Snakeneck Cat

The snakeneck cat is the least common but the most feared of all wild cats found on the continent of Tikaj. The snakeneck is larger than most, and is named for the fact that it can unhinge its jaw like snakes can in order to swallow its prey whole. It is found mostly in the Abyss of Rupen, the north of Hongmark, and the northern tip of Keizorna. It can also occasionally be found in Rupendu, just the other side of the Abyss of Rupen's border, or the eastern tip of Bäs, though this is quite rare.   The reason the snakeneck is so feared is because of its reputation for going after human infants. While historical records of these incidents show that the occurance is rare, the natural fear of it happening exaggerates this in the common consciousness. In the regions where the snakeneck cat lives, it's normal for households who have or are expecting a baby to be paranoid about security, keep shotguns within easy reach, set traps in their grounds, and fill the house with plants rumoured to repel snakeneck cats. Sadly, incidents where children have been given weapons to defend their baby siblings with in their parents' absence have caused many a tragic accident; the death rate of these is far higher than the actual recorded incidents of the very threat they were trying to prevent.   In reality, the snakeneck lives mainly on rodents and lagamorphs. There are a number of recorded occasions where one that happened to be in a human-populated area did make off with an insufficiently protected baby; however, humans are not its preferred prey, and stories about them stalking families or getting into nurseries all originate from a single tragic incident. That said, they are still very dangerous, incredibly viscious if they consider themselves threatened or a human stands in the way of their chosen prey. In the aforementioned tragic incident, which occurred during a time of great famine in Hongmark, the starving snakeneck cat killed not just the infant in question, but two of the child's relatives who tried to protect him--his father and older sister. Both of them were mauled, the girl killed instantly and the father later of his injuries.   The snakeneck cat is often portrayed as bigger than it is, and more intelligent. In folklore it is a scheming creature capable of strategy and reason, that takes pleasure from hunting its human prey, and capable of outsmarting the child's protectors. Many myths also attribute mystical powers to it, just to add to the fear already created by the tales. It is not, however, actually a magical creature, and its intelligence is no more than the average non-magical wild cat.   The snakeneck is visually distinguishable from other wild cats by its grey-and-white striped fur and tufted ears. Its natural territory is forests and dense woodland, and will only venture into human-populated land if its normal food sources are scarce. Like other Tikaj wild cats, it plays with its prey if prey is plentiful, and does not normally let an individual animal go if an easier catch comes along.