otters

From: Carlson, Pam (carlsonp@wdni.com)
Date: Thu 05 Sep 1996 - 20:10:00 EEST


Thank you, Ian, for gracefully (without insult or introducing more
contention!) resolving the otter/weasel/mustelid issue. I recognized
your poetic license re otters being weasels, but I can also see that
Sandy might worry that the non-biologists on the list go though the
rest of their lives mistakenly thinking otters are in the weasel
sub-family. (Heaven forbid!) Maybe we should introduce another acronym:
PL (peotic license)?

>On the other hand, most wild canines (wolves, foxes, jackals, wild dogs,
coyotes) are not regarded as food animals. Maybe the diet of domestic
dogs makes
them taste better.

I think the meat tastes the same; it's just that wild canids are almost
always VERY thin. Not much meat on them. Domestic dogs - even those
that just hang around villages and get kicked a lot - are often a bit
meatier. Domestic canids are also easier to catch!

> I think John Hughes has finally given us good reasons why the FarPointers
hunt otters. They do it because they hate the
little buggers!

>Is this attitude general amongst Sartari and Orlanthi, or is this a local
prejudice in Far Point?

Well, it's not Orlanthi, but IMG, the Pelorian riverine-peasants who
live along the Oslir, Joat, Arcos and Poralister rivers generally _like_
otters. Some tame them as fishing companions, (other use birds, like
cormorants), some regard them as a totem-like animal. Otters have many
enviable qualities; they are fast, hide well, play a lot, and good at
catching fish. Quite the role-model for a riverine underclass.
(ie - the people of "Frog Boy" in the RQ Down Under book.)

I think David Dunham had some otter hsuncheon, or at least a clan, in
Ralios?

> intelligent wolverine would be a deadly threat to humans. Got any of those
up in the hills?

Joerg and I have already gone over this a bit ourselves. In the RW,
wolverines are boreal animals - they live very far north. In Glorantha,
they might live in N Pent, or maybe in isolated groups on the bigger
mountains, like Wintertop. Maybe they're minions of Valind?

Pam

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