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The Doclopedia #494

The Potawango Island Bestiary, Part One: Albino Pygmy Walrus

From the notebook of Dr. Thaddeus Silkmelon:

The very southernmost tip of Potawango Island is the breeding ground of the Albino Pygmy Walrus, an incredible creature that is not only much smaller than the better known version, but as a species completely albino. Aside from the lack of coloration, they behave in all ways like ordinary walrus, but seldom top 500 pounds.

In early spring, they come to the beaches by the thousands to give birth to their pups, then mate. All of this is quite typical walrus behavior, but there is one exception. The Albino Pygmy Walrus exudes an odor that smells remarkably like gardenias and seems to repel both biting insects and predatory animals. Indeed, despite the delightful scent it has for our human olfactory nerves, it will, after a few minutes, cause us to feel ill to our stomachs. This was first noticed in our party by Abner Porkwaffle and myself as we observed them. I know understand why our guide, Pagoona, kept his distance from them.

Once we got beyond the effect of the scent, I felt better quite quickly. Unfortunately, Abner had an attack of nerves and had to lie down in his tent until lunch time.

The Doclopedia # 495

The Potawango Island Bestiary, Part One: Leaping Turtle

From the notebook of Dr. Thaddeus Silkmelon:

Once again, poor Abner Porkwaffle, my oldest and dearest friend, has found himself on the bad end of an encounter with the fauna of this island. He is lying down just now and being tended to by Miss Abigail Saltgrass. Hopefully he will be hale and hearty again by dinner time.

It was early this afternoon when young Smiffy, cabin boy on our ship and now general errand boy for the expedition, came to tell us that a large group of turtles seemed to be migrating from the Little Forest to the Pink Swamp, so called because of the massive bloomings of Pink Lemonberry flowers one finds there. Well, never having seen a turtle migration, we were quickly off with Smiffy in the lead.

When we got to the proper location, we saw between 200 and 300 turtles, most about the size of a pie plate, moving slowly through the short grass. I noted that these turtles had, in addition to their bright green shells, rather muscular legs. I took many notes as Abner went around in front of them to get a few photographs.

He was snapping away with his trusty Brownie when from behind the turtles came the roar of a male crocodile in the river that cuts through the Little Forest. Upon hearing that roar, the entire group of turtles leaped a good 15 feet through the air. They did this several times and unfortunately many of them collided with Abner. Some of the frightened reptiles even bit him lightly or defecated on him. Within moments, however, the entire herd was gone from our view into the swamp.

Once Abner calmed down enough to stop yelling, we returned him to the camp where he now rests. Fortunately, his camera was undamaged, so we should have excellent photos of the turtles in mid leap.