Peter the Wild Boy appeared to the world in 1724 in Hamelin in Germany. Like an animal, he was said to have walked on all fours, even though he was a 12-year-old boy (or was it 13? 15?). He ate moss and climbed trees like a squirrel. He was naked and couldn’t talk and was frightened of humans.

George I took in the little wild boy, and London society was absolutely fascinated by him (much like we are with Balloon Boy, if this year’s Halloween costumes are any indication). At court, he ate fruits, vegetables and raw meat and hated wearing clothes. He became a present for Princess Caroline, who had him dressed in special outfits and gave him a watch.

No one knew where Peter came from, or how long he’d been in the forest, though creative minds said he was nursed by a bear from birth. Some who saw him described him like you would describe an animal, while others made the observation that although Peter certainly wasn’t like your average boy, it wasn’t wildness that was the trouble.

What fascinated Londoners was the idea of whether Peter was really human or not, and how you decide what makes a person a person. Is a boy who looks like a human but acts like an animal a person, too? Does he have a soul?

The court’s hopes to educate this wild boy and turn him into a “normal” person failed. Peter didn’t make much progress learning, and after a while it seemed that he never would. Although some rumors had it that Peter died shortly after coming to England, unable to thrive away from his wild home, he was actually sent to live away from court, and a royal pension provided for him until his death at around age 72. In his later years, he liked music and gin.

But the question about Peter that still isn’t answered is this: If he simply wasn’t able to be like everyone else, was it due to his time in the forest, or was it something within Peter himself?

Some accounts of Peter say that he had some sort of a defect of the tongue that made it difficult for him to speak. Some say he was mentally handicapped. Some today call him the first autistic person recorded in history.

Other stories of Peter say that he was rejected and neglected by his parents, perhaps because he couldn’t talk. I’d also been re-reading the story of Hansel and Gretel in a fairy tales book, and for those who aren’t familiar with the grim Grimm’s version, the two siblings are abandoned in the woods by their parents, who couldn’t afford to care for them anymore. Not that parental neglect is a relic of fairy tales – this story in the St. Petersburg Times haunts me, if you feel like being depressed for the rest of the day.

Like so many strange bits of history, we’ll never have the answer. Whatever Peter’s story is, he was lucky enough to live his later years in the company of kind people who cared for him.

Stories (and hoaxes) or feral children aren’t uncommon. What’s your favorite? And why do you think people are so fascinated by the idea?

PS – (And can I tell you how dismayed I am that the domain name FeralChildren.com is taken?)

Can brain damage lead to extraordinary art?
Was there really a pied piper of Hamelin?
If I kill an animal, can I eat it raw?