The tik-tik
is a type of vampire spirit in the Philippines that got its name from a small owl
that serves as its familiar. The owl
allegedly creates a ticking sound (tik-tik) that is said to be an alarm that a
tik-tik is nearby.
This
vampire only attacks at night when it changes its appearance from human to a
bird. During the day the Tik-tik would
assume the human form and search for its prey (usually a kid) and at night that
tik-tik shape shift into its bird form and hover on top of the house of its
selected prey. It will perch down the
roof above the room of the sleeping child.
And just like the manananggal, the tiktik would feed on its victim by sending
its long tongue inside the house, eventually reaching the sleeping child.
The tongue
of the tik-tik has a barb at the end of it enabling it to pinch a hole on the
skin of its victim and feed on them.
After the tik-tik finishes its meal, the bird would look swollen due to
the amount of blood that it consumed. It
will fly back to its dwelling place where it would breastfeed its own offspring
of vampires.
There are
also legends stating that the tiktik does not have the ability to shape
shift. Rather it maintains its human
appearance when feeding on its victim.
And while the bird would look like a swollen creature after the meal,
the “human tik-tik” would look like a pregnant woman after a satisfying meal.
This
particular vampire specie can cause the death of a person just by licking their
victim’s shadow.
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