In folklore, animals are depicted as messengers, symbols, or omens. Many of these stories are similar in cultures throughout millennia and feature folk beliefs brought on by fear of death, illness, and the unexplained. The animals mostly related to symbols or omens of death are scavengers, nocturnal, or associated with negative events.
"So generally, in folklore, animals that are associated with death are the ones that are omens of death," says Sabina Magliocco, a folklorist and professor of anthropology at the University of British Colombia Vancouver.
Animals are associated with symbolism because they are part of the natural world. When we started looking at nature to learn about the environment, we began to look at the natural world for omens. "There's a tradition of people looking to nature and interpreting signs in nature as though [they] were speaking directly to them," says Magliocco.
1. Dogs
Dogs, as symbols of death, go back thousands of years. One of the most known depictions is Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of funerary practices, mummification, and protection of the dead.
