Friday Favorites - New Animals

What are your two favorite animals? Describe a new creature combining the two.


Dana Lee wrote:

My favorite animals are pigs and unicorns. Unicorns have always fascinated me because they are so elegant and pretty. Pigs are, well, just too darn cute. I imagine if the two were combined they would look similar to a rhino. They would be pink and fat with a single horn on the top of their heads. These creatures would use their horns to help animals who cannot provide for themselves. They would be a vigilante animal of sorts. These creatures would be stealthy like a horse and run as fast as one. No one would expect them to run as fast as they do.


Melody Joy wrote:

My favorite animal has always been a cat, and it’s hard to decide on a second favorite, but since horses were my favorite for many years, I’m going to go with a horse.

The catorse is the size of a pony and is ride able. It has the head of a cat although the face is slightly elongated. It has a short, spiked mane that runs down the length of its neck, which is shorter than the neck of the average horse. It has the legs of a horse including hooves, but the legs are proportionally thicker than those of a normal horse. The tail resembles that of a lion, as it starts of similarly to a cat’s and then ends with longer hair like that of a horse.

Their personalities vary depending on the breed and upbringing, but they are generally friendly and readily accept humans as partners. The enjoy attention and grooming but are actually fairly low-maintenance. They can be trained to be ridden, pull buggies, or do any number of tricks. They come in a wide variety of colors and coat patterns as they can take on any coat pattern seen in horses or cats, and may even be a combination of the two.

They are omnivorous, and do require a great amount of space to exercise in. They also enjoy having plenty of shelters in which they can hide. Because their leaping capabilities are superior to those of a horse, extremely high fencing must be used to keep them securely enclosed. Keeping them enclosed is important because of their tendency to leap onto roofs and destroy gardens.


Pope Jon wrote:

Strangely, I have always loved ants. Something about the dedication through a hive mind, the brutality to those who oppose them, and the wide variety of sub-species and individual roles always fasinated me.

My second choice would have to be any bird of prey. Hawks, ospreys, eagles, falcons, you name it. There's something so majestic about them. Independent and deadly. Beautiful and fierce. In a lot of ways, they are the opposite of ants, and yet in a few ways, they are similar. But to paraphrase Tyrion the Imp: make your weaknesses into strengths.

I shall call them Raptor Ants.

Raptor Ants work very similarly to traditional ants: They cooperate flawlessly, they build a hive, and they hunt viciously. The way they achieve all of this, however, is where Raptor Ants stand apart from their lesser cousins.

Only the warrior RAs fly, though they move as quickly and tirelessly as flies. The workers are around an inch and half long, while the warriors are around two inches. The warriors hunt alone, dive bombing reptiles, amphibians, and rodents to mark them as prey. The warrior lets out a high-pitched screech that alerts nearby workers and warriors alike that a target has been marker. The original warrior uses long, sharp talons to latch onto their prey. Once attached, the warrior bites it's prey and injects a venom to slow it's victim considerably. Additional warriors are never more than a few yards away, and arrive hastily to add their weight and venom to the cause. When the prey is brought down, the warriors set to patrolling above the site as guards as the workers harvest meat to feed the hive, as well as anything they can use to construct the hive. Bones, feathers, and fur are returned to the hive and used to add more space to their hives.

Raptor Ants' hives are constructed primarily in trees or other high reaches, forcing workers to walk up and down trees. Workers often construct ladders that dangle towards the ground for easier access, and in cases with a large enough hive, support beams are connected to the ground as well as suitable surfaces above the hive. The hive is guarded with savage force. warriors will attack anything they see as a threat, including bees, dogs, and even humans.

The Raptor Ant's only known predator is the honey badger.


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