By Zumer the Mudokon Traveler

Over the past couple of weeks I have been studying the most misunderstood creatures of Mudos. To the industrial world they are little more than prime livestock, a source of tasty meat for their ravenous customers. But over the past weeks I have come to realize how much more these beautiful creatures really are. It is saddening to even think about how anyone can overlook the magnificence of Oddworld’s scrabs.

There are two major classifications of the common scrab; the undomesticated scrabs which roam the wild regions of Mudos and the stock scrabs, bred in the captivity of various glukkon slaughter houses. Stock scrabs are generally larger and more docile than their free-born cousins as a result of years of directed proliferation. In the wild, survival of the fittest dictates what scrabs live to adulthood but in captivity it is the big, stupid ones that are bred to thrive. The scrabs are raised for the quality of their meat and kept healthy when convenient. Sadly, the glukkons have little concern for the care of their miserable animals, save that they live long enough to be killed for their meat. Lack of adequate food and exercise would typically make stock scrabs slow and weak, but through the use of vykkers steroids they are much stronger than natural scrabs. However, the size of their muscles does not guarantee their healthiness and most stock scrabs suffer from many different non-fatal illnesses. Especially prone to disease are the scrab’s endocrine and digestive systems. This treatment is unjust, I believe even livestock deserve good treatment during their short lives. The kennels of Rupture Farms hold a majority of the scrab population, each grimy pen serving as the only home to a scrab as it grows to maturity. Once they reach an adult weight, it is only a matter of days until the scrab is butchered at the edge of a meat grinder. All of the scrabs meat is then processed and made into delicious Scrab Cakes.

The life of a wild scrab is a great deal less tragic. Scrab herds are scattered across most of Mudos and likely many other areas of Oddworld. Each herd is led by a dominant (or alpha) scrab male. The dominant scrabs are fiercely territorial and will do their best to destroy anything they view as an intruder, even other scrabs. Only female scrabs are allowed to join the herd and any newborn males are forced to leave the protection of the herd to fend for themselves. The young male then wanders across the rugged wilderness, hunting and seeking a territory of its own. Most scrabs that have left their herd live in the Scrabanian desert region. In this area they can usually avoid confrontation with other males because of all of the stone chasms and rock formations that break up the desert terrain. But if they do come across another scrab, the two will fight until only one is still living. The older, more experienced dominant scrab generally will tear the intruding male to shreds but occasionally they are defeated by a tough young scrab. The victorious male then takes the place of dominant scrab, inheriting its foe’s territory and herd.

Scrabs are arguably the strongest, quickest creatures of Oddworld. Their lack of eyes does not hinder their hunting prowess as they have developed other incredible means of sensing their environment. They use organs in their mouth to “taste” and identify the local flora, fauna and minerals. They also have two ear holes which give the creature a limited sense of hearing. A scrab’s main sense of perception is a highly developed organ in its skull, which emits a constant flow of sonar “pings”, that allow it to identify its surroundings.

A scrab will systematically travel across all of its territory, remarking its boundaries with musk secreted from glands between their legs. When a scrab detects an intruder it deems as a worthy opponent it will lower its head and screech. When the call is answered the scrab then backs up and waits for the intruding scrab to assume the fighting position opposite it. The scrabs glow noticeably red in anticipation of attack and then without any other warning the two beast dash at each other. The following melee of legs and beaks is quicker than the eye can follow and within literally seconds a winner is determined. The victor then performs a behavior commonly known as a scrab tap dance, in which it begins to prance across the carcass of the trespasser. This seemingly mindless victory dance is actually a fundamental part of scrab dining. Scrabs are unable to eat their prey whole and cannot simply tear chunks of flesh off, because their upper jaw does not extend far enough from its head. The scrab must “dance” to squish its dinner into a pile of bloody mulch so that it can then scoop up the flesh of its prey with its lower jaw and slide it back into its throat to be swallowed. The scrab will continue to sporadically hop on the prey between scoops of steaming pulp.

I have witnessed few scrab battles but all that I have seen were spectacular shows. Morbid as it may seem, these hunters are truly beautiful in their mastery of killing. Nothing can compare to watching a young male scrab defeat a dominant scrab and take its place as leader of a herd. Watching large groups of these untamed creatures run across the mountainous regions of Mudos have honestly been some of the most amazing sights I have ever seen and no words can come close describing their majesty. When I think back on the miserable lives of stock scrabs, it distresses me to think that someday they may be the only scrabs left. We native mudokons must do our best to preserve the wild scrabs from the industrialists, lest they befall the same fate as the meech.