0:00:00.000,0:00:01.110 - 1731 - 0:00:01.110,0:00:02.961 In an orchard, near the village of Songy, 0:00:02.961,0:00:05.709 the inhabitants came across a strange wild girl. 0:00:05.712,0:00:07.791 Frightened, they set a hound on her. 0:00:07.791,0:00:08.916 "Kevin, attack !" 0:00:08.931,0:00:10.789 But not only did the young girl not flee, 0:00:10.789,0:00:13.456 she also waited calmly for the dog, and killed it, in one fell swoop of her club. 0:00:13.456,0:00:15.717 "Oh my god ! Noo, Kevin !" 0:00:15.717,0:00:18.779 They ended up catching her, but the child was a real weirdo. 0:00:18.779,0:00:20.294 She didn't speak, walked on all four 0:00:20.294,0:00:21.946 and yet run very fast, swam very well 0:00:21.946,0:00:24.472 loved climbing trees, and catching rabbits to eat them raw. 0:00:24.472,0:00:26.203 Some think that she was a Native American 0:00:26.203,0:00:28.797 offered to a Frenchman at the age of 6. 0:00:28.800,0:00:31.225 And who, upon landing in Marseille, successfully escaped, 0:00:31.225,0:00:33.771 before living for about ten years in the wild. 0:00:33.771,0:00:35.075 Yes, Marie-Angélique 0:00:35.075,0:00:36.075 That's how they named her 0:00:36.075,0:00:38.644 is one of the most famous case of feral child 0:00:38.644,0:00:40.831 Feral children have been reported since Antiquity 0:00:40.831,0:00:42.413 They were abandoned or lost 0:00:42.413,0:00:45.325 and have spent a lot of time away from human communities. 0:00:45.325,0:00:46.490 Which means that they grew up differently 0:00:46.490,0:00:48.087 and were sometimes raised by animals 0:00:48.087,0:00:50.984 such as the Ardennes wolf child found in 1563 0:00:50.984,0:00:55.043 He got lost in the woods when he was around 9-month old and was adopted by a pack of wolves. 0:00:55.043,0:00:56.492 And when he was found again, at around 7 years old, 0:00:56.492,0:00:59.112 the she-wolf protecting him was shot so they could catch him. 0:00:59.112,0:01:00.881 Effectively infuriating the child. 0:01:00.881,0:01:02.865 Yet, he was captured and tamed by force 0:01:02.865,0:01:05.348 and exhibited as a circus freak from city to city. 0:01:05.348,0:01:07.836 Eventually, he was re-integrated to the village where he became a shepherd 0:01:07.836,0:01:11.103 because the sheep under his care are miraculously spared by the wolves. 0:01:11.103,0:01:13.442 "Yeah but, when I reached puberty, it didn't work anymore. 0:01:13.442,0:01:15.521 So, i joined the army !" 0:01:16.221,0:01:17.586 ...where he died. 0:01:17.793,0:01:19.700 There are many examples of feral children 0:01:19.700,0:01:22.624 acting like wolves, bears, dogs, goats, sheep, pigs, baboons, chimpanzees 0:01:22.624,0:01:25.583 tigers, leopards, jackals, gazelles and even, chickens! 0:01:25.583,0:01:26.695 Yeah, each to his own, right? 0:01:26.695,0:01:28.337 "Hey, it's not like we had the choice!" 0:01:28.337,0:01:31.058 But they are often found alone, like little Marie-Angélique, 0:01:31.058,0:01:32.257 whose story I shall resume. 0:01:32.257,0:01:35.306 She was brought to a convent, to learn about religion, sewing, house chores 0:01:35.306,0:01:37.154 like all nice little girls back then. 0:01:37.154,0:01:40.766 And also to speak, read and write, which is quite extraordinary for those children. 0:01:40.766,0:01:44.089 The young girl was brought to courts all over France so that people could have a good laugh. 0:01:44.089,0:01:45.792 Which resulted in some unreal situations. 0:01:45.792,0:01:47.839 Such as the time when she put in the guests' plates 0:01:47.839,0:01:50.762 living frogs, recently caught in the castle gardens. 0:01:50.762,0:01:55.157 "Sweet Jesus, Marie-Angélique ! That's no way to behave! No way to behave." 0:01:55.157,0:01:56.493 The young girl fascinated people. 0:01:56.493,0:01:58.917 Linnaeus even included her in his Linnaean taxonomy. 0:01:58.917,0:02:00.699 "Yeah, I don't really know what to do with this hybrid. 0:02:00.699,0:02:02.606 I put her with the missing links, it didn't work, 0:02:02.606,0:02:04.107 I put her somewhere else, didn't work. 0:02:04.107,0:02:06.996 Seriously, what even is this thing?" 0:02:06.996,0:02:10.341 Yes, those children give rise to a lot of questions and can be objects of study. 0:02:10.341,0:02:14.606 Such as Victor de l'Aveyron, a 10-to-13 years old child, captured in 1800 in the Lacaune woods. 0:02:14.678,0:02:17.500 He was studied by doctor Itard who tried to educate him. 0:02:17.500,0:02:21.401 "I managed to make him progress but I threw in the towel after 6 years. 0:02:21.401,0:02:24.696 Then I entrusted him to his governess to make sure he doesn't end up in an asylum. 0:02:24.696,0:02:28.169 However, my methods were used to develop tools used a lot for pedagogical purposes." 0:02:28.169,0:02:31.265 - Yeah, but once you hung me from the fourth floor to punish me." 0:02:31.265,0:02:33.891 - Down Victor! You're not supposed to know how to speak." 0:02:33.891,0:02:37.668 Weird and disturbing, the fate of these children has hardly ever been all roses. 0:02:37.668,0:02:39.234 Exhibited as circus freaks. 0:02:39.234,0:02:41.919 Sometimes with their legs trapped in splints to force them to stand up 0:02:41.919,0:02:43.632 brutal changes of diets... 0:02:43.632,0:02:46.123 Marie-Angélique lost all of her teeth and almost died. 0:02:46.123,0:02:47.710 Well, you name it. 0:02:47.718,0:02:53.063 Anthopologist Lucienne Strivay highlighted that only in Western societies, where nature and culture are separated 0:02:53.063,0:02:55.028 were those children called feral. 0:02:55.028,0:02:58.760 While in other places, or other times, they are not necessarily seen as abberations. 0:02:58.760,0:03:02.550 In the end, this mainly makes us wonder about our relationship with Nature. 0:03:02.550,0:03:06.254 Don't forget that there is an animated episode the first wednesday of every month at 12pm. 0:03:06.254,0:03:08.550 When you hear the siren going off outside, it's time for your cartoon 0:03:08.550,0:03:10.630 To make sure you don't miss any, you can click on the bell. 0:03:10.630,0:03:14.167 And if you can't wait until then, you should know that you can have an early access to my videos 0:03:14.167,0:03:18.716 to all those who donate on Tipeee or who join the Youtube channel. 0:03:18.716,0:03:20.926 There are many many more stories about feral children. 0:03:20.926,0:03:23.352 Feel free to share one in the comment section. 0:03:23.352,0:03:26.186 And because there is so much more to be said about this fasctinating topic 0:03:26.186,0:03:28.298 I put a lot of interesting links in the description. 0:03:28.298,0:03:31.879 See you the on Wednesday 6 May at 12pm for the next episode!