Harbingers Of Misfortune

Many cultures share curious beliefs about some animals associating them with bad luck, trouble, or mystic characters. Let's take a look at some of these amazing animals...

Barn Owl
Barn Owl
The Barn owl is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds. Common names such as "demon owl", "death owl", "ghost owl", or "lich owl" show that rural populations in many places considered Barn owls to be birds of evil omen. For example, the Tzeltal people in Mexico regard them as "disease givers". These owls don't "hoot", instead emitting raspy screeches and hissing noises, and ...
their white face and underbelly feathers, visible as they fly overhead, make them look "ghostly". In South Africa, Barn owls are often associated with witchcraft and thus are persecuted.
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Barn Owl
Greater Mouse-Eared Bat
Greater Mouse-Eared Bat
Bats, with their forelimbs adapted as wings, are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. These little creatures are even more maneuverable than birds. In many cultures, including in Europe, bats are associated with darkness, death, witchcraft, and malevolence. Among Native Americans, bats are identified as tricksters. An East Nigerian tale tells that the bat developed its nocturnal habits after causing the death of his partner, ...
the bush-rat, and now hides by day to avoid arrest.
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Greater Mouse-Eared Bat
Common Raven
Common Raven
Across its range and throughout human history, the Common raven has been a powerful symbol and a popular subject of mythology and folklore. In some Western traditions, ravens have long been considered to be birds of ill omen, death, and evil in general, in part because of the negative symbolism of their all-black plumage and the eating of carrion. In Sweden, ravens are known as the ghosts of murdered people, and in Germany as the souls of the ...
damned.
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Common Raven
Striped Hyena
Striped Hyena
Hyenas feature prominently in the folklore and mythology of human cultures that live alongside them. They are commonly viewed as frightening and worthy of contempt. In some cultures, hyenas are thought to influence people's spirits, rob graves, and steal livestock and children. Other cultures associate them with witchcraft, using their body parts in traditional African medicine. In Tanzania, for example, it is believed that a child born at night ...
while a hyena is crying will be likely to grow up to be a thief.
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Striped Hyena
Aye-Aye
Aye-Aye
Aye-ayes are nocturnal lemurs that occur only in the forests of Madagascar. They are often viewed as harbingers of evil and killed on sight. Others believe, if an aye-aye points its narrowest finger at someone, they are marked for death. Some even say that the appearance of an aye-aye in a village predicts the death of a villager, and the only way to prevent this is to kill it. Heavy persecution of the aye-aye due to such beliefs became one of ...
the main reasons why this species is now endangered.
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Aye-Aye