Testicular Torsion Skunk Bird Snake Worm
This descendant of Castorocauda equinoxum has come to celebrate the second equinox of OFC. Although it is closely related to its ancestor, and occupies nearly the exact same niche, one difference about it which it has changed is that there is a "second tail" present, jutting off near the end of the first tail. This arrived from a duplication mutation which occurred in the species, causing individuals to form two display flukes instead of one. Although the second tail is shorter and not fully functional, it was still useful as it intimidated potential predators even more so than only having one tail by making it seem as if there were multiple individuals there, tricking the predators into thinking that they would be more likely to be sprayed and thus scaring them off more often, while also acting as a warning display to show that it is not desirable prey, as it can easily flop its body around to spray predators that it sees coming. The only price that it has to pay is that it takes a larger amount of energy to support, which is not a problem with its lack of competition with a relatively abundant food source, Bulbus pansoma, which kills and overgrows other nearby polyphs by releasing a weak necrotic enzyme. Castorocauda biequinoxum, however, is resistant to those enzymes like its ancestor, and as a result it is able to eat these without receiving harmful side effects.
Castorocauda biequinoxum grows up to seventeen centimeters (17 cm) in length like its ancestor does and it has nearly the same pattern present on its back, which uses contrasting colors in order to warn potential predators of their ability to spray. Combined with their additional tail fluke, they are sometimes able to scare off ground predators such as the occasional Draco major before they even have to begin releasing their spray by lifting their tails and turning so that the tail is pointing towards them. If this doesn't work and they have no choice, however, it will release the spray, aided by chemicals in its diet, which is distasteful, and it usually deters predators with the foul taste and odor. This method does not work as well with any flying sky predators, however, as they do not always see them coming from above and their spray can only fly so high vertically, although this is not much of a problem as they have no aerial predators.
Castorocauda biequinoxum will typically mature around five (5) weeks of age, and are able to reproduce after they mature. Males and females of the species will mate with members of the opposite sex that they happen to encounter, and females will lay between twenty and thirty (20-30) eggs in clutches every two to three weeks (2-3 wks). Females may contain the sperm of males for up to two months (2 mon) and lay eggs independently during thst time period if they do not find another mate sooner.
As they live closer to the equator, Castorocauda biequinoxum do not have to worry about the cold quite as much as their northern counterparts, but they will become less active during the dry season whenever food becomes less abundant. If the average temperatures do somehow dip beneath twelve degrees Celsius (12° C) during some anomaly or if they are brought along somewhere, they will still have the instinct to find shelter and hibernate as it is innate from their ancestors. Individuals of this species do not usually live longer than a year (1 yr), due to factors such as predation and aging, although some can reach two years (2 yrs) of age in rare cases. This is not a problem, however, as they are small and can reproduce quickly to refill their population.