Lifeforms · Fauna · Forest/ Jungle
Scrats
Rats the size of cats, these insectivores are tree-top hunters. While they are useful to farmers and people, they are considered pests.
Full Description
Crats are a large insectivore. They are commonly found among the treetops in the wild, but have taken to living in barns & attics in settled areas. Their name derives from their most common description "rats the size of cats."
While they are neither rodent nor feline, they do have certain traits in common with both. They possess curved and sharp claws, and a propensity for climbing, similar to cats, but the claws of a crat are not retractable. They also have padded feet, but lack the feline grace needed for truly silent motion. In general appearance, they greatly resemble rats, including the naked tail. They also have pronounced front teeth, but these are sharply pointed, rather than rodent-like. They share the habit of gnawing with rodents, albeit to a much reduced degree.
Additional Information
While their ecological niche is useful to farmers—they eat harmful insects & their sheer size frightens away many rodents in the same areas—crats are considered pests. This is in part due to the damage they cause in building nests; crats do not keep one nest, but change location every few weeks. Additionally, their size, aggressive tendencies (as insectivores they are predatory, even if two-legged creatures aren't on the menu), and resemblance to rats do not endear them to those whose buildings they inhabit.
The natural enemies of crats are the reptilian publicans.
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Links to this article 1
- Vitralara, the Mongrelmen Alongside Scrasamax linked by Scrasamax
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'scritter' 'scritter'. These things have to make so much noise going across rooftops. They will be the bane of urban dwellers with cheap roofs.
Hmmm. Nasty thought. Those who sneak on roofs might learn to mimic this noise, so people will think it is Scrats instead of sneaks. Maybe all it would take is some 'odd' additions to your boots.. scratt toes attached to the front of the boots, so they will 'bounce' and 'scratch' naturally.
Lol. I like your post. But if I were a farmer I'm not sure I would be happy that the reason I had no rats was because I had these around :-p
I like - nice little ecological niche - can just see this creature evolving - 4/5
As a farmer:-
On the plus side - I don't have rats eating all my grain
On the minus - they cause a lot of damage and noise is simply unbearable
Hmm, thinly disguised political satire here :)