§1Diagnosis
A heavy-bodied python with 47 to 53 dorsal scale rows at midbody, 262 to 290 ventral scales and 78 to 86 paired subcaudals. The ground colour is olive ochre, crossed by dark saddles with pale edges and a pale spot at the centre of each. Heat-sensing pits line the upper and lower lips. Adults on this plate reach a snout to vent length of about 60 centimetres on a small page and twice that on a wide one.
The head is broad and flat, with a dark crown and a dark stripe behind each eye. The pupil is a vertical slit. The forked tongue is flicked every few seconds to sample the air for loose type.
§2Feeding
It feeds only on letters. A hunting snake chooses a word, approaches with the head held low and takes the letters one at a time, starting with whichever is closest. The jaw opens wide before each strike. Each letter is swallowed whole and leaves a blank space where it stood. Punctuation is ignored, and so are headings set in capitals.
A snake that is led by hand will take any letter that passes under its snout. It will also accept a word that is offered to it, and it drops whatever it was hunting to take that word first.
§3Digestion
Prey moves down the body as a visible swelling. The skin over each meal is stretched thin, and the outline of the letter inside can be read through the scales. The trip from mouth to vent takes several seconds. Letters from one word travel together and leave together.
They pass through the vent, a short way before the tail tip, in a new and usually useless order. Field workers call these pellets castings. A casting drifts for a moment and then settles into the nearest line of text, where it stays until the page is restored.
§4Range and habits
Recorded on printed pages, labels and field notes wherever text is left unattended. It is most active in long paragraphs, which give it cover and plenty to eat. Between meals it cruises in slow curves, moving by lateral undulation with each part of the body following the exact path of the head.
A captive animal left alone will keep hunting until the page is bare. Restore text puts every eaten letter back and clears the castings. The snake does not seem to mind.