Hello again!
I forget, does pern have much in the way of wild fur bearing animals? Would it just be the wild felines or would there be other animals whether native or feral? I'm trying to remember if the colonists brought things like rabbits or not. They're a good meat animal - a lot of people raise them for that, and if a few managed to get loose from their hutches, you have a lot running around pretty quickly. But, there are a lot of predators too and thread and all. I could see it going either way with rabbits. lol
It's been a while since I read the books, but recently I read the Dragonflight, Dragonquest and the White Dragon and there's lots of mention of people sleeping in furs, but what kind of fur was it? Horse (runnerbeast) hair wouldn't be very comfortable, would it? And sheep, why not just shear them and make blankets? Cow hair couldn't be more comfortable than horse.... maybe fluffy goats?
So, there must be some kind of animal with decent fur but what? The website only has a few animals mentioned and the felines are the only ones that carry fur that I can tell. But those books took place before the feral felines were discovered on the Southern continent, so that can't be it.
Atlas of Pern lists the following as having made the journey to Pern
cats
cheetah
chickens
cows
deer
dogs
geese
goats
herdbeasts
horses
llamas
pigs
quail
runnerbeasts
sheep
On the Pern wiki there is a reference to a "fur beast" (http://pern.wikia.com/wiki/Fauna_of_Pern) but it doesn't say in which book, and I don't remember that one...anyone else?
Wikipedia says this about the history of fur wearing on Earth:
QuoteExotic furs such as fox, marten, grey squirrel and ermine were reserved for aristocratic elites. The middle class were known to wear fox, hare and beaver while the less fortunate wore goat, wolf and sheepskin.
I think the only ones of those to be on Pern are goats and sheep, so perhaps it's goat and sheepskins they are referring to when they talk about furs. A sheepskin might be quite comfy and warm for sleeping. Although they did bring dogs so possibly in colder climates those have evolved into something more wolf-like over time?
Thanks for the replies! I have some follow-up questions.
First I thought horses and runnerbeasts were the same thing? Like that runnerbeast was the Pern word for horse basically. Is that not the case? And herdbeasts? I thought they were cattle.
Second, I had wondered if canines might have become feral and turned into some kind of wild dog equivalent overtime. I mean dogs going stray isn't an uncommon thing and it's not like they aren't predators. Is that an official thing according to Triad's Canon? Like if I wanted to write about feral canines would I need to get that approved?
Finally, I suppose sheepskin for would be comfortable. I just wonder why they wouldn't have sheared the wool and made a blanket. I guess if it was a sheep that had been slaughtered for food they would tan the hide and use the fur that way. That makes sense.
What about llamas? I had forgotten about llamas but now that I think about it I'm pretty sure the animal pictured on the cover of Nerilka's Story is a llama. Some llamas have long silky fur don't they? Maybe it was fur?
Thanks again for the replies! Sorry about all the silly questions. As you can see it has been a while since I've read a lot of this stuff. LOL
I have vague recollection of small furry critters being mentioned, that could be more like mouse-sized though. AM really didn't mention many animals besides the domestic ones.
Runnerbeast are mutated/genetically altered from horses, that's how I remember it. The colonist did lot of genetically engineering terran animals to better fit Pern's conditions. The native lifeforms mentioned in the boosk are like tunnelsnakes, firelizards, avians and insects/fishes. If I remember correctly, Pern didn't have much of land animals before humans came. Or AM just didn't bother developing proper ecosystem. Just mention what's needed for a plot and forget the rest.
Herdbeasts, I always thought, is general term that includes both cattle, wild deers and probably those llamas too.
And yes, there are feral canine packs. I think there's been posts or atleast been mentioned in posts about those pack giving trouble and needing to be hunted down.
I might be wrong on some of the above. :)
There must be lots of furs since everyone's beds are covered in Bed Furs. Not only that but some of the descriptions of the cattle type herdbeasts make them sound like Highland cattle.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Cow_on_Pupers.jpg/1200px-Cow_on_Pupers.jpg)
Oooh, I forgot about cattle like that. The only cattle I ever see are short-haired varieties, so that's what I think of when I think 'cow.' lol But yeah, I bet a bunch of that fur would be warm and comfy.
Also samis traditionally used reindeer pelts/fur for everyrhing, from tents to clothes. Reindeer is just domesticated deer.
For bed furs too though? I just would have thought anything with short hair would be uncomfortable to sleep on. Like, more itchy than comfy. lol
Of course, I could be completely wrong about that. I've never actually slept on a bed that had fur on it before.
yeps
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saamelaiset#/media/File:Lapland_Mother_NGM-v31-p556.jpg
Although they also used the furs from animals they hunted: fox, wolverine, lynx etc. The sami pelts were desired goods in scandinavia. They were traded to us "southerner" for iron tools etc.
Cool beans! Thanks for all the great replies!