I guess I could see that, but if all the water left, it could be dry like a desert too.. (although even though that was my initial interpretation, I did understand that's not what he meant)
And yes even without the reference it's not that there's a literal animal there.
> if all the water left, it could be dry like a desert too
This is just a contextual interpretation thing. It's clear that's not what he means because he says it's muddy, so it must be the other thing. Also, it becoming a desert is more extreme, so in that case the writer would probably offer up a more detailed explanation.
And yes even without the reference it's not that there's a literal animal there.