
They are also good parents, regurgitating food for their pups that hide in dens or the abandoned burrows of other species, usually aardvark. They will call and answer when separated. In such stories, trickster animals are made to cheat and out - do bigger animals. These include the fox in Japan, mouse deer in Southeast Asia, the coyote and the spider among the Native Americans, the tortoise and spider in West Africa, and the mantis in Southern Africa. The majority, however, revolve around the animal world where the. It has a protracted courtship period and the pair is a cooperative and synchronised team, caring for their young, marking and defending territory and hunting. Trickster tales are in the animal tales genre, with the trickster himself he seems always to be male identified with a particular animal. Surprisingly, the handsome jackal, with its unfortunate reputation as a small stock predator, is monogamous and forms a lifelong bond that lasts for its approximately thirteen-year lifespan or until the death of its mate. He inhabits the northern stretches of East Africa and southern Africa, from the Skeleton Coast and Etosha National Park to the Drakensberg grasslands. Well-known tricksters often are portrayed as rabbits, coyotes, fox, ravens or crows, and spiders, but can also be shape-shifters as well Tricksters You Know and Love Storyknifing is a type of storytelling that dates back to the Inuit culture.


In fact, they symbolise the trickster's connection with the 'underworld' of instincts and animal behaviour. In Norse mythology the mischief-maker is Loki, who is also a shape shifter. Animals are frequent guests in trickster myths. Fossil records reveal that it is the oldest existing member of the genus Canis. Frequently the trickster figure exhibits gender and form variability. The black-backed jackal is also known as the silver-backed jackal for its silver-flecked black saddle. Khoikhoi fables include stories of jackal outwitting lion and also tell how it acquired its black saddle by offering to carry the sun on its back.

The notorious Broken Toe, a jackal with a distinctive spoor that continually evaded capture, was enscribed into folklore by the well-known writer Lawrence Green, who recorded its escapades in his book “Karoo”. The stories feature Kanchil, the little mouse deer, a popular trickster in Indonesian folktales. – The jackal kills larger prey with a bite to the throat.
