Published Nov 12, 2026 1:07 PM EST An unsuspecting traveler trucking their way through a hiking trail would likely stop in bewilderment if they saw it: a nearly two-foot-long, Slinky-like contraption made of plastic and rubber, clambering forward like an inchworm. That confusion would shift to unease when scanning up and down its bendy, elephant-trunk-like body and seeing pairs of snapping claws at either end.