[Mkguild] Inspiration: A review of "The Book of Animal Ignorance"

[JL Badgley]

I'm not sure about others, but I really like reading about weird,
interesting things that animals do, and in MK I find this has the
potential for cropping up (for obvious reasons), so I thought I'd
recommend QI's "The Book of Animal Ignorance", with a foreword by
Stephen Fry (and a Forepaw by Alan Davies).  Written in a humorous
manner that often focuses on strange mating habits (let's face
it--most humans find sex weird enough as it is, so much of animal
courtship can be downright bizzare), it does suffer from the problem
of generalizations over an entire group of animals.  Unless I miss my
count, there are 99 animals (including homo sapiens), each with a
fun-filled two pages of interesting facts.  For instance, of the
armadillos, it is only the three-banded armadillo that can roll into a
ball (though many other critters such as hedgehogs and echidnas can
curl up as well).  Pangolins can open or shut their scales,
effectively creating scissors that can cut off things that are stuck
between them, including fingers.  Badger clans can live in setts, or
burrows, that are centuries old, rather like a lord in his castle.
And foxes, when they kill more than they can eat in a single sitting,
will bury the excess in a 'larder' for later.

These little tidbits really give me something to think about in
stories, when you consider what physical or instinctual
characteristics a Keeper might receive from the animal curse, and how
it may affect them--whether they are accepting them or fighting
against them.


-Tatsushu