What is this seemingly sleeping creature in Rayman 3? (See attached screenshot)

Recently I was playing through Rayman 3, and I kept seeing these weird seemingly sleeping creatures here and there. Once walking up to them, they’d disappear and not seem to yield any points or such. I’ve attached a screenshot below wherein you can see one with a Z above their head, which to me would indicate that it sleeps. They always seem to have that Z until you approach them and they disappear. I’ve tried sticking out my tongue at them to see if that would do anything, but it appears not to. Besides, I’ve seen them before the part where you gain said ability, so it wouldn’t make much sense if you had to use it to interact with them. For what it’s worth I’m playing the Windows version of the game.

What are these creatures, and what are they for?