The Funeral Mountain Terrashot

illustration by Coert DeBois, 1910

Origins:

Likely made up for the 1910 fantasy bestiary "Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods: With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts", written by William T. Cox, illustrated by Coert DeBois:

This animal explains the original of the Funeral Range, California. The creature has a casket-like body, six to eight feet long, with a shell running the whole length of its back. Its four legs are long and wobbly, causing the terrashot to sway uncertainly from side to side and forward and backward as it travels along.

The strange beast was first reported by some Mormon emigrants, who observed a peculiar procession entering the desert from a certain mountain range, afterward named the Funeral Mountains. They also witnessed the tragic fate of the creatures. One of the Mormons, aroused by his curiosity, made an investigation which resulted in finding out about all that is known of the terrashot. It seems that the animal lives in the little meadows and parks in the higher portions of the range, where it gradually increases in numbers, until by a strange impulse it is seized by a desire to emigrate. They then form long processions and march down into the desert, with the evident intention of crossing to other ranges that can be seen in the distance, but none of them ever get across. As they encounter the hot sands they rapidly distend with the heat, and one after another they blow up with resounding sounds, leaving deep, grave-shaped holes in the sand.