Shepherds Path, Part 6: The Local Wildlife
New Jerusalem was home to a flourishing ecosystem upon discovery, although the nature of the wildlife took explorers by surprise. The most common form of native animals appeared analogous to Earth polychaete worms. They tend to have long, segmented bodies, with each segment having at least one set of appendages. Their heads contain an annular mouth with teeth composed of mineralized chitin. Though they are technically boneless, cartilage and collagen form an internal structure. For land animals this structure is usually ossified. The two largest classes of native wildlife are referred to as ‘Wyrms’ and ‘Maggots’.
Wyrms are an aquatic type and usually predatory. They can range in size all the way from from 5 cm in length up to nearly 40 m. Most are active hunters, with sinuous bodies propelled by paddle-like ‘flippers’. Larger wyrms can pose a threat to humans. They are typically reliant on external sources of body heat, though some larger wyrms can raise their body temperature above that of their surroundings. Smaller species can have seasonal life cycles, while larger ones tend to hibernate through the winter in deep water or riverbed cocoons. Their bodily fluids often contain a natural ‘antifreeze’ to prevent ice damage to tissues.
Well known examples of wyrms are Flappers and Great Wyrms. Flappers are a family of small to mid-size (30 cm to 150 cm) wyrms common to the northern rivers and the circumpolar sea. Flappers have relatively fewer, larger flippers than many other wyrms and more teardrop-shaped, stiffer bodies, allowing them faster movement than many other species. Fast and relentless predators, they’re popular food and sport ‘fish’ analogous to earth mackerel and tuna when at sea, or salmon and trout in river habitats. Most species cocoon over winter, and many northern communities will keep flappers in outdoor ponds as a means of getting access to fresh meat year-round.
The Great Wyrms are the apex predators of the northern ocean. The Great Wyrm is the largest of its kind, reaching up to 40m long and weighing as much as 111 tons. With a mouth possessing sharp teeth, grinding plates, and filter combs, it can eat practically any organism smaller than itself, right down to plankton. They are fortunately slow growing, taking on average 80 years to mature, and as such are a rare sight. It’s believed they retreat to deep water during the winter, hibernating under the ice until the spring thaw.
Maggots are a terrestrial subclade that are shorter and stockier than wyrms, with internalized gills allowing them to breathe on land. The most charismatic example of this subclade is the Woolly Bear, a large endothermic grazer which dominates the planet’s grasslands and is known for its dense, multilayered fur coat. The eponymous coat has three principal layers: an inner, insulating layer, an intermediate weatherproofing layer, and an outer layer of long, irritant hairs to deter predators. Despite the difficulty in preparing their carcasses posed by the defensive hairs, Woolly Bears are an important resource to many New Jerusalemites, providing meat, fat, and clothing material such as leather, skins, and fibers for textile manufacturing. Woolly Bears have proven problematic to domesticate, so instead ‘Bear Hunters’ generally follow the herds on their seasonal migrations, husbanding their chosen herds and managing their numbers to keep their populations at a sustainable level.
Beartraps are another terrestrial maggot. Males are smaller and covered in venomous hairs that they can throw, and reach perhaps 20 to 30 cm. Females have been recorded as growing to almost 10 m long and weighing up to 5 tons. Females, as they mature, typically settle into loose soil, and grow. Eventually they become immobile and bury themselves, turning into ambush predators. Their body’s natural energy conservation allows them to go potentially months without a meal. This, combined with the fact that only their rather small eye stalks are visible above ground, makes them hard to spot. When they do strike, they are incredibly dangerous and can even threaten vehicles.
The truck hit another pothole in the ad hoc forest trail, causing Driscoll to swear loudly. The suspension in this piece of junk wasn’t much longer for this world, and God willing he would afford a replacement vehicle. The back of his truck was mostly empty aside from a few small kills. His most notable kill was just an undersized Musk Deer. The thing has almost punched a hole in him with its fangs before he finished it off. He had thought it was dead, gotten careless, and didn’t confirm before attempting to secure the animal. Its fur, as well as his other kills, would have some value in the bartering world of the trapper and hunter communities, but probably not enough for a new truck.
His worst fears came true when the truck hit a bump that dropped off abruptly on the other side. The truck hit the dirt with a crunch, and Driscoll heard a grinding noise. Cursing again, he opened the driver’s door and grabbed his rifle just in case. A quick glance around told him nothing was nearby, and he got on his belly to check under the truck. As he started to mess with the suspension, his rested his elbow on a rock. At least, he had thought it was a rock, until the round black shape however began to give way to his elbow. His confusion turned to fear as the truck began to shift forward away from the bump. Driscoll scrambled away on his hands and knees, trying to clear the moving vehicle. Just as he did so he saw the bump he had hit was moving. Rock and dirt gave way to a hole, or at least he thought it was a hole for a brief instant before realizing it was full of jagged teeth.
Driscoll had a brief moment to scream. Then he never had to worry about his old truck again.
