by XRandomCatX
Shikaras look more like dogs with the height of a fox. Their horns can either be goat or ram horns. Their wings are a human's arms length from their body when stretched out, there is no record of shikaras actually taking flight in sky since its never been seen before. Shikaras usually glide in the air about five feet off the ground. Their wing size cannot support them in the sky. Their long tails have orbs attatched to the tail tip. This is the greatest mystery of shikaras for no one knows how the orb atatches to the tail. The tail is suspected to be attatched by an unseen force within the shikara. If hold onto the orb and pull it off it will not detatch nor move. They will not shatter either no matter how much weight it holds. It does cause pain to the shikara if the orb has a heavy weight upon it. A shikaras' coat can come in a variety of different colors, there has been no connection to their coat color and habitat yet. Their coats have a soft and fluffy plush feel to them.
A shikara's behavior in the wild is unknown. Once a shikara has been in contact with a human they instinctively go into a timid nature, hiding away from any possible threat. Once a shikara has bonded with their owner they start to develop a personality of their own. They communicate to other shikaras using a deep gruff bark that almost sounds like a growl or sounds a puppy would make. They also make a clicking noise to attract other shikaras' attention. They almost have similar behaviors a domesticated dog has.
Before shikaras were domesticated they could be trained to behave like a household dog. That has been bred out of shikaras. Now they are a very intelligent species that has learned to communicate to humans by using their vast number of languages. Shikaras think like humans and can act like them too but they still have that wild instinct to breed and communicate like a regular animal.
No matter how a shikara acts they are still loyal companions once they bond with their owner. They are able to get along with any household pet besides small rodents.
When shikaras were first discovered they were found in forests and dense undergrowth man did not dare to touch. Now they are usually found in forests, civilization, and tropic locations. A shikara can adapt to warm and cool climate but a shikara cannot survive very hot or dry climates. Since shikaras have been a popular pet it is hard to see one in the wild. They are usually found wandering in the city or town streets and brought to shikara adoption shelter like this one. Some believe that humans have taken over their habitat and built cities over it.
Shikaras are omnivores that can eat plants, meat, and even human food. Shikaras prefer eating foods their ancestors ate like small rodents and fruit. A shikara loves eating fruits of any kind but some have preferred kinds of fruit.
Shikaras find mates by grooming themselves and hoping to attract a partner. Shikaras have picked up the trait of sexuality from humans so they can be any sexuality. Shikaras do not have an actual physical gender so they are genderless, for our sake we put genders on them if they look more feminine or if they look more like a male. They do not have a reproductive system either. When a shikara wants to breed they and their partner sleep and literally hug each other. Their tails wrap in a twist and the orbs combine. When they wake up the more feminine shikara carries the pups until birth. Litters are born with 1-2 pups. It is rare to see 3 pups in a litter and very rare to see 4 pups. There has been a discovery that pups can be diagnosed with something called forever pup syndrome. That means they do not grow into an adult and stay a pup forever, personality and everything. Scientists are trying to find a cure for this but who really wants to cure that syndrome? When a pup is born with FPS the mother instinctively does not care for that pup and considers it sickly, sometimes abandoning them. Its a rare case but if an FPS pup came into the shelter it would probably be adopted right away.
Common shikaras will look like a normal shikara like Butterscotch. Common shikaras can also have longer hair or hairstyles.
Uncommon shikaras have different horns besides the goat and ram horns or no horns at all
Rare shikaras have different shaped bulbs besides the normal sphere shape and/or different horns
Very rare shikaras have magnificent horns or long luxurious wings that allow them to soar high in the sky. They even have different bulbs shaped into virtually anything.
