Latin American Legends Starring Animals
The Latin American legends with animal protagonists arouse incredulity and amusement for the great imagination of the Latin peoples in giving life to fantastic and horror stories. There are so many stories of ghosts, mysterious apparitions, and monsters roaming the territories of Latin America that they wouldn’t fit in a single article.
As diverse and heterogeneous as Latin American culture is, there are some common stories that unite the whole continent, regardless of nationality. In this article, we present some Latin American legends with animal protagonists that will make your skin crawl.
The most famous Latin American legends with animal protagonists
El Culebrón or Viborón, one of the most disturbing Latin American legends
El Culebrón basically an anaconda: a huge snake, as in the image that opens this article, hairy and with a gigantic head. The legend featuring this creature is native to the rural areas of Chile, where it is said that at night it emerges from the darkest caves and remote forests to eat whatever comes in its path.
This giant anaconda also has a kind of “radar”, which allows it to identify the places where a treasure is hiding 40 days after being buried. Anyone wishing to retrieve the treasure must sprinkle the ground with aguardiente, a powerful brandy, hoping that the snake will suck on the alcohol and let its guard down.
In the same way that this anaconda is attracted to riches, legend also says that it is capable of attracting riches to anyone who is able to “tame” it. But catching a Culebrón is not an easy task: you must first find it, pluck three of its longest hairs and then put them in a container with some milk.
From that bowl three Culebrón puppies will be born , and the strongest one will eat the other two and become huge. From then on, the owners must keep the snake good with animal sacrifices and leave the blood in a secret place known only to the snake. Otherwise there will be no money for you and they will probably eat you.
Peuchen
Among the Latin American legends starring the animals that circulate in southern Chile, there is also that of the Peuchen . This comes from the indigenous tradition of the Mapuche people. It is a vampire-like creature that changes shape.
It is often described as a flying snake. Sometimes the descriptions add that it is covered with feathers or hair, which makes it similar to the Culebrón . Other people think it’s just a big bat.
Like vampires, Peuchens can paralyze their victims by looking them in the eye and then feed on their blood. The only people who can defeat the Peuchen are the machi (Mapuche women).
Latin American legends: Yacumama
The Amazon is full of Latin American legends with animals as protagonists. The largest forest on the planet is the home of the legendary Yacumama, a horned snake-like sea monster believed to be the mother of all sea creatures.
The Yacumama is part of the mythology of multiple indigenous groups, mainly of the tribes that come from the western Amazon and live in the plains of Peru and Ecuador. According to the accounts of various European settlers in the 19th century, the Yacumama is said to have been up to 160 feet long.
Before entering unknown bodies of water, the indigenous tribes blew a horn to warn the giant reptile of human presence and to avoid being attacked.
In Argentina, Yacumama is also a goddess of water, who takes the form of an old human woman who approaches children who enter the river to fill their bowls with water.
Chupacabra
Tales of the Chupacabra first emerged in Puerto Rico in the late 1990s. They described a bipedal creature four or five feet tall with large eyes, spikes on its back, and long claws. This beast, according to popular belief, kills and sucks the blood of cattle, an act that has earned it the name of Chupacabra , which in Spanish means “sucker of goats”.
El Cuero
Among the Latin American legends about the strangest animals, there is also that of the Cuero . This way of calling cow skin is related to the story of a monster in Chile that lives in Lake Lacar, in the Andes. It resembles an extended cowhide, with the head and spine devoid of hair.
The legend may have originated with sightings of some unknown breeds of freshwater fish, but El Cuero is larger and has eyes on its legs and claws. With its huge mouth it sucks the blood of its victims.
Huallepen
The Huallepen or Guallipen is a Chilean chimera with the head of a calf, the body of a sheep, and crooked feet. The monster lives in rivers and lakes and mates with sheep and goats giving birth to deformed offspring. If a pregnant woman sees a Huallepen she could give birth to a deformed child.
