Folklore and Cryptids: The Grunch.

 

Everyone know about the Grinch, the not so jolly green fello that robbed the Who's, but how many of you have ever heard of the Grunch?

Eyewitnesses descriptions tend to very slightly, but  most claim this cryptid is either a small goat like Creature or a small hairless biped while  others    claim it has bat like wings or a smaller furless body covered in scales and some even claim it has more of a canine appearance.  

Goat like cloven hoofprints have also been reported after  a Grunch sighting 

He is somewhat short in statue standing around three to four feet tall.

Though  the Grunch is primarily a Louisiana cryptid some say its  similar  to the Chupacabra, in the way that it's said to feed on the blood and sometimes organs of  smaller animals..

 Chupacabra sightings have been reported in Texas, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Florida. 

Grunch sightings date back to the mid eighteen hundreds, all the way up to present day.

The first sighting took place on what is locally know as Grunch Road, there are several towns  that claim to be the home of the Grunch, but the first sighting took place on Louisiana's east side,  in a neighborhood called Little Wood's.

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One of the earliest origin stories is directly tied to the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau. 

Marie Laveau was born in New Orleans in 1801, 20 years before first sighting. 

According to the legend, she had come into possession of a devil baby. Laveau wanted to stop the baby from creating demonic offspring, so she castrated it. The result was the creation of two creatures that would eventually become known as Grunches. The male and female Grunch attacked Laveau before running off to the swamp where they're offspring are still lurking.

Though that legend can also be considered a version of the Devil Baby of Bourbon Street.

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They are believed to be blood suckers, usually  draining blood from they're victims  through a single puncture wound but they have also been known to sometimes eat the animal’s organs too, making them carnivores in nature, combine this  with it's  intelligence and your dealing with a sneaky potentially dangerous cryptid. They have been reported opening  doors as well as chicken coops and livestock gates and even operating  tools. 

In some instances, witnesses said these creatures will leave a wounded animal, goat , dog, cat ect on the side of the road in an attempt to lure drivers out of their vehicles. 

 They have also been seen running in packs, to  overwhelm  humans and animals alike in a group attack. 

 Local garbage collectors have even  encountered Grunches scavenging in trash cans and  dumpsters then chasing garbage trucks down the road after having they're meal interrupted. 

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Other sightings

A streetcar driver named Elmer Castine had a frightening encounter in 1909, he said a  Grunch had hopped on the back of his streetcar and attacked it. The story made it into New Orleans’ newspapers and became known as the Chalmette Devil.

There was even a few sightings during the civil war.

And in more recent times... people have reported being stalking be these creatures along the edges of the New Orleans city golf course.

 At the Chalmette National Battlefield, visitors have caught glimpses of Grunches hiding near the shrubs.

 On Highway 90, Grunches hide on the side of the road waiting for drivers to approach before running into the road and chasing after the cars.

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Nobody really knows what they are,but if you're thinking of taking a trip to Louisiana, especially New Orleans keep an eye out because you never know what you may encounter...

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