Buopoth
"Sometimes he walked close to the bank of Oukranos and whistled to the sprightly and iridescent fish of that crystal stream, and at other times he paused amidst the whispering rushes and gazed at the great dark wood on the farther side, whose trees came down clear to the water’s edge. In former dreams he had seen quaint lumbering buopoths come shyly out of that wood to drink, but now he could not glimpse any."The Buopoths are gentle herbivores that inhabit the Sleeping Lands. They are mentioned in the story The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.
Basic Information
Anatomy
This lumbering herbivorous mammal is reminiscent of the Proboscidea. The Boupoth's felt-like hide is delicately-colored. The ears are complex and curiously humanoid. The back is adorned with two rows of skin-covered protuberances which seem defensive in purpose. Its eyes are large and disconcertingly intelligent, and its call is a soft trumpeting.
The characteristic Boupoth feature is the proboscis, found among no other living mammal. The musculature and nervation of this unique organ recently have been described (Mustoll, 1988). It is now clear that Boupoths, far from being near-kin of elephants and sirenians, are most closlely related to the Rhinogradentia. The ancestor pf the Buopoth would appear to have been the so-called Primitive Snouter, a tiny shrew-like mammal (Stumpke, 1964).
Ecology and Habitats
The Buopoth live in wooded areas near the banks of the Oukranos, which they approach to hydrate. However, they are very shy and flee at the slightest sign of threat. They prefer the warm tropical forests, and avoid humans and their dwellings when possible.
Dietary Needs and Habits
The shy and solitary Boupoth is normally difficult to study, but the musical vigor of its courtship and mating is often reproduced in Dreamlands song and dance. Normally a single calf is born; occasionally twins or triplets are seen; there is rumored to be a large herd in the Enchanted Forest, but few claimed to see them. A calf reaches fertile adulthood in three to four years.
A cornered Buopoth may make a single charge, to knock down the threat and to escape. (Since an adult weight a ton or more and can bolt at speeds of twenty miles an hour, caution is advised.) The fugitive Buopoth may then hide in a jungle thicket for hours. Given a choice, the creature prefers to defend itself by submerging beneath the surface of a stream or lake, taking air through its proboscis, and placidly feeding on underwater plants as it waits for danger to depart.
The tofflebol, a white waxy root sweet and crunchy to the taste, is a favorite delicacy of the Buopoth. The toffebol bush has sheaves of long, yellow- and green- speckled leaves: a freshly-uprooted bush is good evidence that a Buopoth is in the area (Marik, 1987)
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