Diet: Omnivore
Danger Level: 14
Social Ability: 12
Observation: A cute, wide-eyed creature with a habit of being curious. It will often go up to objects it has never seen before and investigate them thoroughly. With creatures it has never encountered, it will attempt to socialize with them first. This puts it at great risk, especially when confronting predators.
Fortunately, it has a few defenses it can use. The first is its natural armor, with areas containing vital organs being thicker than areas that contain mostly fat and/or muscle. The second is its pincers which are capable of crushing shellfish and puncturing flesh. The last line of defense is a gland located between its eyes that fires an acid-like mixture of bodily fluids that can cause third-degree burns.
These combative encounters are rare, however. It tends to be a solitary creature, seeking a mate only once every eight months. Courting a mate is all about finding commonality. Individuals will indicate they are ready to mate by carrying around an object it has found and considered its favorite, be it a bone from a dead animal or the shell from a seed pod. They will then look for another creature that has a similar interest based on the object it is carrying. Once they find a match, they produce an egg. The egg is buried and left to hatch on its own, similar in some degree to how sea turtles reproduce.
It is believed by the observer that their curious nature may have root in these reproductive acts. Once the egg hatches, the young are unable to find their parents, who have been long since left the area in which they were born. Their curious nature and constant attempts to socialize with other creatures may actually be a life long quest to find their parents. It isn’t clear how young adults of this creature learn the mating ritual, but the observer assumes it is built into their DNA somewhere to collect objects and then pick one out to use as a divining rod.
It hardly make any noise. When it does, it is mostly chirps and clicks not unlike those made by Earth frogs. The more elaborate vocal displays are done when it tries to communicate with other creatures.
It has a scavenger diet and will eat almost anything that has been left to rot. The exception to this rule is with the plants it consumes. This creature prefers freshly bloomed or budding flora. If possible, it will ram trees in order to encourage virgin fruit to fall quicker.
~Zeek Slider
PS-
The file had no name for the creature. I asked my supervisor if I could name it, and he said "Sure, why not?" So I named it Wallace because it looks like an organic version of Pixar's WALL-E.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was throwing around the idea of an organic version of WALL-E for a while but didn't bother until just recently when a fellow animation nerd showed me a detailed features blueprint that Pixar apparently published. Wish I could remember the magazine.]
