostly women and children, over a period of several years in 18th century France. There is still a debate as to what sort of animal the killer was, with some blaming a wild wolf, or perhaps it was a wolf-dog hybrid, or even an escaped hyena. The latter two theories are based upon the creature’s unusual reddish brown coloration and long, curving tail, which are not at all wolf-like characteristics.
In the 19th century in Africa and southern Asia the killer beasts were often big cats, usually lions, tigers and leopards. There was one tigress in India that was reported to have killed over 400 people over the course of a decade or more. Some leopards also approached that extreme kill rate before they too were slain. Then there are the famous “Maneaters of Tsavo”, of which a book was written and was eventually made into a movie (The Ghost and Darkness). Those two lions killed at least 40 people, and perhaps as many as 100. This was where the big game hunters of those days went to work to try and slay such beasts. Many books and stories have been written about their adventures, which also detail gruesome accounts of those who fell victim to the predators. And the hunters really didn’t have much advantage over their quarry, as one might assume. In fact, some of them were injured and almost killed by the man-eater that they stalked. Also interesting are accounts demonstrating the selectiveness of such predators. In some cases, a big cat would walk right past a penned herd of goats in order to attack and kill the shepherd boy. Or a lion might enter a hut and walk over several people before seizing one far from the door and then escaping into the bush with its victim. This of course really isn’t unnatural behavior (the man-eating aside) as such predators do carefully select their animal victims during the stalk and chase.
These stories meticulously document notorious cases of man-eating animals and those hunters who were charged with eliminating them. Most of them took place long ago in far away lands, and most involved big cats or crocodiles, all of which are known to make a habit of preying on humans. There is, however, one similar man-eater incident that took place much closer to home, at least for those of us here in the US. There was a very famous fictional book written about such a man-eater, but it was inspired by real life events. That book (and the very successful movie that followed) was Jaws, and in the very early 20th century there was indeed a series of shark attacks and killings on the east coast of the US. This took place on the famous “Jersey shore” where several swimmers were attacked and killed. Some of the attacks took place on the beach, but others happened in a river close a couple of miles from the shore. Authorities closed the beaches and caught and killed as many sharks as they could find, and they dynamited the river to try and kill whatever was lurking in it. The culprit was assumed to have been a great white, as one such shark they caught did have human remains in its stomach. However, a great white cannot survive in freshwater, as would be found in a river. The only shark dangerous to humans that can enter fresh water is the bull shark, so likely there was more than one man-eater operating in that area. But the attacks soon stopped, and luckily nothing like that ever happened again in that location or anywhere else that is known of.
While I had of course seen the movie Jaws, I was totally unaware of its real life inspiration. Almost thirty years ago my mom, grandmother and I decided to take a summer trip to Cape May, New Jersey. They had no use for the beach or the water, and so during the day I’d spend a couple hours at the beach. I also like to swim, and I would go into the water and get out past the breakers if possible. One day the water was relatively calm, and I had no trouble getting past the breakers without drawing the ire of the lifeguards. I was alternating between swimming back and forth and treading water, and suddenly I hear the lifeguard blow the whistle. He had jumped off of his stand and was frantically motioning everyone to get out of the water. So I headed out onto the sand. The lifeguard was scanning the horizon with a pair of binoculars, and I looked to the water as well. Appearing rather suddenly was a pair of dolphins, playfully surfacing and then diving below the waves. The lifeguard watched for a few moments, before waving to let everyone know it was safe to go back into the water.
The next day I again went to the beach, and essentially the same sequence of events happened just as I described above. But, with one exception. The first time we were ran out of the water, nothing appeared on the horizon or above the waves. At least nothing that I could see… So, after about fifteen minutes, the lifeguard gave the all clear and back into the water I went, along with other swimmers. It could not have been more than another fifteen minutes when again, the lifeguard blew his whistle, jumped up and down and ran us all back onto the beach again. This time another lifeguard, probably from a neighboring stand, had come over and they had a small inflatable craft that they jumped into and headed out into the water. At this point I was getting irritated, as I would only have a couple of hours or less to spend at the beach each day. Worse yet, I had paid my dollar to use this public beach. My swim time was being wasted, or at least so I thought. I stood there and looked out into the water, as did many who had also been happily swimming and playing in the water moments ago. It was then that I saw it. Slowly, up out of the sun glittering swells it arose – a big, grey fin, cutting smoothly across the surface of the murky waters below. And then, after a second or two, it slowly sunk back into the depths, just like in that famous monster movie. I stood there for a few more moments, as the lifeguards went round and round on their raft. Then I looked at my watch, and noted that I did have perhaps another 45 minutes before I told my mom I’d return to get ready for dinner. But at this point I had no desire to go back into the water, and so I packed up my beach bag and headed back to the hotel.
It was only many years later that I had read something about the real life events that inspired Peter Benchley to write the novel Jaws. At the time I was blissfully unaware of that dark history of the Jersey Shore, even though those events did not take place at Cape May, they were still close enough! In my life I’ve spent a fair amount of time at the beach, on both coasts, and yet that is the only place I’ve ever seen a wild shark (well, not including ones that people had caught). And I didn’t just see it. Clearly myself and everyone else in the water that day was swimming with said shark, unaware. Of course, if that shark had a hunger for human flesh it would have had an ample smorgasbord that afternoon from which to choose. Luckily most sharks have no interest in people at all. But still, I wonder if anyone else there in the water that day knew of the true story behind Jaws? Or were they as ignorant as I?