Animals in Pern
Animal in Pern Guide is brought to us from Dawn Meadow Weyrhold
Listed below are some of the animals that exist on Pern.
Canines: Descendants of the Terran dog. Used to guard homes, herd livestock, turn spits or even as small pack animals. They also help keep vermin like tunnelsnakes out of holds and homes.
*ICly: called canines or dogs. Koral raises several types of canines. There is his hunting stock which are tall and fast. Then there are his small spit runners. Isabeau especially loves these ones because they are so small and cuddly. Then there is his all purpose canines. These are used for guarding, packing or herding. People come from all over for his canines because of their intelligence level.
Felines: Descendants of the Terran tabby-cat, but about twice as big. Useful in controlling the numbers of tunnelsnakes.
*ICly: called felines or cats. Koral is not a big fan of the felines so his wife raises and breeds them. Her felines are mostly for pets and are beautiful to look at. She has some with long coats or short coats. And they come in many different colors.
Ferrets: Small, flexible, long bodied mammals used to hunt tunnelsnakes. Curious and fearless. Also
*ICly: called Ferrets or Tunnelcats. Sometimes even tunnelrunners cause they like chasing tunnelsnakes down their holes. Koral keeps several working ferrets for his own personal use or to rent out to people who need them. He also has a few for breeding purposes so that if anyone wants to purchase their own instead of renting. He found some people liked to keep themas pets because they are very clean and amusing.
Runners: The descendant of the Terran horse. Used as transportation and as pack animals mostly.
*ICly: Koral has several different types of runners to choose from. Their are his racing stock, which come from a long line of winners. This type are long of body and leg and slim. Their is his show stock. These are a fancier and more high strung type of runner. These are used when people what to impress people with their style and beauty. The females are long legged, medium body and have a long extended walk that makes them almost look like they are dancing. The colts love to jump and run and play. Then there is his travel stock. These are short coupled runners that can travel all day on little feed and water. These are ideal for anyone who has to go on a longer trip.
Draftbeasts: Descendants of the Shire Draft horse. Big heavy beasts with mild temperaments.
*ICly: called Draftbeast, draft runner, draft runnerbeast, draft horse or just drafts. His cart stock, for plows or pulling carts and other farm work. This type are a very heavy runner but they can pull huge amounts of weight and work all day behind a plow without tiring, they also are slow and steady so no one ever worries about them running away with carts or plows.
Herdbeasts: A type of herdbeast descended from Terran cattle. There are both milk and beef cattle.
*ICly: called bovines, cattle, cows, herdbeasts or whatever the locals yell at them when they break down a fence. ;) At the Beast Craft Hall this is the beast that is the most plentiful. Simply because of the amount that the dragons and people eat. The beef variety is the most plentiful of the 2. But Korel also keeps a large amount of the milk type. Some to sell and some for the whole to use.
Draybeasts: Descendants of the Terran donkey.
*ICly: called Draybeasts, donkeys, burros, asses or jacks. Korel usually keeps his dray beasts mixed in wit some of the smaller domestic animals because of their aggression level. These animals can be very stuborn but they can be taught and they are fairly aggressive towards any animal that is not a herd beast.
Burdenbeasts: Descendants of the Terran llama. Used for both pack animals and for wool production.
*ICly: called Burdenbeasts or llamas. Korel usually ships off the wool he acquires from these animals to another craft hall. Some people purchase a few for meat purposes also. His meat stock is not kept with his wool stock because the wool stock is of a special strain that makes their wool silky soft.
Ovines: A type of herdbeast descended from Terran sheep. Used for meat, wool and milk.
*ICly: called either ovines or sheep. Males are called rams and females are called ewes. This is the second most plentiful beast at the Hall. So naturally he has 3 different variants based on what they are for.
Caprines: A type of herdbeast descended from Terran dairy and meat goats. Used these days for milk, meat and wool...as well as for keeping brush down in areas where brushfires are a problem.
*ICly: Called caprines or goats. Males are called bucks and females does. This is also the second most plentiful beast at the Hall. So naturally he has 3 different variants based on what they are for.
Porcines: A type of small herdbeast descended from Terran swine. Not as common as other types of herdbeasts, so the meat is considered a treat.
*ICly: called porcine or just pigs or hogs. Males are called boars and females are called sows. These are one of the more costly types of beast he has. So he really breeds them carefully and sells them just as carefully.
Avians: A small edible avian resembling its ancestor the Terran ring-neck quail.
*ICly:Isabeau cares for most of the Avian stock and takes alot of pride in breeding them.
Geese, a long necked, domestic avian known to be bad tempered, but quite tasty if cooked properly, exist also. They are not common, due to the difficulty in raising them.
Chickens are small domestic avians used for both meat and eggs.
Ducks and other domestic water fowl that are not common due to difficulty in raising them.
Wherries: Either wild wherries with their wings clipped to prevent flight or flightless descendents of wherries captured and breed by the original colonists much like wild turkeys were domesticated by Terrans.
*ICly:These he keeps on hand as the feeding stock for the dragons. He breeds them for that use only.
Watchwhers: Impressable creatures bioengineered by Wind Blossom Ping in an attempt to emprove on Kitti Ping's design of the dragons, resulting in ugly, malformed, photophobic, flightless dragons. They grow to about the size of a low slung runner (horse) and can move with surprising speed. Used by Holds and Weyrs as guard animals. Also useful in exploring tunnels with their superior night vision. They do not die when their masters die and often stay loyal to the family that owns them. The live about 60 - 100 turns though. Intelligence is low, about that of a 2 year old child at best. They do not name themselves like dragons do when hatchlings. They do not speak as dragons do, and are NOT good pets. You won't find them in the wild, as their breeding is strictly controlled.
Tunnelsnakes: They have 6 legs, and appear in caves and stony outcroppings. Most average two to four feet in length. Some breeds can be very dangerous and are considered pests.
Sea life: Spiderclaws, much like Terran crabs, rockmites, usually eaten by firelizards, packtail, tasty but dangerous fish and fingertail, small edible fish are the most common sea life.
Insects: Vtols, Trundlebugs, Springs, Spinners, Sandworms, Rollers, Grubs, and Crawlies.
