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Puyo are hybrid animals from Chilote mythology, appearing as a ram with two heads, three legs, and long, twisted horns. They live in the clouds, but will descend on stormy nights to mate with sheep. They are meant to provide an explanation for genetic defects among farm animals.[1]

Appearance[]

Puyo appear as rams with two heads and long, twisted horns. Their fleece is greyish-yellow with darker legs[2], and they are horribly ugly. They are typically described with three legs, and are sometimes specified as bipedal,[3] walking on their two front legs. Puyo are hermaphroditic, meaning they can reproduce as either a male or female sheep, although they are only ever described breeding with female sheep.

Behavior[]

Puyo graze alone in the valleys of the Andes Mountains. They can only be seen by people who are approaching death, and anyone else will see them as rocks, bushes, rivers, or hills.[3] Sometimes, they are described as living in the clouds, descending through lightning into the Andes only during storms.[1] They can also be amphibious, and will attack people and animals at sea.[2]

On stormy nights, under the cover of the rain, wind and lighting, they run to the pastures where flocks of sheep live. They then breed with the female sheep, causing them to eventually give birth to monstrosities. Before dawn they return to the clouds at lightning speed, to return during the next stormy night.[1]

Puyo exert harmful influences on pregnant women, and birth defects in sheep are said to come from a puyo's genes somewhere in the lineage. Puyo are the offspring of a stray ewe and a bewitched goat, which is the source of their mutations.[2]

References[]

  1. ā†‘ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mansilla, Dr. Bernardo Quintana. ChiloĆ© MitolĆ³gico (1987). Pg 68-69.
  2. ā†‘ 2.0 2.1 2.2 ChiloĆ© y su influjo en la XI RegiĆ³n: II Jornadas Territoriales, Universidad de Santiago (1988). Pg 280.
  3. ā†‘ 3.0 3.1 Plath, Oreste. GeografĆ­a del Mito y la Leyenda chilenos, Editorial Grijalbo (1994). Pg 341.
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