THE FUNERAL MOUNTAIN TERRASHOT

The terrashot is said to explain the name of California’s Funeral Range. This strange beast carries a coffin-shaped body six to eight feet long, with a hard shell stretching the length of its back. Its four spindly legs wobble so badly that the animal sways side to side and lurches back and forth as it walks, like a swaying pallbearer burdened by its own weight.

The first known account comes from Mormon emigrants who watched a curious procession winding out of the mountains and into the desert. These travelers gave the range its morbid name after seeing the fate that always overtakes the terrashot. The creatures thrive in the cool meadows and high parks of the mountains, multiplying until, gripped by some strange instinct, they gather into long lines and march toward the low desert. Their goal seems to be the distant ranges across the sands, but not a single one has ever reached them. As soon as the animals set foot on the burning flats, the heat swells their bodies until, one by one, they burst with thunderous reports, leaving behind deep, grave-shaped pits in the sand—the only lasting trace of their funeral march.