Strange and obscure folklore and sayings relating animals

ZooBinh said:
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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An animal that not just embodied a religious sentiment but also mythology / folklore and political self determination of the Vietnamese people from the Chinese.

Old Cụ Rùa was quite a remarkable reptile.
 
To the Zulu peoples of South Africa one of the most prominent animals within their folklore and folk stories is the slender mongoose which is known in their language as "Chakijana".
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The slender mongoose / Chakijana plays the role of an archetypal trickster character within Zulu folk stories in a way similar to the red fox within the cultures of Japan and Europe.

Chakijana is portrayed as crafty, cunning, a strategic thinker, a rebel, a joker and a sower of discord and mischief.

However, as the Zulus have always been a considerably martial culture the figure of Chakijana is one of a notably far more aggressive and bellicose type of trickster figure than is common in most cultures.

Several historic millitary leaders in the numerous wars fought by the Zulus throughout the 19th century were therefore given the nickname "Chakijana" because of their strategic skills on the battlefield.

Like the real life mongoose that he is based upon Chakijana often succeeds in killing and eating the enemy:

"This points to an intelligent being, able to outwit his adversaries by "dissecting" all the elements of a situation in order to identify weaknesses that offer the possibility of defeating the enemy; and to "re-arrange" reality in a new way. This shows the ambivalent function of trickery as a force for both demolition and reconstruction. Chakijana, the small slender mongoose, is like the pan-African Hare in most respects, but with the added feature of being carnivorous, therefore a merciless killer. He makes use of all its powers to either escape larger animals, or to conquer other animals for food in order to survive."


Photo credit to @Maguari.

Source: "Tricksters and Trickery in Zulu folktales", Noverino Noemio Canonici, 1995.
 
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Baboons are often considered to be agricultural pests across much of Africa due to their habits of raiding crops and are consequently shot, poisoned and persecuted.

However, for the Karanga peoples of Zimbabwe a baboon must never be harmed and far less killed because it is an animal that holds a profoundly sacred status within their culture.
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This is because the Karanga are a peoples who practice a totemic belief system and the baboon as a totemic animal is closely associated with the world of the spirits. It is sometimes even perceived to be inhabited by the spirits of the ancestors themselves.

The baboon is accordingly known by the honorific title of "Sekuru" which translates as "Grandfather" in the Shona language spoken by this ethnic group.

Such is the strength of this belief among the Karanga that it is forbidden even to speak badly of the baboon and especially while walking in the forests which are considered to be sacred and liminal spaces.

To speak badly of the baboon is believed to be tantamount to speaking badly of the ancestors and such behaviour may invoke their anger inviting them to inflict terrible punishment on the offender.



Photo credit to @MagpieGoose.



Source: "Managing Natural Resources and Wildlife in Contemporary Society: Tapping into the Traditional Karanga Culture", Mhaka Edison, 2015 (Journal: Scholars Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences).
 
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To the San indigenous peoples of Southern Africa the most ferocious animal to be respected is not the large and dangerous creatures they live alongside such as the lion, hyena, leopard, rhino and elephant.

However it is actually a far smaller and seemingly unusual choice of animal that occupies the role occupied by the lion in other cultures, the black footed cat.
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Despite its small size the San recognise the black footed cat (or "Tuchtu" as it is called) as the most courageous and spirited of all the animals in both the act of predation and / or the defense of its life and that of its young.

Numerous strange tales exist in San folklore that highlight the outsized ferocity of this little cat in sometimes bizarre and implausible ways.

One commonly told tale is that the black footed may lay in wait in the undergrowth to ambush giraffes. It then supposedly kills these far larger animals by clinging to the throat with its sharp little teeth and piercing the jugular until the giraffe begins to bleed to death and eventually topples over dead.

Photo credits to @MeiLover.

Source: This Petite Cat Is the World's Deadliest. Mini-Series 'Super Cats' Shows You Why | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine
 
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Given the hunting efficiency of the little cat, I'm somehow not surprised by this. Another indication for the Sans' exceptional understanding of their native environment.
 
To the Bedouin nomads of Arabia the striped hyena or "Dobay'a" as it is known in Arabic is an animal that is frequently encountered in journeys across the deserts.

The eerie laughter-like cries and howls are often heard at night in the darkness as the men sit around the fire.

It perhaps comes as no suprise then that this animal is the subject of many sinister folkloric beliefs within Bedouin culture.
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It is believed that if a man should be walking alone away from the camp fire at night he should try to avoid encountering a hyena and particularly the gaze of one.

This is because these animals (though seen as powerless during the day) are believed to have a hypnotic stare after nightfall which once fixed upon a human can hypnotize a man and make him spellbound.

With this power the hyena can issue commands with its eyes and yelps to which the hypnotized man will be powerless to resist.

It will then calmly lead him like a zombie back to its cave and here it and its fellow hyenas will joyfully begin to feast on the unfortunate human alive.

As the Bedouin are an indigenous ethnic group who maintain many beliefs and practices that are pre-Islamic in origin it may be that the belief in the supernatural abilities of the hyena come from a more ancient belief system that probably emerged several millenia ago.



Photo credit to @ro6ca66.

Source: "Mystical Powers of Hyenas: Interpreting a Bedouin Belief", Dan Boneh, 1987 (Journal: Folklore).
 
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Batto said:
Given the hunting efficiency of the little cat, I'm somehow not surprised by this. Another indication for the Sans' exceptional understanding of their native environment.
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Yes, I totally agree @Batto.

I think hunter gatherer peoples in general always seem to possess a very acute understandings of the animals they share their environment. In some cases they often know far more than zoologists about the behaviour of some species.

The San as a hunter-gatherer peoples per excellance have a truly encylopedic understanding of the animals of the Kalahari desert.

That said, even though this species is an incredibly efficient little predator I am skeptical about a black footed cat taking on a giraffe.
 
Batto said:
A keen understanding of nature doesn't automatically exclude myths, superstition and tall tales. ;)
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Yes, I agree, in fact you might find the same within an academic setting so can't really blame the San for enjoying some tall tales about black footed cats with kung fu like abilities.
 
In parts of Arabia it is believed that the striped hyena has a curious supernatural power that permits it to steal goats from the flocks of shepherds.

The shadow of the hyena when cast over a dog that is guarding livestock is believed to make the animal go mute and blind until the hyena has stolen a goat or two and managed to escape.
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Photo credit to @conservationistdude.

Source: "The Magicality of the Hyena: Beliefs and Practices in West and South Asia", Jürgen W. Frembgen, 1998 (Journal: Asian Folklore Studies).
 
To the Yorùbá ethnic group of West Africa the ground hornbill is a sacred bird and so a strong taboo exists within their culture against it being killed or eaten.
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The sacred status of the ground hornbill traditionally stems from the belief that the bird is associated with water and in bringing the rains that sustain crops.

Killing a ground hornbill is believed to have terrible consequences for the person who kills one of these animals as it may either lead to a drought or a deluge either of which will destroy Yorùbá communities.


Photo credit to @Therabu.

Source: "ANIMALS IN THE TRADITIONAL WORLDVIEW OF THE YORÙBÁ", Adewale Oluwole Owoseni, 2016 (Book: Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion).
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The ground hornbill is viewed as an ill omen in some parts of Africa such as South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, Malawai, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
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In such countries many myths and folkloric beliefs exist about this bird being a harbringer of doom and death.

A common myth that is widespread across the region is that if a ground hornbill lands upon a roof it means that bad fortune will soon befall the person who lives inside the house.

In Tanzania the ground hornbill is believed by many rural communities to be the transmigrated soul of angry and avengeing spirits of ancestors that should be avoided.

However, such beliefs are often ultimately beneficial for this bird :

"The consequences of these beliefs appear to be beneficial in parts of Kenya and in cases where people believe that the bird should be avoided or not be killed, as reflected in the words of one participant who said that “the bird should not be killed, because it has the power to bring death and destruction”.

Likewise, in Zimbabwe, it is forbidden to chase, kill or even pick up a feather of an SGH, which should, according to locals, just be ignored and allowed to blow away in the wind because it could bring misfortune to an individual or village [23]."


Photo credit to @Jogy.

Source: "An exploration of cultural beliefs and practices across the Southern Ground-Hornbill's range in Africa", Hendri Coetzee et al, 2014 (Journal: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine).
 
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For the Nishi tribe of North-Eastern India the male Great Indian hornbill is considered to be by far the noblest of all of the animals.
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This is because for the Nishi the male hornbill symbolizes wisdom and the bird is therefore valued as a symbol of male maturity:

"This probably recognizes the strong fraternal duties of male hornbills that are essential to successful breeding."

The ironic downside to this admiration that the Nishi culture possess for the hornbill is that it is therefore overhunted by its admirers to obtain the bill of the bird (bringing to mind the Oscar Wilde poem line "Yet, each man kills the thing he loves" from "The Ballad of Reading Gaol"):

"The upper bill and casque are primarily used to decorate the traditional men’s cane helmet, often bestowed to young men as right of passage to manhood. Over-exploitation has led to the decline of Great Indian Hornbills within localities occupied by the Nishi."

However, conservationists have come up with a plan to mitigate the overhunting of the hornbill whilst also keeping the cultural tradition of the Nishi alive :

"Effective conservation strategies have been recently developed. Fiberglass replicas are now being used as alternatives to real bills, and have been well accepted (or even favored) by several Nishi tribes (Loma, 2005)."



Photo credit to @vogelcommando.

Source: "ENUMERATING THE ETHNO-ORNITHOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF PHILIPPINE HORNBILLS", Juan Carlos T. Gonzalez, 2011 (Journal: THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY).
 
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The hornbill in the Philippines is an animal which holds diverse meanings that reflect the diversity of the ethnic groups of the islands.

However, aptly for such a long-lived and ancient looking bird the overarching symbolism of this bird is related to time and timekeeping.

This is in large part due to its distinctive and loud call which was commonly believed by many Filippino people to mark the hour of the day.
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The old world for the hornbill on the island of Samar in the Eastern Philippines is "Orasan" which translates from the Filippino language of Tagalog as "clock".

The name for this bird during the time of Spanish colonial rule of the islands was "Reloj del monte" which translates from Spanish as the "Clock of the mountain".

However, the hornbill as a symbol of time does not always have positive associations on some of the islands of the Philippines.

For the Tau-batu tribe who inhabit the Filippino island of Palawan the arrival of the endemic Palawan hornbill (known in their language as "Talusi") in a village is a dreaded event.

Due to the association that this bird has its arrival is interpreted by these peoples as an omen that literally means "time to die":

"Other indigenous cultures do not welcome hornbills in their community, but rather consider them as a bad omen. The Palawan Hornbill is usually associated with fever or death amongst the Tau-batu tribe. When a hornbill arrives to their farmlot, they will abandon their home and constructed a new hut far away from the old house (Peralta, 1979)."



Photo credits to @alexkant.

Source: "ENUMERATING THE ETHNO-ORNITHOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF PHILIPPINE HORNBILLS", Juan Carlos T. Gonzalez, 2011 (Journal: THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY).
 
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In Java, Indonesia, despite the extinction of the endemic Javan tiger the social belief in the "weretiger" remains and continues to be a popular subject in folklore.

The weretiger (roughly analagous to the European "werewolf") is an individual who transforms or shapeshifts himself / herself into the body of a tiger through black magic :
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However, unlike the European "werewolf" which was considered to be a wholely evil entity there are far more nuanced beliefs about shapeshifting tigers in Java that stem from the equally nuanced view of the tiger itself:

"In these East Javanese beliefs about tigers, then, the tiger is a materialization of the powers of the forest and the earth. It has an ambiguous relationship with humans, living near the village and protecting the fields yet sometimes devouring livestock. This ambiguity is echoed in its dual role as guardian of morality and the adat and the personification of the darker, antisocial aspects of man. In the former role the tiger is respected, while in the latter it is stigmatized."

There is generally a notably sharp distinction made by the Javanese between a shaman who may incarnate as a spirit tiger and a were tiger.

The former is a positive and socially approved figure:

"This magic is quite different from the power by which a shaman incarnates a spirit-tiger - the results may look similar, and in popular lore were-tigers and shaman-tigers are often confused, but the social contexts of the two are entirely different. The tigers described thus far, the incarnations of ancestral souls and shamanic power, are honored guardians regarded by the people with fear and reverence; the transformations are beneficial, and take place in an approved and regulated context."

However, the latter "weretiger" is perceived to be an evil social outcast and a menace:

"Were-tigers, on the other hand, use their magic outside of this approved context and are generally regarded as antisocial individuals who are dangerous to the community."

"In this unregulated reversal lies the main difference between were-tigers and protective tigers, whether shaman, ancestral, or dhanyang: as mentioned above, the latter are socially sanctioned and spiritually controlled, while were-tigers operate for their own selfish purposes outside of society's rules."


Photo credit to @Nisha.

Source: "The Last Tiger in East Java: Symbolic Continuity in Ecological Change", Robert Wessing, 1995(Journal: Asian Folklore Studies).
 
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Across the Mahgreb countries of North Africa many curious folkloric beliefs exist about the common chameleon.

This is because it is a reptile that though small is widely believed to possess extraordinary magical powers.
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A traditional Algerian and Moroccan folk belief is that if a wife who is concerned that her husband may be being unfaithful to her places the cooked and concealed flesh and bones of a chameleon within meat of lamb or chicken and serves it to her husband for dinner it may restore his fidelity.

In Tunisia the chameleon is believed to be an efficient talisman against "the evil eye" and so when a new house has been constructed it was a tradition to bury a chameleon alive within the walls of the building as a protection against bad luck (in a way similar to cats being buried in house walls in Europe in medieval times).

In Morocco it is erroneously believed that the chameleon survives on a diet of the leaves of mint trees which is a belief that probably emerged due to these lizards frequently being seen amongst the branches and leaves of these trees as they hunt their insect prey.

In Algeria the common chameleon is also appreciated in many rural communities because of a belief that it kills venomous snakes by spitting a glob of saliva on top of their heads from the safety of trees which instantly kills the serpents.


Photo credit to @Bubalus.

Source: "Folklore, myth and exploitation of reptiles in Morocco and Tunisia", Andy Highfield et al, 2007.
 
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In Madagascar there is an interesting piece of folkloric belief about a small mammal that has great implications for human health.

In the Makira region of the country (although other bushmeat is commonly eaten) a strong "fady" or taboo exists relating to the consumption of the lesser hedgehog tenrec which is called the "Sokina" in Malagasy.
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A common folkloric story told is that the ancestors of the Malagasy from this region used to commonly consume the tenrec as bushmeat and so much so that it was a staple of the local diet.

One day that all changed when people began to foam at the mouth and bleed from their eyes, nose, mouth and other orifices and started to die excrutiatingly painful deaths.

It is believed by both the anthropologists and epidemiologists who have studied these stories in detail that this folklore may actually have a biological reality and the taboo against the consumption of this species is a biological rationality.

This is because the lesser hedgehog is now known to be one of the common vectors of the bubonic plague in Madagascar.

To this day the peoples of Makira avoid consuming the "Sokina" and generally fear the little creature which is still believed by scientists to be a vector of the plague in rural and forested areas of the country.


Photo credit to @Tim May.



Sources: "The Human health and conservation relevance of food taboos in Northeastern Madagascar", Christopher Golden et al, 2015(Journal: Ecology and Society).
 
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