Creature Name
Shrew Snake
First Appeared In
Lost Under Two Moons
Physical Description
The adult shrew snake is typically six to nine
inches long, most of which consists of its long sinuous body. It has two small,
flexible legs that move in a cartwheeling motion when the creature runs. The
shrew snake’s head and shoulders are covering in a fine, light brown fur, while
the long body is mostly hairless and is a deep purple.
Natural Environment
These diminutive animals are found exclusively
in the Painted Desert, where their odd mixture of colors provides wonderful
camouflage during the rare occasions that it risks exposing itself in the
daylight. More commonly, the shrew snake burrows under the sandy soil, using
its long, wriggling body to move easily through short-lived tunnels. Being
nocturnal, this creature feeds on insects, seeds, and the tender tips of plant
roots.
Behavior
Shrew snakes are solitary creatures who only seek
out their own species to mate. A pregnant female will seek out a dead stone
plant which has begun to rot from the inside out. Using her teeth and powerful
limbs, she carves out a den inside the rocky dome, providing herself and her
young with a safe, insulated home. Infant shrew snakes reach maturity in just
four weeks.
Additional Background
While the shrew snake is superbly adapted to
its environment, the harsh conditions of the Painted Desert ensure that the
total population of these creatures is never very large. However, if these
creatures were ever introduced into another environment (including man-made
environments) it may be that this unassuming little creature could reproduce to
plague-like proportions.
Inspiration
The shrew snake was the first animal I created
for Lost Under Two Moons. It actually
started life as a doodle, with a long, random line becoming the tail and a
small, mouse-like head being added on later. I added the pair of legs to the
front because I wanted to give Richard an early indication that animal life on
Other World was going to be very different from what he was used to. It wasn’t
until much later that I learned that there is actually a real-life creature
with a similar body structure to my shrew snake. Called the Mexican mole lizard,
this bizarre little reptile has an elongated body and a single pair of legs
close to its head. While I can’t say that this creature was the inspiration for
the shrew snake, I’m thrilled to find something that so closely resembles what
I had thought was a creature too weird to be real!
I hope you enjoyed this month’s Creature
Profile. Next month’s feature will be the forest devil from The Beast Hunter. If you’d like to
contribute artwork to the profile, send your pictures to lindsay@lindsayschopfer.com and put “Forest Devil Picture” as the subject.
Deadline is November 17.
