Merdingi (Mer-din-hi)

This animal can only be found in the Home of the Gods. A Merdingi is a type of bird and dog, with a little bit of a cat attitude. The Merdingi is generally owned by the gods, but an angel can own one from time to time.

A unique aspect about the Merdingi is that these animals were actually created by a god Mericani, the god of mixing. To summarize, he's the god of smashing things together. Originally, he wanted to add a snake, but it did not work. Mainly because the snake's venom kept killing the other animals it was linked to, then it killed itself. Therefore the snake had to be removed from the "mixture."

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Merdingi has the basic four legs of a dog with bird like wings. It has a large ribcage to protect its large lungs. It legs are long and so is its snout. The wings vary from Merdingi to Merdingi, but many are short and stubby. However, many of them are brightly colored and are patterned in such a way that it attracts prey.

Along with its long snout, it also has long ears. These ears are better than any regular dogs ears, however that makes them extremely sensitive. Their paws are also large, and are good for climbing and killing prey with a single blow.

Biological Traits

Merdingis are about the size of an Irish wolfhound, the average female is an inch or two bigger, while a male is four to six inches larger. The female can weigh up to 110 lbs, and the male up to 150 lbs. When domesticated the weight can sometimes be more. Life expectancy in the wild can be from fifteen to twenty years, however domesticated is generally an additional ten years.

The creatures fur comes in two main colors brown or black. Brown is a more common color with females, and black is more common among males. Many will have a short and smooth texture.

Genetics and Reproduction

This species reproduces how dogs reproduce. The author doesn't exactly want to go into detail how that works. She trusts you know how to use your imagination and Wikipedia.

But the mating rituals for Merdingis is similar to the way some birds mate. When the two opposite sexes meet the female will usually sit in front of the male and wait. The male will then flap his wings and dance around her. If the female likes the wings and his dancing she will reciprocate his feelings and flap her wings too. They will then dance in a circle together for an X amount of time, and then they will reproduce.

Growth Rate & Stages

At birth a Merdingi is quite small. It is generally no bigger than the average puppy with ears to big for its head and paws too big for its feet. About three weeks later, the Merdingi is no longer considered a pup, and has grown to a little over a two feet (0.61 meters). At that time the wings will start to grow, and by the end of the second month its wings will stop growing. Its size is about a yard (1 meter) tall. The Merdingi is now an adult.

A Merdingi's wings do not always stay the same. During the transition from summer to fall its wings will change color. This makes it easier for these creatures to attract prey in the fall, when there is much less. For about a week, a Merdingi will find some safe place, like a cave or a hole between the roots of a tree, and it will sleep. While it is sleeping its wings will shed and change colors. This process of changing wings is called Alteration.

The colors will go from a generally mossy colored green to a brightly colored plumage that resemble fall leaves on the forest floor, then during the transition from fall to winter the feathers will start to fade and turn to more of a dirty or muddy brown color, and depending on the area, they can occasionally become white.

Ecology and Habitats

In the wild a Merdingi lives in a wooded area with more broadleaf trees than evergreens. This is because its wings are more suited for attracting prey in a sprimg and summer time than an evergreen environment.

Merdingis live alone and only come together to mate. If a Merdingi of the same sex meet, they will not necessarily start fighting. They will if one is in the other's territory, but if one is just passing through, everything will be fine. If they are opposite sexes, they will most likely mate.

A Merdingi will generally hunt more in the spring and summer when the prey is at its highest. After it goes through Alteration it will be hungry and use its new wings to attract prey.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Merdingis are carnivorous. They mainly eat rabbits, squirrels, and the occasional bird. If they are desperate they will eat beetles or some type of bug. These animals, when younger, can generally track down their prey by smelling it, and chasing it down. However, when it gets older it stays close to the ground and stays completely still, waiting for the prey to come to it. Sometimes it will climb a tree and hunt for prey there, but much of its diet is on the forest floor.

Once it catches its prey it eats it on the spot, especially when younger. However, as it gets older it buries its food, close to where it lives. Some have even buried their food in their homes.

An interesting thing about the Merdingis is that they do not eat anything bigger than them. They do not eat or hunt deer or moose. The gods don't know the reason for this and neither does Mercani, however some gods suspect it is because of how it is raised.

Biological Cycle

When a Merdingi is young, it can do anything by itself, except for climbing. From hunting to stalking to eating, but as years go by this big dog gets tired more quickly, particularly in the wild. As time goes in it gets less and less able to hunt for itself, and after it reaches about fifteen years it starts to rely soley on its wings. During this time a Merdingi is light enough for it to carry its body weight up a tree. By age seventeen to twenty Merdingis become scrawny and ill, because it can't hunt by himself and his wings don't always bring in the food it needs it starves to death.

Of course, if it is domesticated Merdingis can live up to thirty or thirty-five years.

Behaviour

When a Merdingi's wings have not yet started to grow, its mother will start to smack it. This is in a protective, loving way to prepare the animal for the wild, if the pup fights back the mom will stop smacking it. However, many pups don't learn that till their wings are fully grown.

A Merdingi is a very, quiet animal in the way that it doesn't bark. It whimpers and wines and can growl, but it will never bark. An owner can teach it too, but many quickly lose their hearing soon after. Many people find this strange. A loud animal that thuds through the forest doesn't lose its hearing, yet when it barks it does. Why?

(The author personally thinks it is because the voice box is closer to the ears and therefore louder, but she doesn't know for a fact.)

A Merdingi's predators are large bear-like creatures called Kabihy (Ka-bi-hē). Many will hide or skirt around when one is spotted. They also have animals equal to them such as the Lerin (a large cat-like creature), a Meridok (a large wolf), and a Jerin (a weird mixed animal that is nearly the size of an elephant). These animals are also generally avoided, but if they ever interact fighting doesn't happen, unless food is scarce.

A Merdingi does not eat every single prey it comes across. If it has just eaten, a bunny left uneaten is okay. However, if it is hungry it eats it immediately.

Additional Information

Domestication

When a Merdingi is domesticated one of the first things the god does is bond with it. Merdingis are naturally affectionate so it is not extremely hard. However, when bonding the god must be very quiet any loud noise could scare the Merdingi.

After bonding the god will then start leading the animal with a long leash. Once the dog is used to following the owner, the owner will then walk the dog without the leash. This takes time because the Merdingi does not always want to follow its owner.

Once the Merdingi trusts and follows its owner, the god will train it to hunt for other creautes, usually bunnies or the occasional deer. A god will train a Merdingi the way one would train a hunting dog, such as a coon-houd.

After training, the Merdingi and god will go on their first hunt. This is when the friendship is "sealed" and made official.

One of the things that happen to a Merdingi during the domestication process is that they learn to hunt larger animals. They will not attack a deer, but they can pounce on a Lerin, for example. Merdingis will also become deaf faster, but they will live longer. Merdingi also become calmer during domestication, however when hunting they can be every bit as aggresive as a wild one.

Another difference between wild and domestic Merdingis is that the domesticated ones cannot run as far or as fast as wild ones. Most likely because domesticated ones do not run every day like the wild Merdingis.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Merdingis are generally used as hunting animals. They have excellent hearing and smelling abilities, however these animals are really loud. When they run everyone hears them coming. Merdingi's are simply tracking animals. Many are trained to be what people on earth would call "Pointer dogs." Some can be taught to walk soflty, but Merdingis love to bound through the woods, scaring birds and pouncing on moles. So many gods just leave them as tracking dogs.

Facial characteristics

A Merdingi's face will have a long wolf-like snout with large brown eyes. Its ears are long and triangular. A few Merdingis will have black streaks from their eyes to the sides of their faces. This just seems to be something in the genes, but as far as the gods can see it has no actual purpose.

The Merdingis face is usually positione in a way that it looks like its sad from the front, however from the side it looks angry.

Average Intelligence

Merdingis are smart creatures, however they can be very lazy sometimes. (This is where the cat attitude comes in.) This laziness is more obvious in domesticated Merdingis becuase they do not have to hunt for everything. However, if a Merdingi has an abundance of food, they could not hunt of several days, thinking it can get food later.

Merdingis pick things up quickly. They know just the right angle to position their wings after failing to catch something after two or three times. They learn how to hunt by watching their mom, and can mimic other animals hunting styles easily.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Its sense of smell is as good as any dog's, but it cannot fly. The wings are actually used to attract some of the prey that the gods enjoy hunting. Because of the Merdingi's entremely large lungs these creatures can run for long distrances without tiring, especially in the wild.

A Merdingi's hearing is so good that they can walk anywhere without having ever seen the location and walk without bumping into anything with their eyes closed. They wil stomp on the ground and use the echoes to figure out where things are, similar to a bat's echo location. However, the owner can easily damage a Merdingi's ears if they are too loud.

Scientific Name

Species

Origin/Ancestry

Created by Mericani

Lifespan

25 years

Average Height

35 in. (0.89 m)

Average Weight

125 lbs. (57 kg)

Average Length

42 in. (1.06 m)