Diet: Omnivore
Danger Level: 3
Social Ability: 11
Observation: A really goofing-looking creature that is described as a large ostrich-like bird with legs forming at the bottom of its neck. The rest of the body is contained in a ball protected by a thick layer of fat found on the opposite side of the legs. The design gives the creature a center of balance that is dependent on the position of its head. If it lowers its head, the rear will lift. And vise-versa.
The omnivore classification is due to its diet of freshwater fish, but it also eats fruits. While eating, it must stand completely upright in order to swallow. This creature apparently has no involuntary muscles in its esophagus and must rely on gravity to help move the mashed-up food to its stomach. This results in the creature constantly rocking back and forth in order to help move the food down its long neck. It only does this with solid foods; drinking water is done in one swinging movement.
The creature is very social and will often gather with its kind to throw parties. It’s been documented that these parties are held only on full moon nights and consist of singing and dancing. Only two of these parties double as mating rituals: the one held in the spring and the one held in the fall. At the end of those parties, couples pair off to build nests under the full moon light and produce young.
Couples mate for life and each parent has a different responsibility in raising their chick. The males are in charge of showing their offspring how to swallow food and what to eat. The females are in charge of fine tuning their offspring’s vocal abilities. Teaching chicks how to dance is done by both parents when the social gatherings happen.
Their large size also makes them slow moving, as running requires them to be more aerodynamic that they are capable of doing on their own. This puts them at great risk and makes them a common target for predators. Because of their physical design, they are also very easy to kill and are often the first kill for many young predators. Surprisingly, predators never attack the chicks. This may be due to the fact that the chicks are smaller and only slightly faster than the adults.
Unfortunately, this creature has no natural defenses against their predators. It’s beak is only strong enough to combat fish and not against claws and fangs.
~Zeek Slider
