Fogfalls Jackalopes

Under the forever warm glow of yellow and scarlet treetops that embrace the entirety of the small town of Fogfalls,  often lay bushes with very sharp thorns alongside scrumptious looking berries of all colors of the rainbow. 

One would think nothing can live among those thorns and he would then be surprised and tackled to the ground by a large hare-looking being with glowing green eyes and a pair of horns on its head. Those are the Fogfalls jackalopes - endemic for the region and still very mysterious species that can only be approached and studied by Forest Spirits who then record and report to human teams of researchers.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Jackalopes live in families. All members of a branch of the species gathers under the moonlight of the Spring fullmoon and males and females court each other with dances and offerings. By the morning all who had decided on partners walk back into the shadows of the trees and the males bring the females to hole - homes they have prepared in advance. The individuals without a partner seem to go into hiding or wandering the woods until next spring. It is a mystery why there is no fighting between the males for a female - as is the habit with most animals - but instead the males seem to help each other during the courting dances and would even do acrobatics with other males in order to impress a female. 

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After the partners have settled in the new home they don't mate immediately - they spend a month in reinforcing and expanding the lair as well as scouting the area and looking for paths and shortcuts to food, water and another family in the region. When the next month's newmoon comes the couple would mate and fill the woods with high-pitched howls, almost sounding like a little human girl whistling.  Three months after that three to five babies are born. 

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The young family would live at a hearing distance from another family - some theories suggest that this is in order to have an extra pair of eyes and ears should a predator encroach the shared territory. Non-coupled jackalopes, among which - the elders of coupled ones - seem to act as food scouts, messengers and eventual evacuation planners as they have been noticed in groups rearranging thorny shrubs to form hedges and borders.

Average Intelligence

While jackalopes as species are considered mainly a mystery and to many countries and peoples around the worlds - even on Terra - they are a faux being, an illusionary beautification of a sick animal - in the mountains of Bulgaria, especially in less touched by human hands ones, they are abundant. 

With the help of the Forest Spirits people have been able to study them without disturbing them and a few fascinating conclusions have been drawn from this cooperation. 

Different jackalope families have been observed to follow the same routes to look for food or to meet with other families of the species, for weeks without  making detours or showing that their instinct tell them something else. They have also been heard vocalizing signals for danger if one family's member senses a predator and then recognizes that the target is a member of another family they were about to meet with. Here's what a sun scout describes for one such encounter:

_{"The giraffe-spotted and the bee-striped were on the sides of the river - like every other morning. This time however the female from the Bee family would step sideways and back as if trying to shift and merge with the nearby bush. I was confused as to why isn't she bringing the small ones across but then I noticed it - on the other side of the water, behind a tree, there was a fox staring down the babies of the Giraffe spotted one. As I was watching in worry the Bee-striped mother vocalized barely audible yet very clear puffs that seemed to have a pattern to them. I looked back to the Giraffe-spotted only to see her flapping her ears which created a flurry of glittery lights and in an instant her family was gone."}

The fact that they seem to have a language of vocal patterns and the memory to keep on using the same paths over and over again shows intelligence higher than most non-magical animals. This is strengthened by the fact they seem to use inherited knowledge of beings they have never seen - families observed for a longer time have been recorded to change their camouflage pattern through the generations with some patterns skipping generations and others - never being used again. Jackalopes are not born with their fur patterns  - they are born completely brown or gray (depends on the kind of forest they inhabit) - and the technique to hide with specific fur markings gets taught by the parents to the young ones in their second year. It is a magical thing more than it is genetic.

For their intelligence, vigor  and sturdiness jackalopes - specifically Fogfalls Jackalopes - have been made the symbol of one of the Fogfalls Academy for Magic's houses.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Hare-like abilities

The closest non-magical relative being the wild hare makes the jackalopes share some abilities with them. Hares can reach maximum speeds of 35 mph (56 km/h) in short distances of approximately 90 meters, and a top speed of 50 mph (80 km/h) for about 20 meters. Jackalopes can run with 55km/h in the same distances with a top speed of 75km/h and can leap up to 2m at a time - shorter than the hare because they are bigger and heavier in size. 

Compared to hares however Jackalopes can hear better - with the ability to hear sounds from 90Hz to a bit over 50,000Hz and at distances up to 3km. This is very helpful when they try to communicate with their family's Elders while the latter are farther in the woods and the children want something to be brought back to them.

The Jackalopes' sight is better than that of any hare or wild rabbit - and definitely better than that of  a human - as they can see all the colors a human can, see in pure darkness up to 600m and see both near and far by magically re-adjusting to do so.

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Extrasensory/Magical abilities

Speaking of magical re-adjustment, there are a few more magical enhancements jackalopes can use to perceive the world around them better.
Whiskers and paws: a jackalope's whiskers can move in all directions and sense changes in temperature, air pressure, smell; they can feel what intent lays behind one's actions and they can change their size in order to not stick out and be seen in case of danger. The tips of the fingers on their paws can move a lot like human fingers and can detect less dense spots in a thorny bush in order to find a lair or hiding place.
Horns: jackalopes can use their horns to regulate their body heat, intimidate predators and as a mood expression. As they can change their size and shape seemingly by will and they can make them be covered in leaves or flowers if they feel like it, they would sometimes use that ability in order to attract a mate out of season.
Fur: Fogfalls Jackalopes use their furry magical enhancement for more than just evading predators even though that is its primary use. All jackalopes are born with soft fuzz that emits a gentle green glow. The very few that have seen it say it looks like sunlit miniature spots of moss underwater. But glowing. With them growing up and learning to control it the glow stops being visible at all times but instead can be released as a glittery display - much like pixie dust - in order to confuse a predator and escape by teleporting - or jumping - away. In addition the fur is coated with oily substance that protects them against the thorns of the shrubbery they make their homes in.

Scientific Name

Lepus Cranicornius

Lifespan

30-35 human years

Conservation Status

Not under concern

Average Height

with the horns: 95cm.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Most jackalopes would adapt their colorings and markings to match as close as possible their surroundings for better camouflage. The Fogfalls jackalopes are no different however they have another interesting ability: they would take on the markings of different creatures that have colors in the fiery-warm range of their surroundings. For example - you might see one jackalope with giraffe spots while another would sport tiger-like stripes - they are both mainly orange and brown animals with very easily recognizable fur patterns. Fogfalls jackalopes using this kind of fur coloring and marking switches without ever encountering the animals they take the markings of is another piece in the puzzle of their inherited intelligence.

Interesting

There's a tradition/ custom to pick up flowers or leaves fallen from a jackalope's horns and carry it around for luck and confidence boost through the year

^{The process of a jackalope getting in and out of the sharp knotted balls they hide under is this:}

• ^{they feel with their whiskers for a less layered spot in the bush}
• ^{they shrink their horns in order to not get them tangled}
• ^{they jump and teleport to a place under the spiky crown that's been previously cleared}

_{Anything that looks like a photo or a piece of such is taken from Pexels or a similar site}