Yara-ma-yha-who
In
Aboriginal mythology,
Yara-ma-yha-who is a
vampiric, small, red man with a large head and mouth. He has no teeth and swallows his food whole, like a
snake. The tips of his fingers and toes are the suckers of an
octopus. He lives in
fig trees and jumped on top of people who rested beneath the tree. He drank their blood and later, ate the incapacitated victim. After drinking
water and sleeping, the yara-ma-yha-who regurgitated the victim, who was reborn. Some people were caught more than once, each time becoming shorter until they themselves turned in yara-ma-yha-who.