In Bernie and the Lost Girl, Bernie shows Lenny and Suzie some of the creatures that live in the woods.
One creature is called a two-legged snake. It had the ability to drop off its tail when threatened, which left an edible portion of itself behind for a predator, giving it time to escape.
There are creatures that can actually do this. It’s called ‘autotomy’ which means ‘self-severing.’ The ability is surprisingly common and found within reptiles, amphibians, mammals (two species of African mice), and quite a variety of invertebrates (molluscs, crustaceans, spiders, and bees).
I had personal experience with the salamander pictured below. As a kid, I discovered they lived under fallen logs. They would scurry away when I rolled the log back. Naturally, I tried to catch them, only to discover that they left their tails behind (twisting and wiggling) as they scurried for cover. I was sad to think I’d hurt them, but fascinated by the implications of what they could do.
Later on, I found other creatures with the same ability. I had salt water aquariums for several years and one of my hermit crabs dropped one or two of his legs whenever a particularly aggressive snail started chasing him. (Unfortunately, the little crab eventually ran out of legs, and the snail won.)
