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rating: +9
Critter? Profile: Claycy!
Overview!
Name: Claycy
Species: Unknown!
Primary Caretaker: Terrestrial Team, Robert Dan
Diet: Insects like grasshoppers and crickets
Housed: Wilson's Wildlife Center, Enclosure 72
Creature Features!
A "Claycy" is one of our many cute sand clumps that were discovered in Vino, Lazio, Italy (which is a small town with a relaxed atmosphere, inhabited by devout Catholics), a place just as mysterious as Boring, Oregon! …it's OK. We understand that you don't know what to think of that. You're probably thinking, "but they aren't even animals or living beings!" Or, "Haven't you gone insane from dealing with all those weird animals?" We promise that the next paragraph will answer any questions you kids have about their ecology!
Claycies are clumps that are 100% composed of roughly 700-800 grams of sand. Via an unknown method, they crawl across the ground to move, allowing them to catch prey, play, and come over to us. When they move, they lose bits of their volume, but when they swallow their prey (insects), their sand increases by the same amount as the insects' own mass. Predation (which, I'm not sure if it can be called that) seems to be the only way they can increase the amount of sand in their body, and they can't just absorb ordinary sand.
Periodically, they breed. One day, we thought they were just playing with each other as usual, but then one of them shed a little bit of sand and gave it to the other, and two hours later, the Claycy that was given the sand had seemingly shed a bunch of sand itself. That clump of sand was moving, and at that moment, we realized that we had finally witnessed this wonderful moment. Of course, just as life begins, the opposite also happens, and we also discovered clumps of unmoving sand within the enclosure.
When caretakers like Robert Dan and other humans that they know and trust enter their enclosure, all of them form crowds around them. The troublemakers prey on the caretakers, clinging to their boots and making them unable to move. They're always staying in the same place, waiting for food, and when nobody pays attention to them, some of them (sometimes) sleep in the sun. A lot of them (but not all!) get so happy when you rub them like you're writing a message on a beach, making noises which are just the cutest!
History!
Claycy, the glutton who ate everyone's crickets! (It's hard to tell, but it's in the middle!)
In 2021, the supervisors discovered a large number of Claycies in Vino, Lazio. According to the citizens, they began settling there around the end of 1996. Although the citizens treated them like any other supernatural phenomena at first, they then realized that they were like adorable animals, just like we did, and the whole community watched over them. Even after their initial discovery, new Claycies appear three times a year. The higher-ups performed some research, and after taking their traits into consideration, they entrusted the Claycies within our care.
Actually, despite the info provided by citizens about its discovery, the existence of creatures like Claycy has been known since around the 1860s as an urban legend.
Special Needs and Accommodations!
The current environment of their enclosure is designed to resemble their original habitat as much as possible. Because Boring is cooler than Italy, in the wintertime, they have to be moved to an indoor enclosure. In cold weather, their movements slow down. According to our higher-ups, they are somewhat heat resistant.
Claycies LOVE to bask in the sun! During the day, they find places under the sun comforting. However, Claycies hate water! When it rains, they need to quickly make a burrow to hide in.
To tell the truth, we don't actually know much about them. Well, other than the fact that they are quite lovable friends, we don't know much beyond that. The Terrestrial Team needs to look into their ecology some more.
Wilson's Wildlife Solutions' policy about Claycy!
Hi, Tim Wilson (the founder of Wilson's Wildlife Solutions) here. Now that you've read this far, you'll probably think that we're weird for taking the time and effort to protect something that isn't really an animal. So, why'd the higher-ups decide to have us take care of the Claycies?
Since a Claycy lacks many typical biological features, you might be asking how it's considered an animal, given its ecology. Well, we humans live in the same way as animals: eating, sleeping, waking up, laughing, being sad, repeating those things every day, and then finally dying. If you think that Claycies aren't that different after all, then you'd have realized the same thing as us. We already spend a lot of time with these neighbours of ours, and thus, the higher-ups thought it would be efficient to entrust the Claycies with us! Isn't that proud?
Still, as for those who don't quite understand that, Robert and the other caretakers will guide you through the process of truly understanding the Claycies. We'll work together to move past our inner biases and prejudice!
-Tim Wilson
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