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The italic=no (italic=no) or italic=no (italic=no), from Mapuche language: piwichen for “to dry people” (transliterations: , , , ) is a vampire creature from the Mapuche mythology and Chilote mythology known in much of Chile.
This Hematophagy often assumes the guise of a flying snake, or a large lizard with bat wings, that emits strange whistling sounds or hisses that stun or kill its enemy or prey. It is also described as a avian-piscine-human composite, or a shapeshifter taking on the form of animals.
The lore may have derived from encounters with the common vampire bat.
Some forms are: given by , peuchén by ; Andrés Febrés gave the form , which had been misprinted.
Another linguist suggests onomatopoeic simulation of the bird-call of the pidén ( Pardirallus sanguinolentus, species of rail).
One source differentiates between the Mapuche Pihuichen and the later Piguchen.
The Pihuchén is a black winged snake about in length, with a bristly body, according to the lore in the vicinity of Santiago, whose cattle fell victim. The informant stated the bristles were deadly poison upon contact with skin, making (live) capture an impossible task, hence the eradication by fire without handling the beast.
The creature enjoys incredible longevity,Cf. also 's gloss of Peuchén as "Hombre o animal de gran longevidad". and in old age, the winged serpent may transform into a rooster-sized bird, or a young turkey sized bird. "La Cueva del Piuchén", version of Agustín Billa Garrido. This seems to be a collection of rehashes of other sources, slightly altered. Others say it transforms in its old age into a a huge frog with squat broad wings inadequate for long-distance flying, covered in fine down feathers (as told in Talagante).Vicuña Cifuentes, also noticed in Chamberlain, Alexander F. (1910) "
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/a>", p. 389, Journal of American Folklore 23. The material was presented in a 1910 Congress of Americanists, pre-publication, by Vicuña Cifuentes.
In another telling from Ovalle in the Coquimbo Region, the Piuchén "has a parrot's beak and wings, a toad-like body and a snake-like tail". An actual specimen supposedly caught in the Coquimbo area was deduced to be a vampire bat (cf. ), nevertheless, the myth about it ascribed reptilian-avian-mammalian features to it.
The abbot Juan Ignacio Molina also wrote a paragraph on the "winged quadruped, or a kind of large bat". A later lexicographer remarked that Molina had been deceived by a gift of some dead rare animal claimed to be a piuchén, and the abbot only described such cadaver in detail.
Its ability to shapeshifting into human, plant, or animal in certain instances has also been claimed.
The claim that it seeks sheep blood when humans are not found, according to one source is contradicted by the opinion of Vicuña Cifuentes that the creature prefers animal blood over human. Herders are said to blame the monster for their sheep and goat found slaughtered overnight. According to some, Pérez, Floridor (2016). "Mitos y leyendas de Chile". Santiago de Chile: Empresa Editora Zig-Zag, S.A.
Richard Longeville Vowell, a volunteer in the Thomas Cochrane campaign in Chile c. 1820, is the attributed author of an 1831 memoir which described the pehüechèn , which he was convinced was a bat. Nevertheless he reported the lore around it, as told by the of who loved fantastic stories. Most of them could swear to at least knowing a relative or friend who has slaughter the beast in the act of attacking (and presumably in the process of killing ) sheep. The superstition among them was that they could suck blood at a distance, merely by hovering above, and their shrieks were held to be dangerous.
The black, bristled piguchén dwelled in the mountain range (presumably Andes mountains) and would go to Santiago or San Bernardo to feast on cattle.
In Chilote folklore, the creature is described as a composite creature, part human, snake, bird, and fish, and covered with all sorts of things such as grass, bushes, and twisted horn-like protrusions (and also resembling a frog and a bat), preferring to dwell in lakes and rivers, haunting the local Lake Huillinco. It allegedly can raise gigantic waves that cause nearby boats to sink. And it exudes some sort of irritant from its body that causes rashes.
Other sources say the creature's habitat occurs in marshy terrain or at the bottom of lagoons.
(See further in ).
As aforementioned, the Santiago area informant claimed that the beasts poisoned bristles made live capture impossible.Cf. on Ovalle fauna and lore. He does not attribute poison, but wrote: "This animal is famous and harmful, but it has not been possible to hunt it". Thus, to kill a Pihuchén living in a Tree hollow (hueco), it is suggested the hole be plugged with hefty cloth then to set the tree on fire. "Como Matar al Pihuchén"
Mapuche belief was that the Pihuichéñ coordinated its attacks with the machi (herbal healer), and they were in alliance, but it is also claimed that only the machi alone can defeat the creature , as he or she can counteract the hypnosis with herbal cures.
Superstition in Ovalle recommends waving a white flag or whistling in a bottle to ward the creature off, and adds that adding white goat to one's flock diminishes the chance of being attacked. In Macul, Santiago Province, the old saying was that grouping the goats in sixes within the herd will protect them from the creature. Another informant (probably around the rim of Greater Santiago) swore blowing an ox horn (cuerno de buey, cf. erkencho) would scare it away and protect the herd of cattle.
According to modern zoologists, this species name is a disused synonym of Desmodus rotundus, the common vampire bat, also known by the Spanish vernacular "Piuchén".
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