Cuero (legendary creature)

Mapudungun orthography: "devilish pelt", also transcribed "hide or pelt" + . Transliterated as , (with the footnote that the "v" in the north tends to be pronounced as "f" by the southern population) or , , or . Alias ', ' ( "pelt of the lake" ("live hide"). It is also called (, "the Blanket") or "". Also "water hide". == General description ==

El Cuero dwells in the depths of rivers and lagoons. Most sources agree in descring El Cuero as resembling an outstretched cowhide (or calfskin, or donkey hide come to life) which envelops its prey, Or tentacles terminating in pincers and a pair of eyes, with a suction cup in the center, according to Bernardo Quintana Mansilla (1972). The monster dubbed by the locals of the town of Talcamávida on the northern bank of the Biobío River, had been blamed for taking children who bathed in the lagoon about 400 yards in circumference beyond the town's moat. Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche (d. 1816) reported the beast as the Manta, in his posthumously published work. == Legend ==

The creature lurks in the rivers, lagoons, and lakes of Chile ==Protection==

The traditional capturing method use a sort of natural fishing lure using a "thorny bush" known in Chile as , which usually refers to the cactus Echinopsis chiloensis (lore of Buin and Coihueco de Chillán conurbation). But to defeat a cuero, the help of a machi wise woman may be required. The machi will use a method similar to the one already described, plunging the thorny bush of the calafate (Berberis microphylla, Magellan barberry) and the cuero will pounce on it mistaking it for food prey, is damaged by the thorns as it squeezes, and it dies. In one retold story, a family was camping at a lake in southern Chile, and the father was hypnotized by a strange bubbling and jumped in, then the bubble grew into a whirlpool and out came a Trelke-wekufe (tr. The Cowhide) which grabbed the man away. She created a lure out of the spiny cuttings of the quizco (quisco' cactus) and the calafate wrapped up to resemble a human, and made some incantations in Mapudungun. The monster attacked and got snagged by the spines, and mortally wounded the creature. ==Popular tales==

In the story "The indio and the cuero", the hero Ñanco defeats the cuero by fighting it with bunches of quisco cacti tied to his arms and legs, and the monster bled out to death. He enters a secret cave, and stabs the monster's master, fat, with one leg stuck to his back, and the face turned away (identifiable as an Invunche) and rescues his cousin, daughter of the cacique chieftain. Other girls had been kidnapped by the cuero, and brought to be forcibly married to the Invunche, or have their blood sucked. Ñanco finds silver treasure, and with the wealth, successfully marries the cousin, over the rich one-eyed rival. The story entitled "The Lagoon of Pudahuel" referring to a sector of Santiago tells of a time when the railroad had not been connected from Valparaíso to the capital, when one ox-carter decided he would ford across on a Good Friday, against the apprehensions his colleagues, and got taken down by a cuero before their eyes. ==Fauna identification==

One lexicographer (1916) opined that the "water hide", a supposed freshwater species of octopus that attacks humans must be a fabulous invention based on a marine species. Some have suggested the myth of "La Manta" may be connected to the manta ray or some other large ray. Scientific explanation The myth may have originated from the phenomenon of the (whirpool, whirlwind). ==See also==