FA+
Shop
Spotted Forest Mistlyne
14 years ago
If I say anything stupid...
SPOTTED FOREST MISTLYNE
Build - Movement and shape are very similar to a fox, but muscle, fat and fur distribution is more feline. They are very agile, The tail is more or less the length of the Mistlyne's entire body, is strong enough to hold the Mistlyne's weight and flexible enough to curl tightly around objects such as tree branches, food and their young. They have one pair of lightly curved, goat-like horns. Their eyes are of a similar shape to the Leopard's, and are often heterochromic. Its back paws are almost exactly identicle to that of the Cheetah's, the claws are non-retractable. It's front paws are similar to hands, with opposable thumbs. The Mistlyne has a relatively large skull, large caracal-like ears with black tufts at the top. The muzzle is very vulpine and longer in males, with long whiskers and nose colour ranging from black to light pink.
Fur - Coarse but fine, long (but much shorter than Alpine and Tundra varieties), waterproof and camoflaged in their natural environment. Most of the body's fur is brown with much darker, leopard-like brown spots. Males have a thick stripe running from their forehead to the tip of their tail. The fur is white and feathery on the underside, collar, face, paws and ear tips of the Mistlyne with the same dark brown spots in seemingly random places. On the face, the white fur extends around the eye to the sides of the face, it fades out at the top of the nose in a spotty pattern, there are also black "tear marks". At the tip of the tail is silky, brush-like, white fur.
Senses - The Mistlyne has binocular vision, cat-like night-vision, extremely complex colour-vision and little need to blink in low sunlight. It has sensitive hearing, much like that of a cat. Its sense of smell is much less acute than cat's, however.
BEHAVIOUR
Social and Territorial Behaviour - The Mistlyne is largely a solitary animal with small, blurry territorial boudaries. They mark a small area usually consisting of a water source and a few trees, and while they are comfortable with other animals entering at ground level, they become very hostile when the "invader" touches the tree their nest is in, especially if their young is in it. To mark, they mainly use their tail tip which acts as a paint brush, which paints colourful secretions from glands at the base of their tail onto objects like trees and rocks. This tells other Mistlyne about their health, age, sex and more, but to most other species it's just a solid colour, like a secret code. The "language" of Mistlyne in certain areas may be less readable to Mistlyne in others, especially between different subspecies. For example, the desert Mistlyne use darker colours than the tundra Mistlyne, and both use a less broad spectrum than the Forest and Alpine varieties. Another way in which the Mistlyne marks is by scratching or "carving" into trees which produces a visual and odorous mark because they have scent glands on their paws, so it's especially effective for communicating with other species who primarily use their sense of smell.
Reproduction and Development - Mistlyne reproduce once a year in spring, the female's estrus cycle lasting up to 6 weeks. Males and females will mate for a few days, and copulation may last for up to an hour. They usually mate in small groups, which often causes fights between males, especially if there are more males than females. The successful mating group will live together until the young have left the nest and the females are ready to move on in search of new mates. The gestation period lasts for about 3 months, the average litter size consisting of 3-8. The young are born with no spots, which, along with the horns, are fully developed by sexual maturity. The mother carries them with her tail, wrapping it around them to protect them from danger and move quickly through the trees. The young become independent at 7 years of age and reach sexual maturity at 12 years. Siblings of the same sex will form coalitions once left the nest and journey far from the rest of their family to make new homes.
Nesting - Mistlyne make elaborate nests extending from the base of the tree to the top out of branches, leaves, rocks and anything else they can get their hands on including rubbish and bones. They sleep high or low depending on weather and predators, and use the very top of the tree as a lookout, especially for food.
Diet, Hunting, Gathering and Feeding Behaviour - Mistlyne are omnivores but rarely kill other mammals, preferring to eat carrion, though they can easily take down prey almost twice their size. Their diet consists mainly of fruit, nuts, insects, shellfish, crustaceans and fish. Mistlyne hunt at night and gather plant food, insects and fish throughout the day, but more so in the early morning. To hunt, the Mistlyne relies on sight and being as quiet and agile as possible. It stalks its prey closely until it's noticed, then chases it at great speed, eventually tackling and suffocating it. The Mistlyne's sharp mind, exceptional sight, sharp canines, claws and agility make it an excellent hunter of large prey, but it's less successful with small prey such as rodents because once still and hidden from sight they're almost impossible for the Mistlyne to find. To fish, it quickly swipes with its paw when it spots a fish and almost never fails. To open shellfish and nuts it uses rocks and its teeth. It usually grabs fruit from trees with its long tail and can secrete a fluid to attract insects such as termites and ants onto its paint-brush tail tip. Excess supplies are taken up their tree and stored in a part of their nest. Each individual Mistlyne gathers its own food unless one is incapable or has young, in which case their hunger is first satisfied. A lone Mistlyne may go to others for help, but if it tries to get away without returning the favour it'll most likely be killed.
Relationships with other Predators - Although they require a lot of food, Mistlyne have little competition with other predators because of their flexible diet and peaceful nature. However, they are often seen as prey by large predators, but even their young aren't easy targets. They can get into disputes over carcasses but the Mistlyne is likely to back down. Mistlyne, especially Spotted Forest, are commonly poached by humans for their horns which are used in rituals by many cultures, their fur and intelligent exotic pet status is also valuable. While rare, they are not endangered (except Alpine), but are vulnerable due to poaching and deforestation.
COMMUNICATION
Body Language - When happy, the Mistlyne will raise its tail and ears in a relaxed fashion, and when stimulated will wag its tail like a dog. The Mistlyne tucks its tail between its legs, lowers itself and flattens its ears when frightened or showing submission, and may also urinate. When aggressive and/or trying to look threatening, it lowers its head, displaying its horns, raises its ears, bares its teeth, raises its fur and sometimes stands on its hind legs. It rises and curls its tail forward in a loose spiral which displays confidence. There is much to be discovered about their body language, as it can get quite complex.
Build - Movement and shape are very similar to a fox, but muscle, fat and fur distribution is more feline. They are very agile, The tail is more or less the length of the Mistlyne's entire body, is strong enough to hold the Mistlyne's weight and flexible enough to curl tightly around objects such as tree branches, food and their young. They have one pair of lightly curved, goat-like horns. Their eyes are of a similar shape to the Leopard's, and are often heterochromic. Its back paws are almost exactly identicle to that of the Cheetah's, the claws are non-retractable. It's front paws are similar to hands, with opposable thumbs. The Mistlyne has a relatively large skull, large caracal-like ears with black tufts at the top. The muzzle is very vulpine and longer in males, with long whiskers and nose colour ranging from black to light pink.
Fur - Coarse but fine, long (but much shorter than Alpine and Tundra varieties), waterproof and camoflaged in their natural environment. Most of the body's fur is brown with much darker, leopard-like brown spots. Males have a thick stripe running from their forehead to the tip of their tail. The fur is white and feathery on the underside, collar, face, paws and ear tips of the Mistlyne with the same dark brown spots in seemingly random places. On the face, the white fur extends around the eye to the sides of the face, it fades out at the top of the nose in a spotty pattern, there are also black "tear marks". At the tip of the tail is silky, brush-like, white fur.
Senses - The Mistlyne has binocular vision, cat-like night-vision, extremely complex colour-vision and little need to blink in low sunlight. It has sensitive hearing, much like that of a cat. Its sense of smell is much less acute than cat's, however.
BEHAVIOUR
Social and Territorial Behaviour - The Mistlyne is largely a solitary animal with small, blurry territorial boudaries. They mark a small area usually consisting of a water source and a few trees, and while they are comfortable with other animals entering at ground level, they become very hostile when the "invader" touches the tree their nest is in, especially if their young is in it. To mark, they mainly use their tail tip which acts as a paint brush, which paints colourful secretions from glands at the base of their tail onto objects like trees and rocks. This tells other Mistlyne about their health, age, sex and more, but to most other species it's just a solid colour, like a secret code. The "language" of Mistlyne in certain areas may be less readable to Mistlyne in others, especially between different subspecies. For example, the desert Mistlyne use darker colours than the tundra Mistlyne, and both use a less broad spectrum than the Forest and Alpine varieties. Another way in which the Mistlyne marks is by scratching or "carving" into trees which produces a visual and odorous mark because they have scent glands on their paws, so it's especially effective for communicating with other species who primarily use their sense of smell.
Reproduction and Development - Mistlyne reproduce once a year in spring, the female's estrus cycle lasting up to 6 weeks. Males and females will mate for a few days, and copulation may last for up to an hour. They usually mate in small groups, which often causes fights between males, especially if there are more males than females. The successful mating group will live together until the young have left the nest and the females are ready to move on in search of new mates. The gestation period lasts for about 3 months, the average litter size consisting of 3-8. The young are born with no spots, which, along with the horns, are fully developed by sexual maturity. The mother carries them with her tail, wrapping it around them to protect them from danger and move quickly through the trees. The young become independent at 7 years of age and reach sexual maturity at 12 years. Siblings of the same sex will form coalitions once left the nest and journey far from the rest of their family to make new homes.
Nesting - Mistlyne make elaborate nests extending from the base of the tree to the top out of branches, leaves, rocks and anything else they can get their hands on including rubbish and bones. They sleep high or low depending on weather and predators, and use the very top of the tree as a lookout, especially for food.
Diet, Hunting, Gathering and Feeding Behaviour - Mistlyne are omnivores but rarely kill other mammals, preferring to eat carrion, though they can easily take down prey almost twice their size. Their diet consists mainly of fruit, nuts, insects, shellfish, crustaceans and fish. Mistlyne hunt at night and gather plant food, insects and fish throughout the day, but more so in the early morning. To hunt, the Mistlyne relies on sight and being as quiet and agile as possible. It stalks its prey closely until it's noticed, then chases it at great speed, eventually tackling and suffocating it. The Mistlyne's sharp mind, exceptional sight, sharp canines, claws and agility make it an excellent hunter of large prey, but it's less successful with small prey such as rodents because once still and hidden from sight they're almost impossible for the Mistlyne to find. To fish, it quickly swipes with its paw when it spots a fish and almost never fails. To open shellfish and nuts it uses rocks and its teeth. It usually grabs fruit from trees with its long tail and can secrete a fluid to attract insects such as termites and ants onto its paint-brush tail tip. Excess supplies are taken up their tree and stored in a part of their nest. Each individual Mistlyne gathers its own food unless one is incapable or has young, in which case their hunger is first satisfied. A lone Mistlyne may go to others for help, but if it tries to get away without returning the favour it'll most likely be killed.
Relationships with other Predators - Although they require a lot of food, Mistlyne have little competition with other predators because of their flexible diet and peaceful nature. However, they are often seen as prey by large predators, but even their young aren't easy targets. They can get into disputes over carcasses but the Mistlyne is likely to back down. Mistlyne, especially Spotted Forest, are commonly poached by humans for their horns which are used in rituals by many cultures, their fur and intelligent exotic pet status is also valuable. While rare, they are not endangered (except Alpine), but are vulnerable due to poaching and deforestation.
COMMUNICATION
Body Language - When happy, the Mistlyne will raise its tail and ears in a relaxed fashion, and when stimulated will wag its tail like a dog. The Mistlyne tucks its tail between its legs, lowers itself and flattens its ears when frightened or showing submission, and may also urinate. When aggressive and/or trying to look threatening, it lowers its head, displaying its horns, raises its ears, bares its teeth, raises its fur and sometimes stands on its hind legs. It rises and curls its tail forward in a loose spiral which displays confidence. There is much to be discovered about their body language, as it can get quite complex.
