Animals in A Series of Unfortunate Events
Encyclopedia
Lemony Snicket
's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events
mentions numerous forms of wild and domestic fauna. Though many such animals are only described in passing – swans, marmoset
s, manatee
s, carrier pigeon
s, butterflies, and yak
s to name a few – a number play central or secondary roles in the plot. The following is a list, including descriptions, of the most notable of these.
utilized numerous animals to accomplish their missions. According to the woman with hair but no beard, the crows, eagles, lions, and reptiles are the main animals of V.F.D.
, not because of their affiliation with V.F.D.
), are a vast flock (or "murder") of crows native to the eponymous Village of Fowl Devotees (V.F.D.), a tight community with unclear connections to the V.F.D. organization.
Within the Village (whose sole purpose is to accommodate the birds), the crows roost uptown in the morning and downtown
in the afternoon. At night they sleep in the Nevermore Tree. The Village has extremely strict rules on the treatment of the birds, including the death penalty
for killing one. The carrier crows are used by Isadora Quagmire to carry her encoded couplet
s to the Baudelaires
while she and her brother Duncan are trapped in the Village.
When the Baudelaires reach the Hotel Denouement, Klaus is given the task of capturing the corpses of the crows on enormous bird paper, after they have been harpooned by Carmelita Spats. The Baudelaires soon discover that the crows are delivering the sugar bowl
. Although most of the characters believe the sugar bowl falls down a funnel into the laundry room, in actuality it falls into the Hotel Denouement pond, the location of Dewey Denouement's secret library.
found in the Mortmain Mountains and owned by the firestarting side of V.F.D.
They appear primarily in The Slippery Slope
, though they are mentioned as early on as The Wide Window
.
The Mortmain Mountain eagle is a predatory raptor, preying on the stricken salmon. Snicket
describes the variety as enormous in The Wide Window, though they are never given this description again. (They are, however, shown to have prodigious strength.) He also hints that they build their eyries from discarded trash, since Snicket writes:
Snicket also makes it clear that they are domesticable, since the two judges trained them to obey a whistle blow (and apparently the cry of "mush
") through retributive punishment.
Approximately twenty years before the series takes place, while hiking up to the summit of Mt. Fraught with Lemony Snicket
and Jerome Squalor (among others), Beatrice Baudelaire was snatched by one of the Mortmain Mountain eagles and carried away to its eyrie, almost certainly on the orders of the firestarting side of V.F.D.
The result of this encounter is unknown, except that Beatrice apparently escaped.
In The Slippery Slope, the eagles were used by the two judges of the High Court to kidnap the Snow Scouts as part of V.F.D.'s child recruiting program, with intentions to burn down the children's houses, murder their families, and embezzle their inheritances.
While the children were put to work operating Count Olaf's stolen submarine (rechristened Carmelita), the eagles were sent to attack Duncan and Isadora Quagmire and Hector in their self-sustaining hot air mobile home.
With the help of Quigley Quagmire, the eagles were secured in a large net. However, while Kit Snicket, Cpt. Widdershins, Fernald
, and Fiona navigated their submarine, the Queequeg, toward the self-sustaining hot air mobile home, the eagles tore open the net. When the Queequeg arrived, the aerostatic envelopes
had been torn by the eagles, and the airship crashed in the submarine, capsizing its crew. Kit Snicket escaped with the Incredibly Deadly Viper on a raft of jetsam, but Quigley, Isadora, Duncan, Fiona, Fernald, Hector, and Cpt. Widdershins all disappeared into the Great Unknown.
Quigley feared that the eagles would die out because of the lack of stricken salmon (see below), but according to Snicket, the eagles survived and "rebuilt their nests" (which had apparently been destroyed in the burning of the V.F.D. headquarters).
s (Panthera leo) which originally lived in the caves of the Mortmain Mountains. They were trained by V.F.D.
(including Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire) to detect fires by scent (hence their moniker detectives). In the film
, Ike and Josephine Anwhistle are said to have been lion tamers before Ike's death.
Through an unknown series of events (Klaus suggests that the lions are orphaned like himself), Count Olaf
comes into possession of the lions. The count donates them (in poor condition) to the Caligari Carnival so that Madame Lulu (Olivia Caliban) can focus more time on fortunetelling and locating the Baudelaires
.
The bald man with the long nose starts the Lion Show, which combines "violence and sloppy eating" (in which random carnival freaks
are fed to the lions), eventually leading to his and Madame Lulu's death in the lion pit.
Although the Baudelaires considered rescuing them from maltreatment at the hands of Olaf, in the end the lions were destroyed in the Caligari Carnival fire which the orphans helped light.
s and amphibian
s accumulated by Dr. Montgomery Montgomery during his work for the Herpetological Society
of London
, culminating in the discovery of the Incredibly Deadly Viper just prior to his death at the hands of Count Olaf
.
While it is mentioned that the reptiles were "trained", the exact nature of this training is never made clear except in the case of the Mamba du Mal (see below). (The viper shows unusual fine motor skill
s, but there is never any indication that this is the result of training.)
After Montgomery's death, the collection was removed on Arthur Poe
's request from the Reptile Room
by the Herpetological Society (under the direction of Bruce) to be donated to "scientists, zoo
s, and retirement home
s." Those that were not accepted were to be put to sleep
. However, Count Olaf tricked Bruce out of most of the reptile collection through unknown means and for an unknown purpose, simply stating that he "needed them for [his] own use."
While the collection of trained reptiles is extensive, only a handful other than the incredibly deadly viper and the mamba du mal (see below) are named or described:
discovered by Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Gustav Sebald; in the film, the viper is indigenous to Tanzania
. Described as "one of the least dangerous and most friendly creatures in the animal kingdom
," Dr. Montgomery christened it as a prank on the Herpetological Society. Throughout The Reptile Room
and later in The End
, the viper forms a distinct attachment to the Baudelaires and in particular Sunny
.
The Incredibly Deadly Viper is described as coal black in color (with green eyes) and thick as a sewer pipe.
When the Baudelaires are placed in the care of Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, he reveals the Incredibly Deadly Viper (which is closely guarded in the Reptile Room). Montgomery plans to present the viper as his newest discovery to the Herpetological Society the following month, after their return form Peru
.
After Montgomery's death, Sunny pretends to be attacked by the viper in order to distract Count Olaf
(disguised as "Stephano") long enough for Violet
to find evidence to implicate Count Olaf in the murder. When the Herpetological Society comes to remove the reptiles, the children try to keep the Incredibly Deadly Viper but are stopped by the Herpetological Society's director of marketing, Bruce.
Although Count Olaf somehow tricks Bruce out of most of the reptile collection, he is unable to attain the Incredibly Deadly Viper, which has gone missing. A couple identified only as the owners of the Prospero (a V.F.D. ship) apparently assisted Lemony Snicket
in rescuing the snake.
When Kit Snicket washes ashore on the coastal shelf, she brings with her the Incredibly Deadly Viper. While trapped on the shelf, the viper keeps the Baudelaires company and tries to save the castaways from the poison of the Medusoid Mycelium by offering them sour apples, an allusion to the Serpent
in the Garden of Eden
.
constrictor
described as "one of the deadliest snakes in the hemisphere
." The (fictional) book The Mamba du Mal: A Snake That Will Never Kill Me (by Mommy Eggmonteror) states:
The illustration provided in The Mamba du Mal portrays the mamba as small and light-colored with large, dark spots. However, an unidentified associate of Count Olaf
describes the snake as black. In addition, the mamba is capable of human mimicry
and is used for the same purpose as V.F.D.
crickets (see below), with which it can communicate.
While the mamba never actually does anything in the series apart from reside in Dr. Montgomery's collection, Count Olaf
(under the guise of "Stephano") uses its poison to murder Dr. Montgomery and frame the snake.
Following its removal from the Reptile Room, the Mamba du Mal falls victim to an unspecified lethal accident, after which it is mounted in a display frame and auctioned away at the In Auction
. Though several "unidentified sources" bid on it, the Esmé Squalor
Fan Club wins out.
s employed by V.F.D.
to carry coded messages using stridulation
. The crickets are shown to carry their messages at night outside people's bedrooms, prompting V.F.D. members to leave their windows open. Lemony Snicket
points out that they are not usually active in the winter.
In his autobiography
, Snicket quotes the crickets from Chapter XV of E. B. White
's Charlotte's Web
:
The author provides the following translation of these apparently coded messages:
Thus rendering the passage from Charlotte's Web:
In addition, Snicket cites a modified (and annotated) version of The Three Languages
fairy tale as an example of the crickets in action, although the exact nature of the passage is not made explicit:
The story goes on to say that the professor teaches the son the language of dog
s. The old Count is dissatisfied, and sends him off to another professor, who teaches him the language of bird
s. The old Count is again dissatisfied:
The story is cut off here. The "hinterland
s" referenced in the passage may be the Hinterlands in The Carnivorous Carnival. While trapped in Count Olaf's car trunk on their journey through the Hinterlands, the Baudelaires can make out the chirping of crickets.
s bred in homing
by V.F.D.
for use in carrying messages (similar to pigeon post
), a process known as "baticeering". Members of V.F.D. trained in baticeering are called "baticeers" and included Beatrice Baudelaire, who styled herself as a "Baticeer Extraordinaire" as early as age 10. Lemony Snicket
, Beatrice Baudelaire, Beatrice Baudelaire II, and the Duchess of Winnipeg all express doubts about the capability of the bats to deliver messages to the correct correspondents. Snicket describes the bats as living in caves in the Mortmain Mountains.
Snicket frequently refers to Beatrice as his "baticeer" (which, in addition to a reference to Beatrice's training, is an anagram of her first name). In a play titled My Silent Knot (both an anagram of "Lemony Snicket" and a reference to V.F.D.'s motto, "the world is quiet here"), Beatrice (who was a professional actress) played the starring role of the "Baticeer", in which she wore a butterfly
costume.
Although no mention is clearly made of the bats within the main series, the dedication to The Miserable Mill
reads:
Which may enigmatically refer to My Silent Knot, although no further indication is provided.
donkey
s employed by the Vineyard of Fragrant Grapes. In The Carnivorous Carnival, Lemony Snicket
affords a very brief description:
found in Stricken Stream and Sontag Shore. Their main diet is insects: in particular, snow gnats. Though not playing a significant role in the books, they appear in The Slippery Slope
and are discussed in The Ersatz Elevator
and The Grim Grotto
.
After the V.F.D. schism, Anwhistle Aquatics and its founder, ichthyologist Gregor Anwhistle, lead a program with the help of Captain Widdershins, Fernald
, and the Snickets (among other volunteers) called Voluntary Fish Domestication, in which a fleet of stricken salmon was trained over the course of four years to swim upstream to locate wildfire
s.
When the waiters of Café Salmonella (on the firestarting side of the schism) tried to appropriate the salmon for their café
, the Snickets engaged in a knife fight
against them, later dubbed the Snicket Snickersnee. However, the waiters won and Café Salmonella processed V.F.D.'s salmon into cuisine as diverse as salmon ravioli, salmon butter sauce, and salmon pie.
Almost a month before the Baudelaire children arrived in the Mortmain Mountains, the two judges of the high court burned down V.F.D.'s headquarters in the Valley of Four Drafts. The ashes from the mammoth headquarters' destruction polluted Stricken Stream and harmed the stricken salmon. In addition, the snow gnats were driven from the area by the fires' smoke, leading Quigley Quagmire to fear that the stricken salmon would die out. According to Snicket, however, this was not the case (see under Eagles above).
There is also some evidence to suggest that the stricken salmon grew in opposition to V.F.D., since Captain Widdershins says, "Aye! The Submarine Q and Its Crew of Two is not in the best of shape, I'm afraid! Aye! We've been attacked by...angry salmon!"
that inhabit the central part of Lake Lachrymose. Though playing a significant part in The Wide Window
, they are also mentioned in several other books in the series, including The Reptile Room
and The Beatrice Letters
.
The Lachrymose leech is a sightless, anthropophagous
leech that travels in social groups and gregariously attacks its larger prey. It is predatory (rather than hemophagic
, or "blood-sucking"), generally preying on small fish. The leech's body is made up of roughly sixty annulus
es (body rings), is of a lightish color, and has two sets of vela
(veil-like frills) along its midsection whose purpose is unspecified. The body is also slightly longer than a human finger, though whether this is at its fully extended state or not is likewise unspecified.
The Lachrymose leech feeds on humans who have eaten within an hour of entering their territory. According to Aunt Josephine, they can "smell even the smallest bit of food from far, far away". This corresponds with chemoreception (olfactory stimulus triggered by certain food chemicals), a trait found in actual species of leech.
The Lachrymose leech is described as having "six rows of very sharp teeth", which indicates that it is probably of the order Gnathobdellae
, whose species have several jaws of minuscule, sharp teeth (this order includes the medicinal leech
). Also like the medicinal leech, the Lachrymose leech has an anterior sucker (that is, only one mouth).
Ike Anwhistle was eaten alive by the Lachrymose leeches shortly before the Baudelaires' arrival to the city of Lake Lachrymose, leaving the orphans' third guardian, Josephine Anwhistle, a widow. During their residence with Josephine, Count Olaf
(disguised as Captain Julio Sham) claimed his leg was eaten off by Lachrymose leeches; this, however, was part of his ruse to hide his ankle tattoo and curry Josephine's sympathy. In the end, Josephine herself was eaten alive by the Lachrymose leeches.
s found in the Mortmain Mountains and other frigid, high-altitude areas. They attack in well-defined, wind-based swarms
and produce a mildly poisonous venom which can prove damaging in large doses. Snicket describes their aggressive behavior as "for no reason whatsoever." The most effective means of repellent
is fire, and "even the smell of smoke can keep a whole swarm at bay." In an attempt to coin a V.F.D. name for them, Violet refers to the gnats as "violent frozen dragonflies", although gnats are members of the suborder Nematocera
, while dragonflies
are of the only distantly related suborder Epiprocta
. Snow gnats are the main element of the stricken salmon's diet.
Jacques Snicket apparently suffered an encounter with the gnats so devastating he "had nightmares about it for weeks." Snicket describes how an "associate" of his fell over a cliff in the Mortmain Mountains while pursued by the gnats. Within the series, the Baudelaires
are attacked by snow gnats while lost in the Mortmain Mountains. The gnats are described as forming an arrow shape and creating a vortex around the children.
s which infest the Orphans Shack of Prufrock Preparatory School, where the Baudelaire orphans
are forced to live in The Austere Academy
.
The crabs are described as the size of small matchboxes and display aggressive behavior toward intruders on the Shack. They are afraid of loud noises, prompting Violet
to design "noisy shoes" for her siblings and Duncan and Isadora Quagmire. When Vice Principal Nero forces Sunny
to make her own staple
s, Violet provokes one of the crabs into clipping the metal rods with its claws.
, sheep were used by Ishmael to carry various items which were found on the coastal shelf towards the arboretum at the far side of the island. They were originally washed up on the island many years ago, but now are left to scavenge on the island.
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events
A Series of Unfortunate Events
A Series of Unfortunate Events is a series of children's novels by Lemony Snicket which follows the turbulent lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire after their parents' death in an arsonous house fire...
mentions numerous forms of wild and domestic fauna. Though many such animals are only described in passing – swans, marmoset
Marmoset
Marmosets are the 22 New World monkey species of the genera Callithrix, Cebuella, Callibella, and Mico. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term marmoset is also used in reference to the Goeldi's Monkey, Callimico goeldii, which is closely related.Most marmosets...
s, manatee
Manatee
Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows...
s, carrier pigeon
Carrier pigeon
A carrier pigeon is a homing pigeon that is used to carry messages. Using pigeons to carry messages is generally called "pigeon post". Most homing or racing type varieties are used to carry messages. There is no specific breed actually called "carrier pigeon"...
s, butterflies, and yak
Yak
The yak, Bos grunniens or Bos mutus, is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population...
s to name a few – a number play central or secondary roles in the plot. The following is a list, including descriptions, of the most notable of these.
V.F.D. fauna
Throughout the series it becomes apparent that V.F.D.V.F.D.
V.F.D. is a secret organization within the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The purposes of the organization are never made clear, although the name of the organization is connected to various interpretations of the word "fire." V.F.D...
utilized numerous animals to accomplish their missions. According to the woman with hair but no beard, the crows, eagles, lions, and reptiles are the main animals of V.F.D.
Crows
The carrier crows, often referred to as the V.F.D. crows (because they are found in the Village of Fowl DevoteesThe Vile Village
The Vile Village is the seventh novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. After escaping Olaf once again, the Baudelaire orphans are taken into the care of a whole village, only to find lots of rules and chores, evil seniors, and Count Olaf and his evil girlfriend...
, not because of their affiliation with V.F.D.
V.F.D.
V.F.D. is a secret organization within the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The purposes of the organization are never made clear, although the name of the organization is connected to various interpretations of the word "fire." V.F.D...
), are a vast flock (or "murder") of crows native to the eponymous Village of Fowl Devotees (V.F.D.), a tight community with unclear connections to the V.F.D. organization.
Within the Village (whose sole purpose is to accommodate the birds), the crows roost uptown in the morning and downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
in the afternoon. At night they sleep in the Nevermore Tree. The Village has extremely strict rules on the treatment of the birds, including the death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
for killing one. The carrier crows are used by Isadora Quagmire to carry her encoded couplet
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
s to the Baudelaires
Baudelaire family
The Baudelaire family is one of several prominent fictional families created by American author Lemony Snicket for his novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events...
while she and her brother Duncan are trapped in the Village.
When the Baudelaires reach the Hotel Denouement, Klaus is given the task of capturing the corpses of the crows on enormous bird paper, after they have been harpooned by Carmelita Spats. The Baudelaires soon discover that the crows are delivering the sugar bowl
Sugar bowl (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
The sugar bowl is a fictional object from A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It was first mentioned by name in The Hostile Hospital, in which Snicket ponders whether it was necessary to have stolen it from Esmé Squalor. It is indirectly mentioned in The Ersatz Elevator by Esmé...
. Although most of the characters believe the sugar bowl falls down a funnel into the laundry room, in actuality it falls into the Hotel Denouement pond, the location of Dewey Denouement's secret library.
Eagles
The Mortmain Mountain eagles (also referred to as the volunteer eagles) are a fictional variety (and perhaps subspecies) of bald eagleBald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
found in the Mortmain Mountains and owned by the firestarting side of V.F.D.
V.F.D.
V.F.D. is a secret organization within the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The purposes of the organization are never made clear, although the name of the organization is connected to various interpretations of the word "fire." V.F.D...
They appear primarily in The Slippery Slope
The Slippery Slope
The Slippery Slope is the tenth installment in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Daniel Handler under the pseudonym of Lemony Snicket.-Plot Summary:...
, though they are mentioned as early on as The Wide Window
The Wide Window
The Wide Window is a children's novel and the third novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It was later released in paperback under the name The Wide Window; or, Disappearance! In The Wide Window, the Baudelaire orphans are sent to live with their third...
.
The Mortmain Mountain eagle is a predatory raptor, preying on the stricken salmon. Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
describes the variety as enormous in The Wide Window, though they are never given this description again. (They are, however, shown to have prodigious strength.) He also hints that they build their eyries from discarded trash, since Snicket writes:
"Even the litter that was thrown out the window of Olaf's car...was picked up off the road long before my work began. The missing litter is a good sign, as it indicates that certain animals of the Mortmain Mountains have returned to their posts and are rebuilding their nests."
Snicket also makes it clear that they are domesticable, since the two judges trained them to obey a whistle blow (and apparently the cry of "mush
Mushing
Mushing is a general term for a sport or transport method powered by dogs, and includes carting, pulka, scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled on snow or a rig on dry land...
") through retributive punishment.
Approximately twenty years before the series takes place, while hiking up to the summit of Mt. Fraught with Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
and Jerome Squalor (among others), Beatrice Baudelaire was snatched by one of the Mortmain Mountain eagles and carried away to its eyrie, almost certainly on the orders of the firestarting side of V.F.D.
V.F.D.
V.F.D. is a secret organization within the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The purposes of the organization are never made clear, although the name of the organization is connected to various interpretations of the word "fire." V.F.D...
The result of this encounter is unknown, except that Beatrice apparently escaped.
In The Slippery Slope, the eagles were used by the two judges of the High Court to kidnap the Snow Scouts as part of V.F.D.'s child recruiting program, with intentions to burn down the children's houses, murder their families, and embezzle their inheritances.
While the children were put to work operating Count Olaf's stolen submarine (rechristened Carmelita), the eagles were sent to attack Duncan and Isadora Quagmire and Hector in their self-sustaining hot air mobile home.
With the help of Quigley Quagmire, the eagles were secured in a large net. However, while Kit Snicket, Cpt. Widdershins, Fernald
Hook-handed man
Fernald is a villain from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He is known for having two large and sharp hooks where his hands should be...
, and Fiona navigated their submarine, the Queequeg, toward the self-sustaining hot air mobile home, the eagles tore open the net. When the Queequeg arrived, the aerostatic envelopes
Aerostat
An aerostat is a craft that remains aloft primarily through the use of buoyant lighter than air gases, which impart lift to a vehicle with nearly the same overall density as air. Aerostats include free balloons, airships, and moored balloons...
had been torn by the eagles, and the airship crashed in the submarine, capsizing its crew. Kit Snicket escaped with the Incredibly Deadly Viper on a raft of jetsam, but Quigley, Isadora, Duncan, Fiona, Fernald, Hector, and Cpt. Widdershins all disappeared into the Great Unknown.
Quigley feared that the eagles would die out because of the lack of stricken salmon (see below), but according to Snicket, the eagles survived and "rebuilt their nests" (which had apparently been destroyed in the burning of the V.F.D. headquarters).
Lions
The V.F.D. lions (or volunteer feline detectives) are a pride of highly intelligent and "noble" lionLion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s (Panthera leo) which originally lived in the caves of the Mortmain Mountains. They were trained by V.F.D.
V.F.D.
V.F.D. is a secret organization within the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The purposes of the organization are never made clear, although the name of the organization is connected to various interpretations of the word "fire." V.F.D...
(including Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire) to detect fires by scent (hence their moniker detectives). In the film
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is a 2004 black comedy film directed by Brad Silberling. It is an adaptation of the The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window, being the first three books in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket...
, Ike and Josephine Anwhistle are said to have been lion tamers before Ike's death.
Through an unknown series of events (Klaus suggests that the lions are orphaned like himself), Count Olaf
Count Olaf
Count Olaf is the primary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. In the series, Olaf is an actor and is known to have committed many crimes as a member of the fire-starting side of V.F.D. prior to the events of the first book in...
comes into possession of the lions. The count donates them (in poor condition) to the Caligari Carnival so that Madame Lulu (Olivia Caliban) can focus more time on fortunetelling and locating the Baudelaires
Baudelaire family
The Baudelaire family is one of several prominent fictional families created by American author Lemony Snicket for his novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events...
.
The bald man with the long nose starts the Lion Show, which combines "violence and sloppy eating" (in which random carnival freaks
Freak show
A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with both male and female secondary sexual characteristics, people with other extraordinary diseases and...
are fed to the lions), eventually leading to his and Madame Lulu's death in the lion pit.
Although the Baudelaires considered rescuing them from maltreatment at the hands of Olaf, in the end the lions were destroyed in the Caligari Carnival fire which the orphans helped light.
Reptiles
The trained reptiles (often referred to as "Uncle Monty's reptile collection") are an extensive collection of reptileReptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s and amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
s accumulated by Dr. Montgomery Montgomery during his work for the Herpetological Society
Herpetological society
Herpetological society is a commonly used term for a club or organized group of reptile and amphibian enthusiasts. The term is derived from herpetology - the branch of zoology dealing with the study of those organisms....
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, culminating in the discovery of the Incredibly Deadly Viper just prior to his death at the hands of Count Olaf
Count Olaf
Count Olaf is the primary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. In the series, Olaf is an actor and is known to have committed many crimes as a member of the fire-starting side of V.F.D. prior to the events of the first book in...
.
While it is mentioned that the reptiles were "trained", the exact nature of this training is never made clear except in the case of the Mamba du Mal (see below). (The viper shows unusual fine motor skill
Fine motor skill
Fine motor skills are the coordination of small muscle movements which occur e.g., in the fingers, usually in coordination with the eyes. In application to motor skills of hands the term dexterity is commonly used....
s, but there is never any indication that this is the result of training.)
After Montgomery's death, the collection was removed on Arthur Poe
Arthur Poe
Arthur Poe is a fictional character in the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. Poe is a banker in charge of the Baudelaire and Quagmire fortunes and the Baudelaire orphans' guardianship...
's request from the Reptile Room
The Reptile Room
The Reptile Room is a children's novel and the second of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It was later released in paperback under the title The Reptile Room; or, Murder! Having just escaped from the greedy and evil Count Olaf in the first book, the Baudelaire children are now...
by the Herpetological Society (under the direction of Bruce) to be donated to "scientists, zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
s, and retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
s." Those that were not accepted were to be put to sleep
Animal euthanasia
Animal euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, an animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress...
. However, Count Olaf tricked Bruce out of most of the reptile collection through unknown means and for an unknown purpose, simply stating that he "needed them for [his] own use."
While the collection of trained reptiles is extensive, only a handful other than the incredibly deadly viper and the mamba du mal (see below) are named or described:
Incredibly Deadly Viper
The Incredibly Deadly Viper (sometimes referred to as "Ink") is a nonvenomous constrictorConstriction
Constriction is a method used by various snake species to kill their prey. Although some species of venomous and mildly-venomous snakes do use constriction to subdue their prey, most snakes which use constriction lack venom. The snake initially strikes at its prey and holds on, pulling the prey...
discovered by Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Gustav Sebald; in the film, the viper is indigenous to Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. Described as "one of the least dangerous and most friendly creatures in the animal kingdom
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
," Dr. Montgomery christened it as a prank on the Herpetological Society. Throughout The Reptile Room
The Reptile Room
The Reptile Room is a children's novel and the second of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It was later released in paperback under the title The Reptile Room; or, Murder! Having just escaped from the greedy and evil Count Olaf in the first book, the Baudelaire children are now...
and later in The End
The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
The End is the thirteenth and final novel in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was published on October 13, 2006.- Plot description :...
, the viper forms a distinct attachment to the Baudelaires and in particular Sunny
Sunny Baudelaire
Sunny Baudelaire is one of the protagonists of Lemony Snicket's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events. Sunny is the youngest of the three Baudelaire orphans, and is described as an infant through much of the series...
.
The Incredibly Deadly Viper is described as coal black in color (with green eyes) and thick as a sewer pipe.
When the Baudelaires are placed in the care of Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, he reveals the Incredibly Deadly Viper (which is closely guarded in the Reptile Room). Montgomery plans to present the viper as his newest discovery to the Herpetological Society the following month, after their return form Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.
After Montgomery's death, Sunny pretends to be attacked by the viper in order to distract Count Olaf
Count Olaf
Count Olaf is the primary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. In the series, Olaf is an actor and is known to have committed many crimes as a member of the fire-starting side of V.F.D. prior to the events of the first book in...
(disguised as "Stephano") long enough for Violet
Violet Baudelaire
Violet Baudelaire is one of the main characters in the children's book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and appears in all thirteen books. She is the oldest of the Baudelaire orphans at 14 years old, and often helps her 12-year-old brother Klaus and her baby sister Sunny...
to find evidence to implicate Count Olaf in the murder. When the Herpetological Society comes to remove the reptiles, the children try to keep the Incredibly Deadly Viper but are stopped by the Herpetological Society's director of marketing, Bruce.
Although Count Olaf somehow tricks Bruce out of most of the reptile collection, he is unable to attain the Incredibly Deadly Viper, which has gone missing. A couple identified only as the owners of the Prospero (a V.F.D. ship) apparently assisted Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
in rescuing the snake.
When Kit Snicket washes ashore on the coastal shelf, she brings with her the Incredibly Deadly Viper. While trapped on the shelf, the viper keeps the Baudelaires company and tries to save the castaways from the poison of the Medusoid Mycelium by offering them sour apples, an allusion to the Serpent
Serpent (Bible)
Serpent is the term used to translate a variety of words in the Hebrew bible, the most common being , , the generic word for "snake"....
in the Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
.
Mamba du Mal
The Mamba du Mal is a venomousVenomous snake
"Poisonous snake" redirects here. For true poisonous snakes, see Rhabdophis.Venomous snakes are snakes which have venom glands and specialized teeth for the injection of venom...
constrictor
Constriction
Constriction is a method used by various snake species to kill their prey. Although some species of venomous and mildly-venomous snakes do use constriction to subdue their prey, most snakes which use constriction lack venom. The snake initially strikes at its prey and holds on, pulling the prey...
described as "one of the deadliest snakes in the hemisphere
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
." The (fictional) book The Mamba du Mal: A Snake That Will Never Kill Me (by Mommy Eggmonteror) states:
The Mamba du Mal is...noted for its strangulatory grip, used in conjunction with its deadly venom, giving all of its victims a tenebrous hue which is ghastly to behold.
The illustration provided in The Mamba du Mal portrays the mamba as small and light-colored with large, dark spots. However, an unidentified associate of Count Olaf
Count Olaf
Count Olaf is the primary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. In the series, Olaf is an actor and is known to have committed many crimes as a member of the fire-starting side of V.F.D. prior to the events of the first book in...
describes the snake as black. In addition, the mamba is capable of human mimicry
Talking animal
A talking animal or speaking animal refers to any form of non-human animal which can produce sounds resembling those of a human language. Many species or groups of animals have developed forms of Animal Communication Systems which to some appear to be a non-verbal language...
and is used for the same purpose as V.F.D.
V.F.D.
V.F.D. is a secret organization within the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The purposes of the organization are never made clear, although the name of the organization is connected to various interpretations of the word "fire." V.F.D...
crickets (see below), with which it can communicate.
While the mamba never actually does anything in the series apart from reside in Dr. Montgomery's collection, Count Olaf
Count Olaf
Count Olaf is the primary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. In the series, Olaf is an actor and is known to have committed many crimes as a member of the fire-starting side of V.F.D. prior to the events of the first book in...
(under the guise of "Stephano") uses its poison to murder Dr. Montgomery and frame the snake.
Following its removal from the Reptile Room, the Mamba du Mal falls victim to an unspecified lethal accident, after which it is mounted in a display frame and auctioned away at the In Auction
The Ersatz Elevator
The Ersatz Elevator is the sixth novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Daniel Handler under the pseudonym of Lemony Snicket. The Baudelaires are sent to live with the wealthy Esmé and Jerome Squalor.-Plot summary:...
. Though several "unidentified sources" bid on it, the Esmé Squalor
Esmé Squalor
Esmé Gigi Geniveve Squalor is the secondary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. She is Count Olaf's girlfriend. Prior to the events of the series she was a professional stage actress and member of V.F.D. Esmé is distinguished...
Fan Club wins out.
Crickets
The crickets are specially trained field cricketField cricket
Field crickets are insects of order Orthoptera. These crickets are in subfamily Gryllinae of family Gryllidae.They hatch in spring, and the young crickets eat and grow rapidly. They shed their skin eight or more times before they become adults.Field crickets eat a broad range of feeds: seeds,...
s employed by V.F.D.
V.F.D.
V.F.D. is a secret organization within the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The purposes of the organization are never made clear, although the name of the organization is connected to various interpretations of the word "fire." V.F.D...
to carry coded messages using stridulation
Stridulation
Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fishes, snakes and spiders...
. The crickets are shown to carry their messages at night outside people's bedrooms, prompting V.F.D. members to leave their windows open. Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
points out that they are not usually active in the winter.
In his autobiography
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography was first released on May 1, 2002. The book's content relates to the author Lemony Snicket and his series of books, A Series of Unfortunate Events...
, Snicket quotes the crickets from Chapter XV of E. B. White
E. B. White
Elwyn Brooks White , usually known as E. B. White, was an American writer. A long-time contributor to The New Yorker magazine, he also wrote many famous books for both adults and children, such as the popular Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, and co-authored a widely used writing guide, The...
's Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web is an award-winning children's novel by acclaimed American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte. The book was first published in 1952, with illustrations by Garth Williams.The novel tells the story...
:
The crickets sang in the grasses. They sang the song of summer’s ending, a sad, monotonous song. "Summer is over and gone," they sang. "Over and gone, over and gone. Summer is dying, dying."
The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year — the days when summer is changing into fall — the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.
The author provides the following translation of these apparently coded messages:
- summer is: enemies are nearby
- over and gone: probably in disguise
- dying: beware of arsonArsonArson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
Thus rendering the passage from Charlotte's Web:
The crickets sang in the grasses. They sang the song of summer’s ending, a sad, monotonous song. "Enemies are nearby, probably in disguise," they sang. "Probably in disguise, probably in disguise. Enemies are nearby, beware of arson, beware of arson."
In addition, Snicket cites a modified (and annotated) version of The Three Languages
The Three Languages
The Three Languages is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 33.It is Aarne-Thompson type 671.-Synopsis:A count's son could learn nothing. The count sent him to find a master who could teach him something. One year, he came back saying he knew what dogs said when they...
fairy tale as an example of the crickets in action, although the exact nature of the passage is not made explicit:
There once lived inCanadaan old Count, who had just one son: but he was as dimwitted as a baby yak, and could learn nothing. So his father said to him: "Listen to me, my dimwitted son. I can get nothing into your head, no matter how hard I try. You must go far away from here, and study with a renowned Professor in a large city for one year."
The story goes on to say that the professor teaches the son the language of dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s. The old Count is dissatisfied, and sends him off to another professor, who teaches him the language of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. The old Count is again dissatisfied:
Then the father threw a wild tantrum, and roared: "Dimwitted fruit of my loins, have you learnt nothing all this time? Aren't you ashamed to come into my presence? I will send you to study with a third Professor in the hinterlands, but if you learn nothing this time, I won't be your father any longer. "
The son stayed with the third Professor for one more year, and when he came home again and his father asked, "My dimwitted hobbledehoy, what have you learnt?"
He answered, "I have learnt the cricket language."
The story is cut off here. The "hinterland
Hinterland
The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...
s" referenced in the passage may be the Hinterlands in The Carnivorous Carnival. While trapped in Count Olaf's car trunk on their journey through the Hinterlands, the Baudelaires can make out the chirping of crickets.
Bats
The bats are domesticated batBat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s bred in homing
Homing (biology)
Homing is the inherent ability of an animal to navigate towards an original location through unfamiliar areas. This location may be either a home territory, or a breeding spot.-Uses:...
by V.F.D.
V.F.D.
V.F.D. is a secret organization within the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The purposes of the organization are never made clear, although the name of the organization is connected to various interpretations of the word "fire." V.F.D...
for use in carrying messages (similar to pigeon post
Pigeon post
Pigeon post is the use of homing pigeons to carry messages. Pigeons were effective as messengers due to their natural homing abilities. The pigeons were transported to a destination in cages, where they would be attached with messages, then naturally the pigeon would fly back to its home where the...
), a process known as "baticeering". Members of V.F.D. trained in baticeering are called "baticeers" and included Beatrice Baudelaire, who styled herself as a "Baticeer Extraordinaire" as early as age 10. Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
, Beatrice Baudelaire, Beatrice Baudelaire II, and the Duchess of Winnipeg all express doubts about the capability of the bats to deliver messages to the correct correspondents. Snicket describes the bats as living in caves in the Mortmain Mountains.
Snicket frequently refers to Beatrice as his "baticeer" (which, in addition to a reference to Beatrice's training, is an anagram of her first name). In a play titled My Silent Knot (both an anagram of "Lemony Snicket" and a reference to V.F.D.'s motto, "the world is quiet here"), Beatrice (who was a professional actress) played the starring role of the "Baticeer", in which she wore a butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
costume.
Although no mention is clearly made of the bats within the main series, the dedication to The Miserable Mill
The Miserable Mill
The Miserable Mill is the fourth of thirteen novels in American author Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It is to be released in paperback under the name The Miserable Mill; or, Hypnotism! The novel tells the story of the Baudelaire orphans continuing their adventure, but this time...
reads:
To Beatrice—
My love flew like a butterfly
Until death swooped down like a bat.
Which may enigmatically refer to My Silent Knot, although no further indication is provided.
Donkeys
The vineyard's famous donkeys (V.F.D.) are V.F.D.V.F.D.
V.F.D. is a secret organization within the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The purposes of the organization are never made clear, although the name of the organization is connected to various interpretations of the word "fire." V.F.D...
donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
s employed by the Vineyard of Fragrant Grapes. In The Carnivorous Carnival, Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
affords a very brief description:
This vineyard was famous for having grapes that smelled delicious, and it was very pleasant to picnic in the fields, while the fragrance drifted in the air and the vineyard's famous donkeys, who helped carry bushels of grapes at harvesttime, slept in the shade of the grapevines.
Salmon
Stricken salmon are a fictional species or subspecies of salmonSalmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
found in Stricken Stream and Sontag Shore. Their main diet is insects: in particular, snow gnats. Though not playing a significant role in the books, they appear in The Slippery Slope
The Slippery Slope
The Slippery Slope is the tenth installment in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Daniel Handler under the pseudonym of Lemony Snicket.-Plot Summary:...
and are discussed in The Ersatz Elevator
The Ersatz Elevator
The Ersatz Elevator is the sixth novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Daniel Handler under the pseudonym of Lemony Snicket. The Baudelaires are sent to live with the wealthy Esmé and Jerome Squalor.-Plot summary:...
and The Grim Grotto
The Grim Grotto
The Grim Grotto is the eleventh novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.-Plot:The book begins where The Slippery Slope left off, with the Baudelaires traveling on a collapsing toboggan down the Stricken Stream of the Mortmain Mountains, leaving Quigley Quagmire...
.
After the V.F.D. schism, Anwhistle Aquatics and its founder, ichthyologist Gregor Anwhistle, lead a program with the help of Captain Widdershins, Fernald
Hook-handed man
Fernald is a villain from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He is known for having two large and sharp hooks where his hands should be...
, and the Snickets (among other volunteers) called Voluntary Fish Domestication, in which a fleet of stricken salmon was trained over the course of four years to swim upstream to locate wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s.
When the waiters of Café Salmonella (on the firestarting side of the schism) tried to appropriate the salmon for their café
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
, the Snickets engaged in a knife fight
Knife fight
A knife fight is a violent physical confrontation between two or more combatants in which one or more participants is armed with a knife...
against them, later dubbed the Snicket Snickersnee. However, the waiters won and Café Salmonella processed V.F.D.'s salmon into cuisine as diverse as salmon ravioli, salmon butter sauce, and salmon pie.
Almost a month before the Baudelaire children arrived in the Mortmain Mountains, the two judges of the high court burned down V.F.D.'s headquarters in the Valley of Four Drafts. The ashes from the mammoth headquarters' destruction polluted Stricken Stream and harmed the stricken salmon. In addition, the snow gnats were driven from the area by the fires' smoke, leading Quigley Quagmire to fear that the stricken salmon would die out. According to Snicket, however, this was not the case (see under Eagles above).
There is also some evidence to suggest that the stricken salmon grew in opposition to V.F.D., since Captain Widdershins says, "Aye! The Submarine Q and Its Crew of Two is not in the best of shape, I'm afraid! Aye! We've been attacked by...angry salmon!"
Lachrymose leeches
Lachrymose leeches are a fictional species of leechLeech
Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways...
that inhabit the central part of Lake Lachrymose. Though playing a significant part in The Wide Window
The Wide Window
The Wide Window is a children's novel and the third novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It was later released in paperback under the name The Wide Window; or, Disappearance! In The Wide Window, the Baudelaire orphans are sent to live with their third...
, they are also mentioned in several other books in the series, including The Reptile Room
The Reptile Room
The Reptile Room is a children's novel and the second of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It was later released in paperback under the title The Reptile Room; or, Murder! Having just escaped from the greedy and evil Count Olaf in the first book, the Baudelaire children are now...
and The Beatrice Letters
The Beatrice Letters
The Beatrice Letters is a book by Lemony Snicket. It is tangential to the children's book series A Series of Unfortunate Events, and was published shortly before the thirteenth and final installment...
.
The Lachrymose leech is a sightless, anthropophagous
Man-eater
Man-eater is a colloquial term for an animal that preys upon humans. This does not include scavenging. Although human beings can be attacked by many kinds of animals, man-eaters are those that have incorporated human flesh into their usual diet...
leech that travels in social groups and gregariously attacks its larger prey. It is predatory (rather than hemophagic
Hematophagy
Hematophagy is the practice of certain animals of feeding on blood...
, or "blood-sucking"), generally preying on small fish. The leech's body is made up of roughly sixty annulus
Annulus (zoology)
In zoology, an annulus is an external circular ring. Annuli are commonly found in segmented animals such as earthworms and leeches. The bodies of these annelids are externally marked by annuli that are arranged in series with each other....
es (body rings), is of a lightish color, and has two sets of vela
Velum
Velum may refer to:* Superior medullary velum, part of the nervous system that stretches between parts of the brain* Veil , the veil-like membrane of immature mushrooms extending from the margin of the cap to the stem and torn by growth...
(veil-like frills) along its midsection whose purpose is unspecified. The body is also slightly longer than a human finger, though whether this is at its fully extended state or not is likewise unspecified.
The Lachrymose leech feeds on humans who have eaten within an hour of entering their territory. According to Aunt Josephine, they can "smell even the smallest bit of food from far, far away". This corresponds with chemoreception (olfactory stimulus triggered by certain food chemicals), a trait found in actual species of leech.
The Lachrymose leech is described as having "six rows of very sharp teeth", which indicates that it is probably of the order Gnathobdellae
Gnathobdellid
Haemadipsidae are a family of "jawed leeches". The latter might be a natural, monophyletic group of hirudiniform proboscisless leeches. The scientific names mean "blood-drinkers". These leeches have five pairs of eyes, with the last two separated by two eyeless segments. Most have two jaws, but...
, whose species have several jaws of minuscule, sharp teeth (this order includes the medicinal leech
Medicinal leech
Medicinal leeches are any of several species of leeches, but most commonly Hirudo medicinalis, the European medicinal leech.Other Hirudo species sometimes used as medicinal leeches include Hirudo orientalis, Hirudo troctina, and Hirudo verbana...
). Also like the medicinal leech, the Lachrymose leech has an anterior sucker (that is, only one mouth).
Ike Anwhistle was eaten alive by the Lachrymose leeches shortly before the Baudelaires' arrival to the city of Lake Lachrymose, leaving the orphans' third guardian, Josephine Anwhistle, a widow. During their residence with Josephine, Count Olaf
Count Olaf
Count Olaf is the primary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. In the series, Olaf is an actor and is known to have committed many crimes as a member of the fire-starting side of V.F.D. prior to the events of the first book in...
(disguised as Captain Julio Sham) claimed his leg was eaten off by Lachrymose leeches; this, however, was part of his ruse to hide his ankle tattoo and curry Josephine's sympathy. In the end, Josephine herself was eaten alive by the Lachrymose leeches.
Snow gnats
The snow gnats are white gnatGnat
A gnat is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the Dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae.In British English the term applies particularly to Nematocerans of the family Culicidae...
s found in the Mortmain Mountains and other frigid, high-altitude areas. They attack in well-defined, wind-based swarms
Flocking (behavior)
Flocking behavior is the behavior exhibited when a group of birds, called a flock, are foraging or in flight. There are parallels with the shoaling behavior of fish, the swarming behavior of insects, and herd behavior of land animals....
and produce a mildly poisonous venom which can prove damaging in large doses. Snicket describes their aggressive behavior as "for no reason whatsoever." The most effective means of repellent
Animal repellent
Animal repellents are products designed to keep certain animals away from objects, areas, people, plants, or other animals.-Overview:Repellents generally work by taking advantage of an animal's natural aversion to something, and often the thing chosen is something that the animal has learned to...
is fire, and "even the smell of smoke can keep a whole swarm at bay." In an attempt to coin a V.F.D. name for them, Violet refers to the gnats as "violent frozen dragonflies", although gnats are members of the suborder Nematocera
Nematocera
Nematocera , is a suborder of elongated flies with thin, segmented antennae and mostly aquatic larvae, consisting of the mosquitoes, crane flies, gnats, and midges....
, while dragonflies
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...
are of the only distantly related suborder Epiprocta
Epiprocta
Epiprocta is one of the two extant suborders of the Odonata . It was proposed relatively recently, having been created to accommodate the inclusion of the Anisozygoptera...
. Snow gnats are the main element of the stricken salmon's diet.
Jacques Snicket apparently suffered an encounter with the gnats so devastating he "had nightmares about it for weeks." Snicket describes how an "associate" of his fell over a cliff in the Mortmain Mountains while pursued by the gnats. Within the series, the Baudelaires
Baudelaire family
The Baudelaire family is one of several prominent fictional families created by American author Lemony Snicket for his novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events...
are attacked by snow gnats while lost in the Mortmain Mountains. The gnats are described as forming an arrow shape and creating a vortex around the children.
Crabs
The crabs (usually referred to as the "tiny, territorial crabs") are land crabLand crab
Gecarcinidae is a family of true crabs that are adapted for terrestrial existence, commonly known as land crabs. Similar to all other crabs, land crabs possess a series of gills. In addition, the part of the carapace covering the gills is inflated and equipped with blood vessels. These organs...
s which infest the Orphans Shack of Prufrock Preparatory School, where the Baudelaire orphans
Baudelaire family
The Baudelaire family is one of several prominent fictional families created by American author Lemony Snicket for his novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events...
are forced to live in The Austere Academy
The Austere Academy
The Austere Academy is the fifth novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It was released in paperback under the name The Austere Academy: or, Kidnapping! The Baudelaire orphans are sent to a boarding school, overseen by monstrous employees...
.
The crabs are described as the size of small matchboxes and display aggressive behavior toward intruders on the Shack. They are afraid of loud noises, prompting Violet
Violet Baudelaire
Violet Baudelaire is one of the main characters in the children's book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and appears in all thirteen books. She is the oldest of the Baudelaire orphans at 14 years old, and often helps her 12-year-old brother Klaus and her baby sister Sunny...
to design "noisy shoes" for her siblings and Duncan and Isadora Quagmire. When Vice Principal Nero forces Sunny
Sunny Baudelaire
Sunny Baudelaire is one of the protagonists of Lemony Snicket's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events. Sunny is the youngest of the three Baudelaire orphans, and is described as an infant through much of the series...
to make her own staple
Staple (fastener)
A staple is a type of two-pronged fastener, usually metal, used for joining or binding materials together. Large staples might be used with a hammer or staple gun for masonry, roofing, corrugated boxes and other heavy-duty uses...
s, Violet provokes one of the crabs into clipping the metal rods with its claws.
Sheep
In The EndThe End (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
The End is the thirteenth and final novel in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was published on October 13, 2006.- Plot description :...
, sheep were used by Ishmael to carry various items which were found on the coastal shelf towards the arboretum at the far side of the island. They were originally washed up on the island many years ago, but now are left to scavenge on the island.