#greater noctule bat

[loveisinthebat]

Whuh?

[tendervulture]

Felt sad, drew this handsome devil, felt better instantly :3

Quintessence ghouls real.

[dc-gotham-instincts-wild]

I have this idea that each of the Batfam were given nicknames alongside their actual vigilante names by civilians that they do use every now and then. It's either a bird or a type of bat.

Bruce/Batman is obviously just called 'the Bat', probably it SHOULD'VE gone to a more specific species later, but yeah. By the time the Batlings showed up it kind of...... well, it just stuck and stayed.

Dick/Nightwing at first was only called Robin, but as he grew older, they named him 'the Owl' for his silence even in the air. And when some learned that there were evil owl masked assassins (Talons from the Court of Owls) the name became also a rebellion against them, they liked Nightwing better. He's a silent hunter, agile in fight, and idk Owl just fits him. 

 Jason/Red Hood literally died and came back, so they named him 'the Phoenix'. Also for his fiery nature and how he allegedly (to the civilians) died in an explosion, but came back from the black ground like a phoenix is said to rise from the ashes. 

Cass/Black Bat was named 'the Noctule', after the Greater Noctule Bat, since it just fit and also Noctule bats are known to even hunt small birds and THEREFORE are in the same league as them, lining up with how Cass is just as, if not more, dangerous as her siblings. 

I also toyed around with calling her Kite after the Black Kite, but she's Bat vibe more than Bird vibe, (even tho in my view all the Birds are still Batlike) so.... yeah. 

For Steph/Spoiler, I decided on 'the Magpie'. Magpies are smart, mischievous, and have a habit of spoiling things for others.

I toyed around a bit with Wren, since that could also work for her, but magpies are corvids and corvids are more Gotham, so I chose Magpie.  

Tim/Red Robin would get 'the Crow', both for his darker appearance as Robin and Red Robin than the previous two, the calls he lets out sometimes (In some of my AUs) and idk I just came up with it and it unsettlingly fit. So Tim is the Crow. He's smarter than expected and a bit smaller than normal but he can fight, so he is the Crow. 

Duke/Signal would get 'the Sunbird'. I checked. There's a bird called the Sunbird. It's way too obvious as to why i call him that so yeah.

He's also called the Day Bat. Cause to me, he's in direct equilibrium to the Bat and Bird thing. All the others lean more towards one side or another, but he's directly 50/50 to me, that's his vibe. So Signal is 'Day Bat' and 'the Sunbird'. 

 Damian/Robin gets 'the Swift', for the fact that he's small but deadly and fast, and it just fits him idk. Swifts are like..... idk the vibe and all fits. Robin gets the Swift.  

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Mammalia - Chiroptera

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our next order of mammals is Chiroptera, commonly called “bats.” Chiroptera is the second largest order of mammals after Rodentia. Bats comprise about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with over 1,400 species. They are divided into the families Pteropodidae (“megabats”), Rhinopomatidae (“mouse-tailed bats”), Craseonycteridae (“Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat”), Megadermatidae (“false vampire bats”), Rhinonycteridae (“trident bats”), Hipposideridae (“Old World leaf-nosed bats”), Rhinolophidae (“horseshoe bats”), Nycteridae (“slit-faced bats”), Emballonuridae (“sac-winged bats” and “sheath-tailed bats”), Myzopodidae (“sucker-footed bats”), Mystacinidae (“New Zealand short-tailed bats”), Thyropteridae (“disk-winged bats”), Furipteridae (“Smoky Bat” and “Thumbless Bat”), Noctilionidae (“bulldog bats”), Mormoopidae (“ghost-faced bats”, “mustached bats”, and “naked-backed bats”), Phyllostomidae (“New World leaf-nosed bats”), Natalidae (“funnel-eared bats”), Molossidae (“free-tailed bats”), Miniopteridae (“long-fingered” and “bent-winged bats”), Cistugidae (“wing-gland bats”), and Vespertilionidae (“vesper bats”).

Bats are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight, with their forelimbs adapted as wings. Their wings are a patagium of skin stretched between 4 fingers, with their thumbs pointing forward and supporting the leading edge of the wing. The wings of bats are much thinner and consist of more bones than the wings of birds, allowing bats to maneuver more accurately and fly with more lift and less drag. The surface of the wings is equipped with touch-sensitive receptors on small bumps called Merkel cells, also found on human fingertips. In bats, each of these bumps has a tiny hair in the center, making it even more sensitive and allowing the bat to detect and adapt to changing airflow. While bats are highly agile in the air, they can only crawl or drag themselves awkwardly across the ground, and most of their time not in the air is spent roosting upside down. However, a few species, such as the New Zealand Lesser Short-tailed Bat (Mystacina tuberculata) and the Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus) are able to walk or even run on all fours. Most bats are insectivores, and most of the rest are frugivores (fruit-eaters) or nectarivores (nectar-eaters). A few feed on vertebrates, such as the specialized blood-drinking vampire bats (subfamily Desmodontinae), the bird-hunting Greater Noctule Bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus), the fish-catching Greater Bulldog Bat (Noctilio leporinus), the frog-eating Fringe-lipped Bat (Trachops cirrhosus), and the Spectral Bat (Vampyrum spectrum) and Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas) which sometimes feed on other bats. Carnivorous bats make use of echolocation for navigation and finding prey, while herbivorous bats use their more well-developed eyesight. Apart from the Arctic, the Antarctic and a few isolated oceanic islands, bats exist in almost every habitat on Earth.

Some bats lead solitary lives, while others live in colonies of millions. In some, the females live in groups while the males are solitary, or males and females will live in separate groups. Most species are polygynous, where males mate with multiple females. Some species are promiscuous, where both sexes mate with multiple partners. A few species form monogamous pairs. Female bats use a variety of strategies to control the timing of pregnancy and the birth of young, to make delivery coincide with maximum food ability and other ecological conditions. In most bat species, females carry and give birth to a single pup per litter. The young emerges rear-first, possibly to prevent the wings from getting tangled, and the female cradles it in her wing and tail membranes. In social species, females give birth and raise their young in maternity colonies and may assist each other in birthing. A few species also assist in suckling other mothers’ young. Most of the care for a bat pup comes from the mother, but in monogamous species, the father will also play a role in childcare.

The fragile skeletons of bats do not fossilize well, but Chiroptera is assumed to have arisen in the Eocene. The oldest known bat fossils include Archaeonycteris praecursor and Altaynycteris aurora (55–56 million years ago), both known only from isolated teeth. The oldest complete bat skeleton is Icaronycteris gunnelli (52 million years ago).

Propaganda under the cut:

The eyes of most carnivorous bat species are small and poorly developed, leading to poor visual acuity, but no species is truly blind. Microbats may use their vision for orientation and while travelling between their roosting grounds and feeding grounds, as echolocation is effective only over short distances. Some species can even detect ultraviolet (UV) light.

The smallest mammal in the world is the Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), also known as the Bumblebee Bat (though the the Etruscan Shrew [Suncus etruscus] is smaller by body mass). An adult Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat is about 29 to 33 mm (1.1 to 1.3 in) in length and weighs around 2 g (0.071 oz).

On the other wing, the largest bat in the world is the Giant Golden-crowned Flying Fox (Acerodon jubatus) which can reach a weight of 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) and has a wingspan of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in).

Bat dung is mined as guano from caves and used as a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Bat guano also contains fine particles of insect exoskeleton, which are largely composed of chitin. Chitin from insect exoskeletons is an essential compound needed by beneficial soil fungi, as chitin is a major component of fungal cell wall membranes. This fungi then improves soil fertility. However, unsustainable harvesting of bat guano may cause bats to abandon their roost. Many cave ecosystems are wholly dependent on bats to provide nutrients via their guano which supports bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, and vertebrates in the cave. The loss of bats from a cave can result in the extinction of species that rely on their guano.

The extinct bats Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon and Hassianycteris kumari, both of which lived 48 million years ago, are the first fossil mammals whose colorations have been discovered. Both were reddish-brown.

The fastest flying bat, the Mexican Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), can achieve a ground speed of 160 km/h (100 mph)!

Mexican Free-tailed Bats are one of the few species to "sing" like birds. Males sing to attract females.

Greater Bulldog Bats (Noctilio leporinus) “honk” to warn each other when they may be about to collide.

Carnivorous bats make use of magnetoreception, in that they have a high sensitivity to the Earth's magnetic field, like birds. These bats use a polarity-based compass, meaning that they differentiate North from South, unlike birds, which use the strength of the magnetic field to differentiate latitudes.

Scientists reported in January 2025 that they had discovered how some bats travel hundreds of miles in the spring to give birth in warmer temperatures: they surf storm fronts.

The Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum) can travel as much as 38.5 km (24 mi) in one night in search of food.

Many species of plants depend on bats for seed dispersal. The Jamaican Fruit Bat (Artibeus jamaicensis) has been recorded carrying fruits weighing 3–14 g or even as much as 50 g.

Nectar-eating bats have acquired specialised adaptations. These bats possess long muzzles and long, extensible tongues covered in fine bristles that aid them in feeding on particular flowers and plants. These long, narrow tongues can reach deep into the long cup shape of some flowers. When the tongue retracts, it coils up inside the rib cage. The Tube-lipped Nectar Bat (Anoura fistulata) has the longest tongue of any mammal relative to its body size.

Around 500 species of flowering plant rely on bat pollination. Because of this, some of these flowers have adapted to only open their flowers at night.

Due to the specialized metabolism of Vampire Bats (subfamily Desmodontinae) they are highly susceptible to starvation if they fail to feed within 70 hours. To combat this, vampire bats engage in reciprocal altruism, and will feed each other by regurgitating blood. If a bat cannot find food two nights in a row, due to injury, illness, or simple unluckiness, one of its colony mates may feed it. Vampire bats who are more “popular” in the colony may be fed more often.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease in North American bats which has resulted in the dramatic decrease of the bat population in the United States and Canada, killing millions and causing a 90% decline in some areas. The condition is named for a distinctive fungal growth of Pseudogymnoascus destructans around the muzzles and on the wings of hibernating bats. It is likely the fungus was brought to North America from Europe by cavers who didn’t wash their equipment. Bats in Europe seem to be resistant to the fungus. The Forest Service estimated in 2008 that the die-off from white-nose syndrome means that at least 2.4 million pounds (1.1 million kg or 1,100 tons) of insects will go uneaten, possibly leading to crop damage or having other economic impact.

It has been estimated that bats save the agricultural industry of the United States anywhere from $3.7 billion to $53 billion per year in pesticides and damage to crops. This also prevents the overuse of pesticides, which can pollute the surrounding environment, and may lead to resistance in future generations of insects.

Homosexual relations have been observed in the Bonin Flying Fox (Pteropus pselaphon) and the Indian Flying Fox (Pteropus medius).

The Christmas Island Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus murrayi) was declared extinct in 2009. This extinction was likely caused by introduced, invasive species such as Domestic Cats (Felis catus), Black Rats (Rattus rattus), Common Wolf Snakes (Lycodon capucinus), and Yellow Crazy Ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes). The bats could have also been poisoned by the insecticide Fipronil, used to control Yellow Crazy Ant Colonies.

In China, bats have been associated with happiness, joy, and good fortune. Five bats are used to symbolise the "Five Blessings": longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue, and peaceful death.

A new threat to bats has arisen in the form of bat taxidermy. Bat taxidermy, where bats are either mounted in glass, encased in resin, articulated as a skeleton, or simply stuffed, is growing in popularity as “quirky” decor. However, many sellers will claim to be ethical when they are not, and are actually catching and killing bats to meet the rising demand of this new market. In some cases, entire caves will be gassed so that the bat carcasses can be harvested by the thousands. Many of the bat species used for oddity decor are declining or even endangered. The transport of bat carcasses overseas has also been linked to the spread of disease.

[beansprean]

Fun fact: the Mexican free tailed bat is the fastest mammal in the world.

My Familiar’s Ghost part 49

Masterpost

(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: 1. Close up of vampire Guillermo as he rips his way out of the cloak tied around him, angry and snarling, bloodied stake still clutched in his right hand. 2. Repeat. From somewhere offscreen, between the panels, Nandor speaks: 'Okay, okay, I can see you are still upset with me, but...' Guillermo flips his head left and right, scenting the air with glowing eyes as he searches for Nandor. 3. Low shot from behind Guillermo's shoulder as he whips his head up toward the ceiling. Nandor is pressed up into the corner above the drink machine and a CPR poster, arms and legs spread out as he sticks to the wall spiderman style. He gives Guillermo a nervous grin and continues, 'Do you really want to kill me?' 4. Zoom in on Nandor as a stake flies into frame from below. Nandor quickly poofs into a bat with a 'yeek!' and dodges to one side, eyes wide and panicked. The stake embeds itself two inches into the sheetrock precisely where Nandor's heart had been a moment before. 5. Wide shot from above as Nandor turns toward the viewer and begins to fly frantically away from Guillermo, squeaking, 'Okay, you do! You do!' On the ground below, Guillermo glares after him, fists raised in readiness, before poofing into a bat himself and swooping in after Nandor, fangs bared and eyes glowing. 6a. Mid air bat fighting! Guillermo, his Mexican free tailed bat form about half the size of Nandor's greater noctule bat form, catches up quickly and lashes out with his clawed feet, screeching. Nandor dodges, turning himself in a barrel roll. 6b. Guillermo lunches out with his teeth, snapping at empty air as Nandor launches himself upward in a few harried flaps. 7. Shot from behind as Nandor turns tail and flees, flying toward the open door to the hallway, Guillermo in hot pursuit. 8. Shot from the front as Nandor, in the foreground, flies through the hall back to the main room of the Panera, panicked and grimacing. Guillermo is following close behind, hissing menacingly, his eyes leaving glowing trails as he whips through the air in hairpin turns. 9. Repeat. Nandor emerges into the main room and pauses, slowing his flight as he glances behind him and realizes Guillermo is not there. 10. Guillermo, back in vampire form, ambushes from the side and grabs Nandor with his left hand, smashing and pinning him into a nearby wall before he has a chance to dodge. The wall cracks and buckles with the force of his attack. Nandor opens his tiny little bat mouth as if to cry out in pain. Guillermo snarls open-mouthed, right hand raised with claws out to attack again. /end ID

[mage-ical-character-person]

Oh my god.

I looked it up because I love a little creature look at this creature!

it’s called!

Greater noctule bat!

and he is very talented at flying and hunting small migratory bird!! Also the bat is hunted by the Owls.

oh no

the food chain

Hope that help.

there are no vampire bats in Transylvania but there is a bats that is very large and eat bird

anyway do you think

. Oh mygod

[outofangband]

Mammals of Maglor’s Gap and Lothlann

Now that I’ve finished world building posts on birds for each Fëanorian realm pre Amon Ereb, I’m going through mammals next! Mammals of the March of Maedhros can be found here and my environmental world building Masterlist is here!

Maglor’s Gap was the widest break in the mountains and cliffs dividing Beleriand and the lands to the north. It lay between the blue mountains to the east and the March of Maedhros to the west. Lothlann was a wide expanse of plains to the north of the Gap. The rivers greater and little Gelion ran around the western and eastern borders.

Forest steppes: wild goat, wood bison, southern white breasted hedgehog, gray marmot, ground squirrel, dormouse, woolly hares, long eared hedgehog, gray shrews, northern hog badger, sable (rare), steppe mouse, lesser noctule (bat), wildcat, red fox, red deer

Bordering mountain fences: Caucasian Tur, mouflon, chamois, alpine pika, pond bat, marbled polecat, saiga antelope, steppe polecat, mountain weasel, ibex (rare), argali

Plains: goitered gazelle, steppe wolf, wild horse, northern water vole (by the rivers), snow vole, grey dwarf hamster, common hare, common rabbit, striped field mouse, ural field mouse, harvest mouse, mountain hare, field vole (also primarily by rivers), wild horse

World building notes:

The horse based cavalry of Maglor is one of the few details we have about this region. I headcanon that the horses in question are a mixture of the descendants of the Valinor born horses brought by the Fëanorian host as well as wild horses from Estolad, Himlad, Lothlann and the other plains regions of Eastern Beleriand.

Sheep and goats provide the majority of milk and cheese products in the Gap. Some of these species are imported from other regions like sheep from Thargelion.

Domesticated bovine are rare in Eastern Beleriand outside Thargelion and parts of Estolad. There are however wild and semi domesticated bison such as the wood bison, especially on the borders of forested and forest steppe regions. Fur, skin and bones from bison are used by both Noldorin and Avarin elves for clothing and other materials.

Wild hamsters, rabbits, hares and voles were used by a select few of Maglor’s cavalry as companions and even spies.

A regiment of foot based scouts had the sigil of a hare in the form of a light silhouette upon a black background.

[soulsforscrapbooks]

So while reading Dracula, I was curious about what kind of bat Dracula is transforming into.

Romania is a great place to live if you want to go unnoticed as a bat, since the country has one of the most diverse number of bat species in Europe, with over 32 different species! Two of Europe's largest bat colonies can also be found in Romania. There are however, no blood-sucking bat species in Europe (they are instead all found in Central and South America).

If Dracula wanted to hide out unbothered in England, he might choose the form of the Common Pipistrelle, which is the most common bat species in England:

But Stoker refers to Dracula's bat form multiple times as "large," and Pipistrelles are little babies, only about 2 in./5.2 cm long. What might be a better fit is the Greater Noctule Bat species:

The Greater Noctule Bat is one of the largest bats in the world, and the largest bat in Europe. It has a wingspan of 18 in./46 cm. and is one of the few bat species that eats birds. In addition, where most bird-eating bats sit and wait for a bird to fly by, the Greater Noctule Bat actively hunts them.

(Of course Dracula is very old and has had plenty of time to travel, so he could have easily vacationed in South America and decided to become a vampire bat.)

And as a small aside: bats are incredibly important to the world's ecosystems, but species worldwide are currently being infected by White-Nose Syndrome, a deadly fungal disease that is wiping out entire populations. You can go to this website to see how you can help the bats fight against this illness!

[bonefall]

sorry if you've talked about this before, but I'm curious if clanmew have different words for different bat species? they obviously differentiate insects and birds, but bat's are harder to distinguish at a glance. cats would have an advantage with their hearing, being able to hear bat's squeaks (and I think different species make different patterns and sounds?) but like. I don't remember how many bat species there are here (I think noctule, pipistrelle, greater horseshoe, lesser horseshoe, daubenton's, whiskered, barbastelle, and serotine? I mightve missed a couple), but I love bat's so thought I'd ask. pipistrelle are the most common though I'm from the south-east of England so I occasionally see daubenton's too.

FOUR bat species! Over here in the main entry for birds, check there if you'd like more trivia on them. Clan cats count them as very special, blessed songbirds.

The ones that Clan cats have words for so far;

Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) = Popep

Soprano Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) = Ipi'ip

Long-eared Brown Bat (Plecotus auritus) = Fepfr

Common Noctule (Nyctalus noctula) = Shi'po

There are four more kinds of bat, for EIGHT total in this region, that I have not yet described because I don't have good access to their song recordings (Even the main four were ass on butts to hunt down) If you have clear recordings of the songs of these four I'll add them too.

Pipistrellus nathusii

Nyctalus leisleri

Myotis daubentonii

Myotis nattereri

[loveisinthebat]

Yes Hello?

[maps-to-elsewhere]

Fur & Fallout OC: Korin Vesper

Name

Korin Vesper

Handle

Stigma

GENERAL STATS

Pronouns: They/Them

Build: Lean

Height: 170 cm (5'7")

Weight: 68 kg (149 lbs)

Species: Greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus)

BACKGROUND

Reared within the communal safety of the colony, Korin nevertheless found themselves at odds with the constant and overwhelming presence of their loving, if cloying relatives. This need for some measure of soothing solitude often carried them away from the others, a distance that only grew alongside Korin until, with the blessing of the rest, they set out on their own.

Unsurprisingly, life was difficult, and Korin spent their time on the streets surviving as a pickpocket and message runner where they honed their skills, falling in and out of criminal associations, all while contending with the ever-present jackboots of the authorities. Over the years, they earned the reputation of a burglary specialist that can open doors, crack safes open or break into buildings with relative ease and they continue their off-the-record trade as a cutpurse and occasional courier.

Coming into their own as a freelance thief, a bad job has left Korin wary of association with others in the business, particularly the wealthy, who enjoy the means to flaunt their power with impunity, regardless of legality. This refusal to operate within the “proper” channels has caused no little grief to the powers of the criminal underworld but has made Korin a valuable asset to those whose discernments require a more personalised touch.

APPEARANCE

Korin is a sleek, lithe creature with the graceful, angular features typical of a bat, with fur that is a rich blend of soot black tinged with midnight blue that shades into russet toward carmine red through a ruff around the upper back, neck and shoulders. The fur is soft but velvety, giving them a fluid, almost hypnotic, ghostly appearance as they move, like as to a shadow which has come to life and broken away from its fellows to flit freely through the night.

Korin’s face is narrow and sharp, with expressive, black eyes that catch the light with a reflection of shocking red eyeshine, an unintentionally sinister effect which is only furthered by the large, sharp teeth of a predator. Their long, pointed ears are large and expressive, often twitching to catch even the faintest sounds, but also serve as sensitive light receptors, giving them an enhanced awareness of their surroundings when illuminated in any way.

Their slender frame is built for agility, with sinewy muscles that allow for quick, silent movement, their elongated hands and feet being equipped with sharp, clawed digits to scale walls or slip through narrow spaces with ease. Korin's wings are likewise thin and delicate, allowing for manoeuvrability over power in flight, otherwise kept lightly folded down the length of their arms while their forefinger, middle finger and thumb are used for grip and manipulation.

Korin wears simple, unadorned clothing meant to help them blend into the shadows while still offering freedom of movement, consisting of a fitted bodysuit under snug trousers and a top with oversize hood and tall collar. The last is loose around the torso and shoulders, with a slit design along the arms and sides so that it does not bind their wings, the whole ensemble festooned with cleverly-hidden pockets for tools and other implements vital to their trade.

PERSONALITY

Korin exhibits a strong sense of survival and self-interest with a distant, curt attitude meant to hold others at arm’s length and although they prefer solitude, they aren’t above working with others when necessary. A rocky history has taught them, however, to keep most relationships strictly professional since, when things go badly, it is often the workaday cutpurse who will be set up to take the fall.

While on the surface they seem callous, cynical and sarcastic, with loyalty only to themselves, Korin does exhibit a strong sense of professional pride as a thief, this to the point that they usually refuse to kill while on the job. This, not out of any great sense of compassion or justice, but a carefully maintained streak of the humane in the face of the cruelty that often accompanies criminal associations, living by the axiom that they’re a thief, not an assassin.

Their quiet nature and habitually skulking demeanour hide a reasonably insightful, surprisingly expressive and emotional individual behind an unassuming, unintentionally sinister facade. Despite their cautious attitude, Korin is not immune to passion, especially the thrill proffered by a challenge, relishing the call of true adventure and a chance to test their skills.

Behind all pretense, they are a typical exemplar of their kind, carrying the culture and lessons of their clan through kindness and altruism only mildly overshadowed by the necessary caution of their trade. It is not uncommon for some of their hard-won coin to fall into the pockets of an unfortunate passerby, or for an extra bit of food to be offered to a fellow vagrant languishing in the gutter.

NOTES

Korin experiences a synesthetic reaction to light, manifesting as a confusing jumble of sensations that they can only haltingly describe as something of a thrumming, disassociated, crawling pressure of the senses. Understandably, this leads them to avoid anything but the faintest of light whenever possible, and even that can only be endured for so long, else they protect themselves by wearing all-concealing clothes, goggles or blindfolds.

[hoodie-prince-kid-archived]

That was one of the ones! My ideas were Northern Ghost Bat, Honduran White Bat, Tent Making Bat, A Flying Fox, or a Painted Bat.

Theres just. Too many cool/cute/funny bats. Like the Greater Noctule Bat is hilarious.

oh those are all good...

[raccoon-in-a-dumpster]

oh mann yeha!! they're so fuzzy and nice and happyyy. do they drink like. tea or anythin?

also. do the vampies have slightly pointed ears? i think it'd be cool since. they're little silly bats and all.

OOH WAOT WHAT KIND OF BATS ARE TJEY?!?!!? i was thinking about it and i was like: omg what if flying fox. but. those aren't native to england. so maybe a greater noctule bat? they're the largest bats in the UK

(while looking for photos. i remembered vampire bats are real. but i mean. do vampire bats eat fucking BIRDS??? (also vampire bats are native to south america and not europe.))

greater noctule bats btw. they can probay eat ur fingers. they don't feed on blood but. vampire bats can be boring. give me flying fox vampires. y'know?

Deep down you know that William wants to abandon Utah and buy like a big spooky castle where he can be spooky and terrorize an entire small European village.

[spidermilkshake]

Started doing some to-scale size references for Redwall-verse species, including some speculative ones (and corrected identifications, such as Jacques's few infamous instances of "crested lizards"... those are newts, buddy).

All the creatures in this series are obviously much less tiny or gigantic in proportion to each other than their real-life inspirations. Kinda got to do that to make a building useful for both small mice and massive badgers and otters!

Here we get our first examples of sizes that the birds come in! I very much took into account that birds often look bigger than similar-sized mammals and in fact often have quite a bit less mass than a same-sized-lookin' rodent due to the fluffy feathers (The sparrow here, despite fluff taking up the same space as an average mouse, actually would be a bit smaller and would weigh probably only half as much). So you see the very smallest category among the bird species will be even a bit smaller than the smallest creatures that have a more anthropomorphic treatment--which are the small amphibians beyond any doubt. I included the three newt species which have either appeared or would definitely be present based on geography... and also one non-newt salamander species that I would have just found very neat to appear somewhere, the Alpine Salamander. Which is, oddly, a viviparous species due to its very... alpine home! Also need to have something which is clearly labeled "salamander", since the confusion with "newt" and lizards seems bizarrely omnipresent not just in Redwall, but in public knowledge. Y'all don't know nearly enough basics about the difference between reptile and amphibian (you're doin' better than many Redwall characters if you even know there's a difference!).

On this page, Newts are without exception classed into "Vermin", and I would speculate other salamanders would be lumped into that as well. Of the large bats here, I have done some speculation and think that the Greater Horseshoe Bat and the Greater Noctule--being predators of small vertebrates and passerine birds respectively--would get classed into Vermin as well. The Mastiff bat and the small birds shown here are considered to belong to class "Goodbeast" (though notably there are other bird species that would rival the ones shown in size which would get the "Vermin" class, such as Starlings).

[thesilkenlair]

Cecilverse Creature Concept: Flitterwurm

In the continued effort to create a tameable dragon after the disastrous failure of the Dracogriffs, a Wizard decided to try her own hand.

She believed that the Dracogriff wasn’t completely off, combining the necessary elements together as is required for a dragon. The problem was that the choice of animals were far too dangerous to begin with, and there was far too many of them in the chimera for there to be any hope of stability.

To rectify these mistakes, the Wizard imported a large group of monitor lizards, believing them to be the perfect animal for the base of her own chimera. The monitors had three of the four elements in perfect balance, Earth, Fire, and Water(being semi aquatic, venomous animals), and only needed Air added to complete it. Her chosen animal was a species of bat, the Greater noctule bat, one well known for it’s size and large fangs. Despite it’s size, being the largest species of natural bat available to her, she believed that while the bat would have a connection to Air, it would be a connection about on par with the monitors balanced connection to it’s own three elements. Their combination seemed to go off perfectly at first, though their chimera didn’t quite blend the two animals completely.

Named “Flitterwurm” the chimera’s resembled the monitor physically, with the addition of the bats wings, ears, fangs and patches of their fur. The Wizard lived long enough to brag to anyone who would listen that she had succeeded where Cockatrice and Dracogriffs had failed, and while her chimeras still needed a little work, she had been bitten by one of them, they were far less hostile than either of the others. Needless to say she died soon after.

It turns out that the Flitterwurms were a crafty bunch, as they had gained features of their halves, the poison of the monitor, and the echolocation of the bat, and combined them into a deadly hunting combination. They would hunt and bite their prey in the dark, injecting their magically enhanced venom, then merely wait for their prey to die or be too weak to fight back and finish them at their leisure. As with the other chimera before them, the Flitterwurm escaped and spread, becoming potent nocturnal predators.

[beansprean]

Laszlo is a nathusius pipistrelle bc they are teeny and actually SING to attract mates!

Nadja is a geoffroys bat (which is hilarious bc...Jeff) bc they really like olive plantations for some reason and also do a lot of screaming

Nandor is a greater noctule bat, big enough to eat birds but a face cute enough you'd let him