Animals on Pern

(this is not, nor is it intended to be, a complete list)

Insects

Vtols - Swarming insects that resemble Earth flies vaguely (pest).

Crawlies - Stinging pests with six legs and suction cup feet (tiny).

Rollers - A type of wood louse.

Springs - Hanging insects with an irritating prickly bite.

Trundlebugs - They eat parasites, carry pollen, and turn soil. Can be black, brown, sand, blue-green or crystal-clear.

Sandworms - Similar to Earth types. (Also Earthworms).

Grubs - Lumpy, furry grubs that have spread over the Southern continent. They are known for eating thread and their affect on the plants around them.

Spinners - "Gossamer Spinners" or what would be known as a 'Spider' on Earth.

Reptiles

Tunnel Snakes - These 'snakes' actually have 6 legs, are quite numerous, and appear in caves and stony outcroppings. Most average two to four feet in length, some have scales and some have short stubby legs for crawling low to the ground. Many varieties have sharp, powerful front claws for gripping and rending. Some even dwell in water. Most have hearing organs in their chests, close to the ground for sensing vibrations. The Deep Tunnel variety has 6 ear-spots to make up for it's near blindness. The water-dweller's bite is venomous and dangerous if not treated promptly.

Sea Life

Packtail - A tasty, dangerously barbed fish, resembling a Terran monkfish.

Fingertail - Edible small fish, resembling a small carp with a whippy tail.

Spiderclaw - (Crustacean) resembles Terran crabs with many pairs of jointed legs.

Rockmites - Tiny rock dwelling creatures found in tidal pool rocks that are eaten by firelizards.

Avian Life

Wherries - Predatory avians that are one of the major hunters/scavengers on Pern. Wherries have no feathers. Their bodies are covered with thick proto-feathers, multiple tufts like marabou. Like other native animals, they have six limbs: two wings, two front feet, and two back feet. The front legs have rigid claws like pincers. These big avians turn cannibal when on of their number is wounded or killed. Wherries nest in caves or rocky outcroppings, much as Terran seabirds do. They eat fish, carrion, tunnel snakes, insects, offal, or garbage.

Whersports - A creature resembling a large dragonet, but only in that it has wings and four limbs. More like a small, hairless/featherless wherry. Far more common in the south than the north. Uncommonly good eating when cooked properly.

Chickens, Geese and Ducks - exist on modern day Pern only in the warmest Holds and in batteries where they are protected from wherries. Very few ducks have survived to the present. (These last three avians were brought to Pern by the original Colonists)

Dragonkin

Dragons - The large 'cousins' to the firelizards. They have smooth, warm hides and multi-faceted eyes that change color depending on their mood. They are 'Impress'able meaning they bond with one human for life upon hatching. They lay eggs but do not nurse their young. They exist in only 5 colors: Gold (Female), Bronze (Male), Brown (M), Blue (M), and Green (F). They range in size, from 40-43m for golds to 20-25m for the greens. They are telepathic and self aware, knowing their own name at hatching. They "teleport" across great distances by going "between" space and even time. Greens are sterile females, mating more often than golds but with no offspring.

Firelizards - Miniature versions of their dragons, they are almost identical to dragons except - First, their minds are not as developed as dragons. Firelizards send only emotions and distorted mental images to their "owners" and impress to the first person to feed them after they hatch. Second, green firelizards are not sterile.

Watch Whers - Impress'able creatures based on the design of the dragons, resulting in ugly, malformed, photophobic, flightless dragon. They grow to about the size of a low slung runner and can move with surprising speed. Used by Holds and Weyrs as guard animals. Also used in exploring tunnels. They do not die when the master dies and stay loyal to the family that owns them. They live about 60 - 100 turns though. Intelligence is low & they do not name themselves like dragons do.

All three hatch from eggs hardened on hot sands after the eggs have been clutched.

Mammals

Herdbeasts - Modern Pern equivalent to the bovine of Earth. Used as a food source for both humans and dragons.

Runnerbeasts - Modern Pern equivalent of the equine of Earth. Used as a source of transportation and raced for entertainment at gathers.

Canines - Terran dogs have remained on Pern but have drifted from being personal pets and hunting animals to more mundane uses, such as turning the spit while a large piece of meat is roasting.

Felines - Terran cats were originally used to kill vermin like the tunnel snakes but over the hundreds of turns many died out. the only cats to remain wild are the savage, and dangerous breeds, illegally enhanced with mentasynth by Ted Tubberman (original colonist), that live in the deep forests & plains of the Southern continent and they greatly resemble the cheetahs and lions from Earth. A few "alley cats" are seen in the larger holds, used as the Pernese equivalent of "mousers" still.

Caprines - A type of herdbeast descended from Terran dairy and meat goats. Herds of wild caprines and canines, still remain in the Southern Continent today and roam wild.

Ovines - A type of herdbeast descended from Terran sheep. Used for meat, wool and milk.

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.

Dolphins - Identical to Terran dolphins save that those on Pern have been genetically enhanced by a technique called 'mentasynth' that the colonists knew and used. Dolphins can use 'human speech' and are paired with a human partner usually. Some Pernese refer to them as 'shipfish' still.

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