Strange and obscure folklore and sayings relating animals

To several indigenous Tupi-Guarani tribes of Brazil the lowland tapir is not just an animal of the forest but also a cosmic creature.
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These peoples believe that the milky way (called Tapťí Rapé or Mborevî Rapé in the Guarani language) seen in the night sky is the mud wallow and tracks of a celestial tapir.

This due to the beige / whitish / reddish colour of the milky way which is believed by these tribes to strongly resemble the muddy wallows left by the tapir in the forest after it bathes.



Photo credit to @Nick@Amsterdam.

Source: "ANIMAL AND PLANT CULTS IN GUARANI LORE", Leon Cadogan, 1966 (Journal: Revista de Antropologia).
 
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Many varied differences exist in the general attitude held by the distinct peoples that inhabit the Congo towards the Western Lowland gorilla.
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The Baka indigenous peoples (often called "pygmies) who are nomadic hunter gatherers and have always inhabited the forests of Central Africa do not typically hunt or eat the flesh of the gorilla (which is called in the Baka language "Ebobo"). This is because the meat of great apes is believed to be too human-like and so is seen as revolting and unsettling.

Killing a gorilla for a Baka therefore carries with it no macho bragging points of being a "great hunter" as this is instead reserved for the feat of killing an elephant. The gorilla is therefore only killed in self-defence or increasingly to sell the meat to Bantu communities.

In contrast the Bantu peoples who arrived much later in the region and became settled agriculturalists do hunt the gorilla (which is called "Dzil" in many Bantu languages of Central Africa). Moreover, it is considered to be a marker of great masculinity for a man to hunt down and kill one of these great apes.

After a gorilla hunt it is considered manly to bring the meat of the ape back to the village for the community to consume. The meat of the gorilla is thus considered a great delicacy and is eaten and enjoyed in many Bantu communities.


Photo credit to @Rick J.

Source: "Of Apes and Men: Baka and Bantu Attitudes to Wildlife and the Making of Eco-Goodies and Baddies", Axel Kohler, 2005 (Journal: Conservation & Society).
 
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Numerous strange folkloric stories exists about the pygmy hippo in the West African countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone to which it is endemic.

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One common belief in Liberia is that the pygmy hippo (or "water cow" as it is called in the country) holds a diamond within its mouth that it uses at night to light its way in the forest as it leaves the river to walk. During the day the hippo is believed to hide the diamond in a place along the riverbank where it cannot be found but at night if a hunter is lucky to kill one of these animals he may obtain the diamond.

In Sierra Leone it is frequently believed that the pygmy hippo is bullet proof thanks to the foamy glandular secrets that the animal sweats profusely throughout the day which are believed to provide protection against projectiles.

A similarly strange belief in the same country is that mother pygmy hippos do not feed their offspring milk through suckling but instead feed them on the glandular secretions which the young lick off the skin of their mothers backs.

Photo credits to @Therabu.

Sources: "The Hippos: Natural History and Conservation", Stewart Keith Eltringham, 1999.
 
For some Bakwele tribal peoples who inhabit Cameroon a gorilla may not be a gorilla but instead the restless spirit of a recently deceased human being.

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There is a belief that when a person dies he or she may sometimes reincarnate as a gorilla and will fearlessly revisit places and people with which they were familiar with in life before they died in a melancholy way and sometimes cause mischief.

A gorilla of this kind is known as a "Dzil-elizaliza" and such a spirit animal is never harmed by a village it visits (though the gorilla is hunted for bushmeat by the Bakwele) for fear of both causing offence and further grief to the reincarnated persons family and invoking general bad fortune.

Some stories recorded by an anthropologist of these ghostly gorillas illustrate the strength of the belief in this phenomenon in Bakwele communities:

"Around 1985, a farmer was living at the forest camp Diwala as a logging company’s employee, along with with several Baka colleagues. Diwala is an abandoned village where the Bakwele and the Baka used to live, but there were no permanent residents at that time. They encountered a gorilla every morning at the water source. When they fetched water, the gorilla turned its back to the people and stayed calm. The gorilla was not afraid at all. People in the camp thought that it must surely be a dzil-elizaliza and decided not to kill him."

"As people gathered in front of Bernard’s house to prepare dance ceremonies for his funeral ritual, a gorilla appeared. The gorilla wandered around and then entered the baaza (men’s gathering space) and waved its hands. The gorilla was immediately recognized as a dzil-elizaliza, the revenant human-gorilla of the dead man Bernard. When a drum was played, the gorilla danced to the beat. People left the gorilla alone because it was a dzil-elizaliza. The gorilla stayed around the village for nearly a month after the funeral and then disappeared suddenly."

Photo credit to @Gigit.

Source: "Of Apes and Men: Baka and Bantu Attitudes to Wildlife and the Making of Eco-Goodies and Baddies", Axel Kohler, 2005 (Journal: Conservation & Society).
 
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To the Akan peoples of Ghana and the Ivory Coast the hunting of the bongo antelope (known as the "Tromo") is considered to be an activity that is far too dangerous / risky to engage in.
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This is not because hunting this animal is physically dangerous within itself but because of the belief that the bongo possesses one of the most potent and menacing spiritual powers (known as sasa in the Akan language).

If a man kills a bongo in the forest many misfortunes are believed to follow as a result. These include: madness / severe schizophrenia, death and suffering through diseases of relatives, death and disease to the hunter himself.

The ritual to exorcise the vengeful sasa spirit of the bongo is believed to be very complicated and in fact almost impossible to perform by witchdoctors.

A common proverb exists in many Akan communities "Be smart, since when you kill the bongo its spirit will haunt you until you exorcise it; you better leave it to roam about in the forest."

Such traditional folkloric beliefs regarding the bongo antelope have naturally helped to make its conservation much easier in many areas of Ghana where the animal occurs.

Photo credit to @Neva.

Source: "The Myths Surrounding the TRↄMO (The Bongo Antelope-- Tragelaphus Eurycerus) and Fauna Conservation Among the Akan of Ghana: A Critical Analysis", Samuel Awuah-Nyamekye et al, 2018 (Journal: Research on Humanities and Social Sciences).
 
The name of the Americas largest primate the muriqui is believed to have come from a now extinct indigenous language spoken by the Tupi-Guarani peoples who inhabited the Atlantic rainforest region of Brazil.
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This name has been variously translated using other still extant Tupi-Guarani languages as the "people of the forest" or "those who sway / swing, who come and go".

Beyond knowing that these primates were occasionally hunted by the tribes for their meat we sadly can never know for sure what ethno-zoological beliefs or ontologies were held by these Tupi-Guarani tribes towards the muriqui.

The enslavement and extermination of these tribes by the Portuguese colonizers and the lack of any written records of their belief systems eviscerated such things from history.

Today we are only left with the ghostly traces in the names of some plants, animals and rivers.

Photo credit to @devilfish.

Source: "Faces in the forest", Karen B. Strier, 1990.
 
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I've read before that the water shrew is the probable source for a mythical creature from northern Scotland called the Lavellan, which is described as being small and furry, with bright eyes and able to move very quickly. Like the water shrew Lavellans were toxic, albeit to a completely different degree - Lavellans were said to be able to harm cattle from forty yards away and their breath was toxic enough to kill a man.

Known antidotes to Lavellan poisoning were water in which a Lavellan skin has been dipped and also water in which a Lavellan head had been boiled.
 
birdsandbats said:
Apparently seabirds were essential to the Inca Empire and they actually had strict laws in place to protect the birds:

The Incas Were Some of the Earliest Bird Conservationists
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Very interesting indeed, I think I've read about this somewhere, wasn't this because of the guano being used for fertilizing crops in the Inca empire ?

RatioTile said:
The Taiwanese word for Anguilla marmorata, the mottled eel (鱸鰻) is slang for “gangster,” probably referring to its slick nature.
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Seriously ?! wow ! I quite like that one, reminds me of the saying "slippery as an eel" :D

DesertRhino150 said:
I've read before that the water shrew is the probable source for a mythical creature from northern Scotland called the Lavellan, which is described as being small and furry, with bright eyes and able to move very quickly. Like the water shrew Lavellans were toxic, albeit to a completely different degree - Lavellans were said to be able to harm cattle from forty yards away and their breath was toxic enough to kill a man.

Known antidotes to Lavellan poisoning were water in which a Lavellan skin has been dipped and also water in which a Lavellan head had been boiled.
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This is fascinating, thanks for sharing @DesertRhino150 !

I'm going to have a read up about this as I'm fascinatined by the folklore and mythology which surrounds venomous mammals.
 
In the Mustang region of Nepal a curious folkloric belief indirectly influences the conservation of the snowleopard.

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It is believed that to kill the snowleopard is far more sinful and risky than killing its prey species such as the blue sheep or the Himalayan ibex.

This is because to kill the leopard would meaning transferring and absorbing all of the sins of the prey that it predates in the Buddhist sense of Karma.

"Local inhabitants still believe that snow leopards (and domestic cats) are considered to have taken birth particularly to remove the sins of their past lives, and killing these animals’ means having their sins transferred to our own life. In Mustang, killing a snow leopard is considered to be more aberrant than its prey species (e.g. blue sheep), because all sins it has committed during its lifetime by killing its prey will then be transferred to us."


Photo credit to @Himimomi.

Source: "ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON FOLKLORE: UNDERPINNINGS ON SOME NEPALI FOLKLORE", Prakesh Upadhyay, 2016.
 
In Sri Lanka the slender loris is an animal prevalent in the folklore of both of the major ethnic groups that inhabit the island, the Tamil and the Sinhalese.

This animal has both a negative association as an omen of ill fortune and a positive one (though sadly not for the loris itself) in traditional medicine.

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To see the slender loris before or during embarking on a journey was an ill omen that heralded a tragedy yet to come to the traveller.

The use of the body parts of the loris in traditional medicine and rituals is a common phenomenon in Sri Lanka. The wearing of the bones or scraps of fur of the slender loris is believed to serve as an effective amulet against the "evil eye" (a glance from somebody which would cause a curse).

The eyes of the slender loris when ground up into a paste and consumed were believed to be an effective love potion for the love stricken.

The roasted flesh of the slender loris was also believed to be highly curative against leprosy when eaten with spices by a leper. As this was an affliction which was once common across the island the slender loris was historically widely hunted for this reason.

Photo credit to @Giant Eland.

Source: "Exploring Cultural Drivers for Wildlife Trade via an Ethnoprimatological Approach: A Case Study of Slender and Slow Lorises (Loris and Nycticebus) in South and Southeast Asia.", Ana Nekaris et al, 2010 (Journal: American Journal of Primatology).
 
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In the folklore and folkloric stories of Fiji the iguana is a rather prevalent animal and features in many tales.

Accordingly this striking reptile has both negative and positive ontologies within Fijian culture.
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It is known by most Fijians as "Vokai" and several myths exist about this reptile which generally have negative associations.

One myth is that the iguana can turn itself black when enraged which is an ability that features prominently in stories where the animal plays a wholely negative role.

Another once common myth was that the iguana hurled itself from trees at villagers and would begin to attack them by biting and scratching causing severe wounds.

However, to some tribes in Fiji the iguana is not at all a negative animal and it is in fact sacred and totemic to the inhabitants of Yadua island.

To speak the name of the iguana ("Saumure") in the cultures of Yadua island is forbidden and to name the animal in front of women is so deeply taboo that it is punishable by severe beatings with sticks.


Photo credit to @WhistlingKite24.

Source: "Lost in the South Pacific : The Fijian Iguanas (Genus: Brachylophus)", Peter S Harlow, 2004 (Journal: Iguana).
 
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In the Mahafaly culture of North-Eastern Madagascar there is a "fady" or taboo against killing or eating the flesh of the ring tailed lemur and the Verreaux's sifaka.

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This is because in tribal mythology both of these species are considered to have once been amongst the first humans.

The ancestors of these animals are believed to have once been the wives of the first man who were transformed into lemurs during a fight that emerged due to jealousy :

"According to local folklore, all three species originated from a single man and his two wives. The man captured a radiated tortoise (Geochelone radiata) for dinner. He gave the tortoise to his first wife and left for the day (Figure 10). His second wife became envious and subsequently, she beat the first wife repeatedly with a wooden spoon; these beatings ultimately transformed the first wife into the maky (ring-tailed lemur) (Figures 11 and 12)."

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"The first wife, now in the form of a ring-tailed lemur, grappled with the second wife and beat her with the wooden spoon until the second transformed into a sifaka (Figure 13). Thus according to our informants’ traditional folklore the ring-tailed lemur and the sifaka were at one time humans and harming or killing these primates is forbidden and brings back luck."

These traditional folk beliefs prove to be very beneficial in conserving the lemur in areas where the Mahafaly peoples and the lemurs coexist.



Photo credit to @KevinB and @Moebelle.

Source: "One reserve, three primates: applying a holistic approach to understand the interconnections among ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), Verreaux's sifaka (Pr s sifaka (Propithecus v opithecus verreauxi), and humans eauxi), and humans (Homo sapiens) at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar", James E. Loudon, 2006 (Ecological and Environmental Anthropology).

 
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To the indigenous San peoples of Southern Africa the kudu is a deeply symbolic animal imbued with a complex spiritual significance.

Cave paintings of the kudu dating from thousands of years ago may be found across the region and are testament to the role this animal has always played within the cosmovision of the San.

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The kudu is believed to be an animal that possesses high levels of spiritual power known as "n/om" which must be harnessed and channeled by a shaman through dancing in order to access a deep trance-like state of altered concioussness. The dance often takes place around the carcass of a kudu that has recently killed by hunters.

In such states the shaman might transcend this world and enter the world of the spirits. Here he might take on the sacred power that resides within animals such as the kudu and receive messages and revelations from the world beyond this one.

Because the kudu is a strongly sexually dimorphic animal it also is an animal that is associated in the San cosmovision with female fertility and male virility.

For young San women about to enter puberty there are "kudu and eland dances" where through imitating the movements of this animal she may symbolically become the female kudu / eland.

The rite of passage for young men is to hunt the kudu or the eland (the latter is preferred but if it cannot be found then the former is pursued), a great athletic feat considering the stamina and speed of these animals, and to successfully kill one by bow and arrow to attain manhood.

Photo credit to @Giant Eland.

Source: "Animals Behaving like People: San Rock Paintings of Kudu in the Central Limpopo Basin, Southern Africa", Edward B. Eastwood, 2006 (Journal: The South African Archaeological Bulletin).
 
The indigenous San peoples of Southern Africa, the most ancient of all peoples and hunter gatherers, often hunt the aardvark for its meat.
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However, to the San it is believed to be critically important to hunt this animal in the correct way or terrible consequences could follow as a result.

As such a hunter should never kill too many aardvarks but only what is strictly necessary to feed his family and tribal group.

Moreover in the act of killing the aardvark it is important for the hunter to do so speedily and as humanely as possible in order not to cause any unnecessary suffering to the animal so that death may come within seconds.

The San believe that if a hunter should overexploit the aardvark by killing too many of them or kill a single animal in a way that prolongs its suffering then a close relative of the man will similarly die a terrible and slow death.


Photo credit to @ThylacineAlive.

Source: "GUARDIANS OF NATURE AMONG THE/XAM SAN: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY", Ansie Hoff, 2011 (Journal: The South African Archaeological Bulletin).
 
To the Batlokwa of Botswana, who are a pastoralist peoples and of the Bantu ethnic group, the aardvark is a totemic animal. It is known fondly by the name "Thakadu" in their language.
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The aardvark has such a strong significance for the Batlokwa because it is believed that it once helped their ancestors find water underground which was necessary for survival during a terrible drought.

For this reason the hunting and the meat of the aardvark is strictly taboo and forbidden within Batlokwa culture.

It is believed that if a Batlokwa man should kill one of these animals he will unleash terrible bad luck upon himself and his community.

Photo credit to @Therabu.

Source: "Food prejudices and Taboos", Louis Grivetti, 2000.
 
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Not particularly strange in my eyes, and not something I would like to label strange, but I thought I'd share some aspects from my culture, just things I've been taught from relatives and what not throughout my life.

In Vietnam, there's quite the bit of stories about animals and their importance, so I thought I'd share some.

Francolins have somewhat of a cultural importance, in which their call symbolizes a call for a friend or what not, so it can be seen as a symbol for loneliness or friendship. Many popular songs center around the idea, such as the one below. What it's exactly about I'm not too sure but it's something about loneliness and the call of a francolin :P.


We also have a saying about turtles, "rùa cắn trời gầm không nhả", which roughly translates to "when a turtle bites, the sky growls and it doesn't let go", something like that.

Not directly related to animals, but rather food, but there's a superstition that fishermen have. Basically, when eating a fish, and you get to the spine of the fish (we eat the whole fish), you just peel off the bone to get to the other side of the fish for meat, rather than flipping the fish over. Why is that? Because if you flip the fish over, it means that the next time you go out on a boat, your boat will flip over :p

Those are some of the many, I'll share more when I have time :).
 
ZooBinh said:
Not particularly strange in my eyes, and not something I would like to label strange, but I thought I'd share some aspects from my culture, just things I've been taught from relatives and what not throughout my life.

In Vietnam, there's quite the bit of stories about animals and their importance, so I thought I'd share some.

Francolins have somewhat of a cultural importance, in which their call symbolizes a call for a friend or what not, so it can be seen as a symbol for loneliness or friendship. Many popular songs center around the idea, such as the one below. What it's exactly about I'm not too sure but it's something about loneliness and the call of a francolin :p.


We also have a saying about turtles, "rùa cắn trời gầm không nhả", which roughly translates to "when a turtle bites, the sky growls and it doesn't let go", something like that.

Not directly related to animals, but rather food, but there's a superstition that fishermen have. Basically, when eating a fish, and you get to the spine of the fish (we eat the whole fish), you just peel off the bone to get to the other side of the fish for meat, rather than flipping the fish over. Why is that? Because if you flip the fish over, it means that the next time you go out on a boat, your boat will flip over :p

Those are some of the many, I'll share more when I have time :).
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I feel quite uneasy about the "strange" part too.

Originally I intended for the thread to showcase the stranger folkloric beliefs that are out there but it has sort of evolved into more of a thread that tries to highlight the complexity both good, bad and nuanced of human folklore about animals.

Regarding Vietnamese beliefs on different species I didn't know that about the Francolin so thank you for sharing that as that is definitely something new for me.

The turtle is a very interesting one indeed and I am very intrigued by the role that turtles have in Vietnamese culture and folklore and particularly the Hoàn Kiếm turtle as a "grandfather of the nation".

When the turtle died in Hanoi I was actually really quite moved that the death of this animal moved a whole nation to grief. I find it a very interesting example of ethno-zoological significance of a species / animal.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
I feel quite uneasy about the "strange" part too.

Originally I intended for the thread to showcase the stranger folkloric beliefs that are out there but it has sort of evolved into more of a thread that tries to highlight the complexity both good, bad and nuanced of human folklore about animals.

Regarding Vietnamese beliefs on different species I didn't know that about the Francolin so thank you for sharing that as that is definitely something new for me.

The turtle is a very interesting one indeed and I am very intrigued by the role that turtles have in Vietnamese culture and folklore and particularly the Hoàn Kiếm turtle as a "grandfather of the nation".

When the turtle died in Hanoi I was actually really quite moved that the death of this animal moved a whole nation to grief. I find it a very interesting example of ethno-zoological significance of a species / animal.
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Haha, reminds me that I forgot to share that story in the post, but it does seem that people on the site probably have a knowledge of the story :P.
 
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