The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

In Aboriginal mythology The Yara-ma-yha-who are small creatures that
inhabit the east coast of Australia. They have been described as;
standing about one metre tall with a large head and a very large mouth,
the colour of their skin is green and / or red, they have no teeth. The
Yara-ma-yha-who do not make spears and boomerangs like their larger human
cousins, but they do have very unusual hands and feet. The tips of their
fingers and toes end with cup shape disks (similar to the suction caps on
an octopus).

Yara-Ma-Yha-Who dislike full sunlight and sometimes would live in caves
and rock ledges that are close to a water source, but the favorite haunt
are the large leafy fig trees. On hot days people would rest beneath them
, on rainy days the thick foliage offered shelter for the traveler. This
is why Yara-Ma-Yha-who chose to live in the fig trees.
The method of attack was to wait until an unsuspecting person was
resting under the tree, then simply drop onto them. The fingers and toes
would fasten upon the flesh and drain the blood from the victim.
Yara-Ma-Yha-Who feasted until the unfortunate victim was almost
unconscious, he would then drop on all fours and crawl around like a
goanna before opening his mouth wide and swallowing the victim head first
and whole. After his meal Yara-Ma-Yha-Who arises and begins to dance
until he feels the victim is well inside and then he sleeps. on
awakening he vomits up his entire meal.

The habit of vomiting after eating has given the opportunity for some
to escape. If a person is clever enough to feign death (even while been
tickled or poked with sticks) and waited until the Yara-Ma-Yha-Who to
fall asleep there was a chance to flee. One must be quick for should he
awaken there will be no second chances.

Children of the east coast tribes were taught that if they should
happen to be captured, they should offer no resistance, as they have
their best chance of survival if they allow Yara-Ma-Yha-Who to swallow
and vomit them as has been custom from the beginning of time. Should
Yara-Ma-Yha-Who fail in his quest the spirit of the fig tree would kill
him by entering into his head through the ear, and causing a mumbling
noise that would end in such an intense silence that the spirit would
leave the body and become a fungus that grows on the buttress of the
great tree, and sheds a dull glow by night.

If you are unlucky enough to be captured more than a few times, you
will eventually shrink and grow the strange fingers and toes until you
become one like them who roam the thick forest of eastern Australia.

* An After word.*
This is a different kind of vampyre story. There are no fangs or capes
but still a creature that lived apart from mankind and fed off the blood
of the living . The description of Yara-Ma-Yha-Who has led to speculation
that the Green Tree frog ( Litoria Caerula ) was the inspiration for the
myth,( certainly if one dropped on you while you were sleeping it would
give you a fright ) .The Green tree frog grows to 10cm and does indeed
have suction caps at the end of his fingers and toes, as the name
implies they are often found living in trees.

The fig tree ( Ficus Ruiginosa and Ficus Macrophylla) belongs to the
same genus as the species found in Asia Minor ( of Adam and Eve fame) but
grows to about 70m tall with branches that are sometimes over 30m long
. These impressive trees can live for thousands of years, to the
Aboriginals of the Eastern coast they represented eternity.