In what seems like one of Mother Nature’s fateful synchronicities, fairy shrimp capitalize on the highly temporary pools of water that most people take pains to avoid as they hike through spring woodlands. These are not the shrimp you’ll find ambling along the warm, muddy bottoms of saltwater bays; these small aquatic creatures have evolved to live in one of nature’s most transient environments. They are as short-lived as the forest pools they occupy, dwelling in these mysterious and beautiful worlds for a brief three or four months, and then both the pools and the shrimp vanish, fairylike, absorbed back into the forest floor like magic.

Alongside far more familiar polliwogs and salamander larvae, fairy shrimp swim upside down, rhythmically beating abdominal appendages that double as gills while they strain nearly microscopic sustenance from the water. For any and all residents of woodland pools, life is a race, the consequences of delay deadly and obvious. In truly dry years, mortality is high. Though this may seem harsh to humans, for these creatures, the benefits of reproducing in an environment free of fin fish are worth the risk.

Fairy shrimp emerge from eggs as spring’s melting snow and first heavy rains mingle, filling woodland depressions. These eggs, laid last year, hatch in as little as 30 hours after exposure to water. While woodland salamanders and frogs are just beginning to engage in their ancient springtime congresses, and warblers are still flying north from winters spent in Central and South America, fairy shrimp have already hatched and have begun molting, eventually reaching impressive lengths of an inch or more.

Fairy shrimp may seem familiar to those who recall the magical Sea Monkeys of the back pages of 1970s comic books, or to those who fed their pet fish brine shrimp bought at pet shops — both are types of fairy shrimp. I remember being disappointed when my sea monkey pets did not lounge about their tank as they did in the garish illustration, but my disappointment turned to delight when they became delicious snacks for my guppies. Fin fish love fairy shrimp.