Science of Mythology: The Alicante

A friend of mine told me about at kind of snake in Mexico that drinks milk from a cows udder. As soon as he mentioned it my curiosity was quipped. I had never heard of a snake drinking milk before, and I certainly had never heard of one that relied on cows to survive. I was immediately intrigued by the possibility that this was a very recent evolutionary adaption, and was a little surprised I have never heard of it.
As it turns out, the reason I have never heard of it is because it isn't real. The Alicante snake is a legend, that has worked it's way into the real world of the Mexican farmer in much the way Bigfoot has to the inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest. It seems that most eye witnesses are old people (who also tend to be more superstitious), and there is virtually no documentation of any snake suckling any mammal for its milk. (In fact I read that snakes do not possess the ability to suck anything, their mouths and the muscle surrounding it are incapable of forming a suction).
The Alicante in Mexican mythology was a snake that would steal milk from human mothers by charming them to sleep (and putting their rattle in the baby's mouth to keep it quiet) steal her breast milk, and thus starve her infant. Other legends about the Alicante claim that when a mother was pregnant the snake could literally crawl into her body (that gives me the shivers) if she was not careful and so she had to wear certain garments to protect herself. The Catholic church recognized the snake and its threat (or maybe more fairly, they didn't believe it, but they at least addressed the locals superstitions by prescribing specific prayers an expecting mother should say morning and night, and blessing her special underclothes.)
To be fair I must say that my friend who told me about this snake has with his own eyes witnessed a snake that had it's body wrapped around a cows legs, and was indeed attached by it's mouth to an udder. And I have no reason to doubt his account. But I would interpret it differently.
The Alicante (not it's real name, but the one people refer to) is a snake that feeds on small mammals like mice, and moles etc. These animals usually live in barns, under hay, where the cows are (dairy cows specifically, since meat cattle are out in the fields). I can imagine that the snakes often startle the cows while hunting their scurrying prey and it seems perfectly natural that once in a while a snake may get stepped on, or may wrap itself around a cows legs to avoid injury. And if you imagine yourself as a snake, latching onto a swinging udder (or whatever the bag that holds the milk on a cow is called) seems like a reasonable thing to do under the circumstances. And thus, a legend is born! (Well, maybe. I am just postulating here.)

This is why I love science! It's an intellectual exercise that uses so many aspects of the brain. The fact that the Alicante doesn't really exist was a little disappointing. But taking the myth and theorizing about a logical reason why people believe the story to be true was exciting. And in the end it all makes sense (at least to me:) The mystery is solved, and all before lunchtime!
When it comes to myths people generally don't make up things completely out of the blue. I have found that almost every legend has some small kernel of truth to it. And figuring out what that is, is the "science" of mythology.