Canis Cervids wrote:
Canis Cervids
The Canis Cervid is a small, furry mammal originating from a very
small area in the Denali National Park in Alaska, where it shared its
home with only 39 other mammals. The role it filled there greatly
emulated the role of the snow leopard in certain regions of Asia.
Indeed, their physical attributes when they were first discovered were
remarkably similar to Snow Leopards. They had long, thick fur, with a
ruff around the neck, which primarily was somewhere between white
and yellow-ish brown, often with several different shades. Their fur
also contained rosettes and stripes of a darker colour, intended to help
them blend in to their snowy and rock-covered mountain home. Their
long tails, believed to aid their balance as they hunted on the rocky
outcrops, were near twice as long as the body and largely composed a
fat reserve and fur, and wrapped around the Cervids to keep them warm
at night.
However, there were some differences between wild Cervids and
their snow leopard counterparts. Whereas snow leopards have
small ears to conserve heat, Cervids, living in slightly warmer
climates, have large fox-like ears which function in much the same
way, allowing them to listen to the underground movements of their
prey. Their paws, unlike the snow leopard's, are not wide and heavily
furred for walking on compacted snow, but thin and delicate with
strong, sharp claws, allowing them to jump from rock to rock without
slipping. Their long, reptile-like tongues have evolved to allow them
to dig insects out of holes in the rougher times in winter. Their antlers
serve as both a sparring tool for finding mates, and also as a defence
against the larger species in the area, such as the bears.
When they were discovered people soon became attracted to the idea
of having them as pets, due to their fox-like size, immense amounts of
fluffy fur, and mischievous but fairly docile disposition. Soon there
were more Cervids on the pet black market than in the wild. Due to
their mostly-harmless nature, and in an effort to stop more of them
being stolen from their National Park, eventually the government decided
to allow them to be bred and kept as pets by the general populace.
Nowadays they come in a wide variety of patterns and natural colours,
with some breeders experimenting to enhance their mutations further.
Though it's rare, some Cervids these days are born with all sorts of unusual
colours, and mutations such as horns rather than antlers, or bobtails.
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