Ghyll:Tuckarando

Dib. We are still doing a second "T", right? --Doctor Phineas Crank 08:17, 5 Mar 2005 (EST)

land vulture, platypus dog, the beaked blight ===Identification and Field Marks:=== These nasty, little relatives of the Mute Chukarandos are also members of the ghastly-things-with-fur-that-lay-eggs family and have certain traits in common with other members of their family, namely thick, brown, curly fur with black stripes and a white underbelly. However, the tuckarando only grows to a maximum of two nanits. Also, these wicked, little beasts have the unusual feature of a hooked beak quite reminiscent of ... Oddly enough, that predatory beak conceals a viscious set of carnivorous teeth with which the tuckarando tears its prey. ===Similar Species:=== Tukarandos are, as previously mentioned, related to the Mute Chukarandos. Also, there are at least two sub-species, the dwarf tuckarandos, which never exceeds a single nanit in length, and the giant tuckarandos, which always exceeds five nanits in length. There is rumored to be a more heavily furred mountain tuckarando, as well, but no one has survived to verify, or renouce, their existance. ===Habitat:=== Originally found in the foothils of Mount Yurch, the living blight known as the tuckarando has migrated to virtually any area of Ghyll that has soft enough ground for them to make their burrows. They can also be found in many major cities in Ghyll, thanks in no small part to the illegal tuckarando trade perpetuated by the infamous Jack "Jackie Tuckarando" Tockanski. (see below) ===Habits:=== The favorite prey of the tuckarnado is the Ghyllian ankle. Alternately, they will gnaw fingers stuck into their burrows and, as a last resort, will eat anything else they can get their furry, little paws on. It is unclear on how early their natural development was disturbed by Ghyllians hiking up Mount Yurch, but tuckarandos must have surely sought other prey at one time. They have a very sweet song, rather like an asmatic Freege Horn which will draw animal visitors from miles around. However, it is their amazing ability to mimic sounds, including the Ghyllian voice, that naturalists find so interesting. Is it this ability that let them lure their earlier prey to its doom? Or have they simply made a pact with the forces of darkness? Who can say? In any case, it is this ability that makes them both so valued and illicit. (see below)

Young and Breeding:

As implied by their family name, tuckarandos are egg-layers. They prefer to lay their freshly fertilized eggs in the toe-jam of Ghyllians who have hiked up Mount Yurch, but they'll tuck their eggs into any fleshy nook or crany that they can find. These eggs hatch just a few days after being fertilized and implanted on their host. The resulting immature tuckarandos are a fraction of a nanit in size and quickly burrow into the soft parts of the unfortunate Ghyllian who incubated them. The result is not pretty at all and results in painful warts in the affected area. Six to eight weeks later, the adolescent tukarandos work their way back to the surface of their host and begin to devour them. Any tuckarandos that survive that process scamper off to find their first ankle to bite, thus perpetutating their species. No one has actually seen tuckarandos mate, but it is assumed to be a process rather like Ghyllian reproduction, but without as much fanfare.

Economic Importance:

Of course we all remember the most famous tuckarando of all, P'Jubal, Fijjit Mejora’s long-time friend in the best-selling “Fijjit and the Fefferberry Failure”.