Strange and obscure folklore and sayings relating animals

[Jana]

The grease of the bats fur is believed to cure baldness when spread upon the head of a balding man or woman and is supposed to help to grow a head of long and shiny hair.

This is somewhat similar to saying in my country that subcutaneous fat of bears and badgers can moderate/cure symptoms of astma and lung tuberculosis. In (very) old times, cans of their boiled fat would be sold in rural enviroment. Boiled dog fat was used as cheaper and less powerful alternative. It thankfully died out.

However, with covid19, some people from Roma settlements in eastern Slovakia started to sell dog fat again, around 50 eur per jar. Slovak police has already opened the case after the first slaughtering place was found in autumn.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

This is somewhat similar to saying in my country that subcutaneous fat of bears and badgers can moderate/cure symptoms of astma and lung tuberculosis. In (very) old times, cans of their boiled fat would be sold in rural enviroment. Boiled dog fat was used as cheaper and less powerful alternative. It thankfully died out.

However, with covid19, some people from Roma settlements in eastern Slovakia started to sell dog fat again, around 50 eur per jar. Slovak police has already opened the case after the first slaughtering place was found in autumn.

I know that bear fat has been used "medicinally" in Europe but I had no idea about people using the boiled fat of badgers or dogs.

Oh god, that is awful about the dog slaughtering / boiling groups, were they specifically marketing it as being a cure for COVID ?

 

[Jana]

Oh god, that is awful about the dog slaughtering / boiling groups, were they specifically marketing it as being a cure for COVID ?

Yes, I believe so. It was produced and sold within part of the Roma minority where more of the older/traditional myths of medicinal/magical power of dog fat survives.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

For the Ekoi people of Southern Nigeria the drill was / is an animal that features in a number of folk tales.

A popular folk tale among the Ekoi was that the drill was once a human being named "Nshum" that inhabited a village and who refused to work and was both a mischief maker and idle. The people became frustrated with "Nshum" / the drill and confronted him but he became angry with the criticism and left the village and went instead to live in the forest.

The chieftan of the village summoned the people to go and catch drill and bring him back to perform work like everyone else but all attempts to capture him were unsuccessful. Eventually other lazy people from the surrounding villages began to defect from urban life and go to join drill in the forest and to adopt his "idle" lifestyle.

One day a hunter was in the forest and saw a large figure in a tree and thinking it was an animal shot it with an arrow and succeeded in killing drill. The hunter brought the carcass of drill back to the village and to the witch doctor who cast a spell and declared :

“He is no longer a human being, but only a wild animal now. You may kill him and eat his flesh.” This is the reason why it is no longer unlawful to eat Nshum. Before the charm was practiced, no one ate him."

This folk tale illustrates the belief that surrounds / surrounded the eating of the flesh of the drill which may indicate that there was once a historic taboo against the consumption of the meat of this primate which sadly no longer exists.

To this day the Ekoi call people they deem lazy by the name "Nshum" or "Drill" and the animal is associated by this ethnic group with anti-social behaviour, laziness and a lack of ambition in life.


Photo credits to @RatioTile and @geomorph.


Source: "Captive Environmental Influences on Behavior in Zoo Drills and Mandrills (Mandrillus), a Threatened Genus of Primate", Erik Terdal, 1996.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

The Sakalava peoples of Western Madagascar use many plants medicinally and the use of some of these are traditionally believed to have been taught to humans by the black lemur.

The Sakalava believe that their ancestors observed the black lemur when wounded using the leaves of several trees and shrubs to cure itself by holding these to the wound as a bandage to staunch bleeding.

A "fady" or taboo once existed in the Sakalava culture against the hunting of the black lemur in the forests.

However, migration from other parts of the country in recent years has brought peoples who do not possess the same taboos / fady as the Sakalava towards the consumption of the species to the region and these groups do hunt this primate.


Photo credits to @Therabu.

Source: "Primates in the Forest: Sakalava Ethnoprimatology and Synecological Relations with Black Lemurs at Ambato Massif, Madagascar", Ian Colquhoun, 2005.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

To some Igbo peoples of Southern Nigeria the Mona monkey is a sacred species and the hunting and consumption of their meat is strictly taboo and forbidden.

The sacred status of this species may vary widely across Igbo communities and is heavily dependent on the presence of "sacred groves" where the forest is left untouched and species may not be hunted nor trees logged.

Photo credit to @robreintjes.

Source: "Distribution and Abundance of Sacred Monkeys in Igboland, Southern Nigeria", Lynne R. Baker et al , 2009 (Journal: American Journal of Primatology).

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

To the Igbo ethnic group of Southern Nigeria the Royal python (called "Eke") has always been an animal that is imbued with the divine within their animist cosmovision.

Many taboos exist about the harming and killing of these snakes and a person who does so may face either death as punishment or else terrible social consequences for such actions which are considered profane:

"In Anambra state (one of the major Igbo states in Nigeria), eke (the royal python) is regarded as a totem and nobody can deliberately kill it without incurring the ostracism of the people. If an eke killer is not killed by the mob, he definitely faces social ostracism, and when he eventually dies, he will not be given an honorable burial under the traditional religion."

When Christianity first arrived within the region in the 19th century with the arrival of colonialism the worship of the snake was considered by missionaries and converts to be Satanic.

The Christians therefore made deliberate attempts to mistreat the snake and violate its sacred status in order to anger the adherents of the traditional Igbo animist religion :

"What most early Christians in Anambra area did was to kill the eke Idemili (the sacred python belonging to Idemili deity) deliberately and use them as food. Not only that, they killed and ate this totem animal, they put its head inside match boxes which when picked up and opened by the traditional religionists, they had to offer special sacrifices to cleanse themselves from the abomination because they had seen the head of eke (Royal python). This brought the first physical conflict between the traditional religionists and the Christians in that part of Igbo nation"

Though the Christians tried hard to drive the worship of the snake out of Igbo culture the reverence for the animal proved to be far stronger. The snake is still worshipped in many Igbo regions of Nigeria including Anambra where temples exist that keep the Royal python.


Photo credits to @Animal and @Goura .

Source: "Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in Eastern Nigeria: The Igbo Example.", Chukwuma O. Okeke, 2017.

 

[Jurek7]

Another myth is told by the Bongando peoples of the Congo to explain why mankind lives in villages and the bonobo in the forest.

It seems that there is a lot of stories in Africa, centered on why chimps or bonobos don't live in villages and don't use fire.

Jean-Pierre Hallet reported an opposite tale, that chimpanzees originally lived in villages and had fire. A human was invited as a guest and stole the fire from the chimps.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

It seems that there is a lot of stories in Africa, centered that chimps or bonobos and humans used to live together, and about why apes have no fire.

Jean-Pierre Hallet reported an opposite tale, that chimpanzees originally lived in villages and had fire. A human was invited as a guest and stole the fire from the chimps.

Totally agree, it is very interesting indeed to read about all these differing perceptions on great apes.

I know that Jean Pierre Hallet and his research centred on the Baka so I imagine that this tale about humans stealing fire from the chimpanzee may have been from one of the Baka / pygmy peoples of the Congo.

I'll have to check it out and thanks for mentioning it too

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

The mountain tapir is subject to many folkloric beliefs in the parts of the Andes where this rare species continues to persist.

This is especially the case in Ecuador and Colombia where the animal is imbued with magical qualities within folk stories and beliefs.

The mountain tapir is known to many as "La gran bestia" (The great beast) in rural Ecuadorean and Colombian communities and another term for the animal (from which it gains its scientific name) is the "pinchaque".

Interestingly, the term "pinchaque" is derived from an indigenous Precolombian myth that has survived to the present day about a large and magical herbivorous beast which is believed to roam the Andes and roughly fits the description of the mountain tapir minus the magic.

Perhaps because of this association with the "pinchaque" myth and magic in many rural communities and even within cities an illegal trade exists with parts of the tapir being sold in markets as traditional medicine.

The hooves and snout of the tapir are believed to have curative qualities when ground and ingested that cure diseases and work as aphrodisiacs while the intestines of the tapir are frequently consumed in a soup because they are believed to cure intestinal parasites.

However, the animal is not only believed to cure physical ailments and illnesses but is also believed to bring about good luck in human affairs. As such the bones, teeth and scraps of skin of the mountain tapir are often sold illegally as potent talismans which are believed to secure success in love and business dealings.

Photo credits to @Giant Eland

Source: "Zooarchaeology at Pirlncay, a Fonnative Period Site in Highland Ecuador.", George R. Miller et al, 1990 (Journal: The Journal of Field Archeology).

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

To the Bangando clan from Southern Cameroon the chimpanzee is an animal that cannot be hunted or eaten.

This is because the great ape is believed to have rescued the ancestors of the tribe at a moment of great danger and grief.

Oral story telling states that in the 19th century when the Sokoto Islamic caliphate launched slave raids against communities across the region the ancestors of the Bangando fled deep into the Congo rainforest to avoid enslavement and violence.

With slave traders closing in on the ancestors they are said to have become lost within the forest and began to despair. However, their calls of distress were heard by chimpanzees who from the vantage point of the forest canopy helped the refugees by guiding them to safety.

For this reason the Bangando will not consume the flesh of the chimpanzee which are considered to be animals that are intermediaries of the divine.


Photo credits to @Benosaurus.

Source: "Death does not come from the forest but from the village. People, great apes, and disease in the Equatorial African rainforest", Tamara Giles Vernicke et al, 2012 (Journal: Cahiers d'anthropologie sociale).

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

The Indian one horned rhinoceros is an animal that is subject to many folkloric beliefs across its now diminishing range in India and Nepal.

In India a common Hindu myth is that the rhinoceros was given its distinctive armour plating by the god Shiva so that it could fight in a battle against demonic forces which threatened to undermine the universe. However, the rhino was simpleminded and forgetful and so forgot to take the armour off and still wears it to this day.

To the Buddhists of Nepal the rhino is an animal full of religious symbolism due to its large and ferocious appearance yet mostly shy, benevolent and gentle behaviour. The rhino is also symbolic because of its largely solitary nature which is interpreted as being similar to the Buddhist concept of "non-attachment".

There is even a Buddhist sutra (a religious aphorism) known as the "Khaggavisana Sutta" which translates as the "Rhinoceros sutra" :

"Renouncing violence for all living beings,

harming not even a one;

You would not wish for offspring,

so how a companion?

Wander alone like a rhinoceros."

In spite of this symbolism in the two predominant religions of the region the rhino was still traditionally hunted in Nepal for its body parts which were believed to have curative properties.

In Nepalese traditional medicine the dried penis of rhinos were traditionally sold in markets to male customers who believed it would cure their sexual impotence.

For the indigenous Tharu peoples who live in the surroundings of Chitwan National Park (which holds one of the largest wild populations of Indian rhino) it is taboo to harm the rhino.

However, the Tharu do harvest the meat of rhino that have died of natural causes which is believed to impart health, strength and courage on the consumer and also harvest the animals urine which is believed to be curative for illnesses like asthma, ear infections and tuberculosis.

Photo credits to @Tim May and @vogelcommando.

Source: "The Soul of the Rhino ", Hermanta Mishra, 2008.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

In Turkey the Waldrapp ibis is a bird that is imbued with religious and cultural symbolism.

A belief long held in many regions of Turkey and primarily in the Birecik area is that this bird was the first that was released by Noah from his famous Biblical ark and was done so as a symbol of fertility.

This folkloric / religious belief is though to have helped the species to have survived in Turkey whereas it went extinct across much of its historic range due to persecution, overexploitation and human development.

A folkloric celebration is held every year in Birecik known as "Kelaynak yortusu" which translates as the "bald ibis festival" and which takes place in Febuary and is symbolic of the arrival of Spring. The festival coincides with the arrival of these birds after their migration from Ethiopia and North Africa.

Photo credits to @alexkant, @Jordan-Jaguar97 and @geomorph.

 

[J I N X]

In Pakistan a strange belief surrounds a population of mugger crocodiles that are kept in a pond enclosure in the old neighbourhood of Manghopir in the Capital city of Karachi.

The enclosure holding the mugger crocodiles also happens to be a shrine to a Sufi "Saint" Manghopir whose name was given to this area of the city.

Manghopir was an Arab merchant who arrived in Pakistan in the 13th century and took up a successful "Jihad" against the invading Mongol forces before settling in the area which his name now carries and working as a missionary.

The reptiles themselves are connected with Manghopir through a myth that these animals were once lice which were turned into crocodiles by this Sufi saint (why a saint would transform a parasite into a considerably more dangerous animal is not so easily explained) and these animals are therefore considered sacred.

However, the most likely explanation for the presence of the crocodiles in this area of Karachi is that these animals once inhabited a larger aquatic ecosystem such as a small lake which was subsequently swallowed up by human settlements that grew over time.

Eventually the cultural connection with the crocodiles with the legend of Manghopir and the habit of feeding and caring for these reptiles led to a process of taming and genetic "domestication" of these animals which are now remarkably tame.

Today the sacred crocodiles are well cared for by the devotees of the Saint who throw garlands of flowers to them and feed them everything from cakes to bread to meat.


Photo credits to @Maguari.

Source: "BREEDING AND POPULATION STATUS OF MARSH CROCODILE (CROCODYLUS PALUSTRIS) IN MANGHOPIR SHRINE AREA, KARACHI.", M Zaheer Khan et al, (Journal: Canadian Journal of Pure and Applied Science).

The pond was (maybe still is) known as maggar talao which translates to crocodile lake, the area surrounding is one of the more agriculture dominated area of Karachi and is in close proximity to the Hub river, the lower portion of which had a mugger population before the construction of the Hub dam. Also, the biggest male crocodile of the lake is regarded a saint in its own right.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

The pond was (maybe still is) known as maggar talao which translates to crocodile lake, the area surrounding is one of the more agriculture dominated area of Karachi and is in close proximity to the Hub river, the lower portion of which had a mugger population before the construction of the Hub dam. Also, the biggest male crocodile of the lake is regarded a saint in its own right.

Thanks for that @JINX , this is very interesting, have you visited this area ?

Why is the larger crocodile considered to be a saint ?

 

[J I N X]

Thanks for that @JINX , this is very interesting, have you visited this area ?

Why is the larger crocodile considered to be a saint ?

Not yet I haven't, I did plan on last year but covid put those plans on hold.
I'm not entirely sure but I suppose it has something to do with bigger being more dominant.
Also another fact, the majority of Pir Mangho devotees belong to the Shiddi people, Pakistan's only ethnicity of a south/east African descent.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Not yet I haven't, I did plan on last year but covid put those plans on hold.
I'm not entirely sure but I suppose it has something to do with bigger being more dominant.
Also another fact, the majority of Pir Mangho devotees belong to the Shiddi people, Pakistan's only ethnicity of a south/east African descent.

I hope you are able to soon, it looks to be a fascinating place and of great anthropological significance.

Very interesting, the worship of crocodiles is a common phenomenon across Africa so I wonder if this could have originally originated in East Africa and arrived in Pakistan with the Shiddi peoples.

 

[J I N X]

I hope you are able to soon, it looks to be a fascinating place and of great anthropological significance.

Very interesting, the worship of crocodiles is a common phenomenon across Africa so I wonder if this could have originally originated in East Africa and arrived in Pakistan with the Shiddi peoples.

possibly, although there are shrines associated with animals in Pakistan; crows, dogs etc. and to a larger extent in India so it's not completely out of the ordinary other than that it's crocodiles.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

possibly, although there are shrines associated with animals in Pakistan; crows, dogs etc. and to a larger extent in India so it's not completely out of the ordinary other than that it's crocodiles.

I would like to learn more about these, are you referring to shrines in the Chitral region and of the Kalash peoples and their religion ? or are these shrines Islamic ones ?

Of course the worship of the crocodile could have predated the arrival of the Shiddi peoples and be completely indigenous in origin as the Indus valley civilization produced seals and tablets that portrayed the gharial.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

possibly, although there are shrines associated with animals in Pakistan; crows, dogs etc. and to a larger extent in India so it's not completely out of the ordinary other than that it's crocodiles.

By the way, not related to crocs and only tangentially related to the subject of the thread but more so on the subject of Pakistan and Peshawar but I've always found the goat / markhor symbol of the ISI intelligence service a bit strange.