there are many farmed animals beyond the ceratopsans detailed in the earlier post on animal life. there are also DOWNFOWL, which are gigantic herbivorous birds that are cultivated for their big and fluffy down-feathers. in the wild, their feathers are tougher and their bodies are scrawnier, with some species even retaining the large keratin horns that were bred out by their lizard person handlers. CHICKENS in this world are just as violent and angry as their earth counterparts, though they tend to have fewer feathers and sharper beaks. otherwise, they are not different in any way from the earthling avians. some say that there are gigantic kinds of chickens that hunt as predators in wild places, but this is just rumor.
the aquatic MOBILE MOUNTAINS are huge arthropods which sometimes stray onto land or are captured by fisherfolk. they look like huge rocks or boulders, and their outer shells are truly made from collected minerals which are used for protection, but within is the stringy meat of other arthropods. when they crawl onto land they tend to die quickly, but since they are blind (or at least hard of sight), they sometimes do it, to their detriment. crawling all over these huge bugs are the parasitic KNOCKERS, crustaceans that cling to the sides of the mountain and crawl around on it, boring through the mineral shell with their similarly mineral-coated mouthparts, sucking some of the blood of the beast and then burrowing back to the surface.
scrawny packs of WILD CATS scavenge and feed on the corpses of fallen creatures, while their pampered domesticated cousins prey on mice and are fed fancy foods. a similar scavenging thing which competes with the feline creatures are HESPEROS, dog-sized and long-legged crocodiles that hunt small reptiles and mammals and compete with cats for scavenged meat.
slithering through the grasses of plains areas are SERPENTS of many sorts. there are the drab and friendly PLAINS SNAKES, which are nearly identical to the much more hostile and territorial SAND SNAKES that hide in holes in the ground in the very same sandy plains that the plains snakes dwell in. they are differentiated by the time at which they are active, and a helpful folk-rhyme helps the lizard people susceptible to the sand snake's hostility and painful bite filled with venom know which serpents are safe to play with or be around (plains snakes during the sun-times, sand snakes afterwards). many species of SEA SNAKES swim through the oceans, with the most well-known being the SPIRAL SERPENT. it is so called for the spiral formation of its swimming.
SKINKS are welcomed by any farmer, for they eat the arthropod pests which would otherwise ravage crops and cause famine. in the cultures around the first nation/point unpleasant region, blue tongued skinks are considered lucky, and the presence of a blue tongued skink is enough to make any lizard person or other person at ease.
ANGLER BUGS are much like an arboreal version of the aquatic angler fish. they flit between trees, hanging below them brightly colored and bulbous antennae that attract smaller insects and flying things, which they then drag to their mouthparts and quickly devour.
SALAMANDERS are common in any wet area. RED GIANTS, also known as HELLBENDERS are huge reddish-brown salamanders which are found in muddy rivers. they swim around and use their drab coloration to their advantage in the ambush of prey. NEWT HOUNDS are carnivorous salamanders that have been bred and kept by the lizard people in environments much too wet and swampy for normal monitor hounds. they are about the size of a fairly large hound, and with the skin and head of a salamander. even though they walk on the land, they must be kept wet to stay comfortable.
TSUCHINOKO are very rare serpents that hide in grassy and otherwise hidden conditions. they spring forth to ambush and attack their prey, which they incapacitate with powerful venom. they look like squat snakes, with strong muscles that facilitate the spring ambushes.
GIANT SPIDERS are sometimes used as mounts by more daring mount-riders, mainly for their military uses and ability to climb walls and trap things. they are oftentimes used to pull the chariots of very important people. in the wild, however, they crawl through forests and plains and all other places that spiders reside, acting much as a spider does. these arachnid predators are specially adapted for the preying on other large arthropods, but they also eat mammals and reptiles.
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