[Idea] Sciuriformes (Small Pet Creatures)

[Tentoa 2004]

Notes on The Horned Squirrel Lemur
(Sciuriformes)

Recently near my home I had been hearing various scratching noises at night and finding my bins raided when I checked them in the morning. After the third or fourth instance of these noises II had set up a small cage trap for what I presumed to be a raccoon of some sort that I thought I would release into the wild or put down. However I noticed that instead of a Raccoon when morning came instead I found a small quadrupedal creature of brown fur that measured to be 1’10 from tail to head and stood no less than a foot off the ground on all fours and one foot. After taking it inside I promptly pacified the creature with a small amount of frost vine extract so that I might observe it while it remained limp.


The first observation revealed it to have four small horns atop its head. The top pair each measured in at one cm in length and were positioned two inches apart from one another. The bottom pair measured at only one cm in length each and were positioned one inch apart from one another.  


The creature appears to have pink-paw pads and five fingers each topped with a dull claw that measured out in ranges from one to one-and-a-half cm in length.

Rather thick grey fur similar to that of a squirrel coats the creature and with the exception of a large white tuft of fur upon its stomach is colored grey.

Feeding habits and movement.

Upon the conclusion of the first examination the creature was housed in a cage built to hold a wolf for transport. After observing it for some time I have concluded the creature is an arboreal quadruped. It seemed to have little difficulty scaling the bars with all its limbs which leads me to assume it is a primate of some kind or a rodent the large bush tail i have noted is used to  counterbalance its upper weight for the sake of speed when scaling trees or other surfaces.

I placed a number of different fruits, vegetables and meats before it in small sample bowls during the first test. Those included were apples, grapes, pork, beef, Oranges, lettuce, carrots and simply because I had it around coconut slices.

It seemed to ignore the meat entirely and instead partake of each of the vegetables and fruits. It seemed to favour grapes as it was the only bowl it finished. What is remarkable about the creature is how it ate the orange. using the dull claws to rip away the peel and split it into quarters for consumption which leads me to believe climbing and this were the purpose behind them.


Training and Sketching.

Since I have begun to regularly feed the creature it is much more trusting and is regularly cooperative in handling as such I have no longer found the need to sedate it during inspections. In an attempt to train it I have mimicked the manner in which most train dogs or wolves and reinforced good behavior with treats such as grapes or carrot slices. And have reprimanded negative actions with a squirt of water from an enchanted rock. Thus far all attempts to train the creature (Which I have named Pippy) have been successful. Thus far it has been taught where it may relieve itself, not to exit the house unless accompanied, fetching and throwing back a small leather ball, and finally to ride upon my shoulder and in my coat during outings.

I had the opportunity to have Pippy sit still just long enough for a quick pencil sketch which I have attached to this report.


 

[Tentoa 2004]

((If you have any questions about the creature ask and I shall respond))