The Gartagens have domesticated many animals across their planet, having the patience to do so. Long breeding programs have produced many breeds of their domesticated creatures, which are used for different purposes. Owning a domesticated animal is often a point of pride among the Gartagens who do so, and competitions to see whose animal is better are common. Domesticated animals come in several varieties, depending on the task that they are trained and bred to perform. Many of these animals are used in Gartagen Cuisine
The Behr is a large rumant used as a draft animal, and a meat animal. It stands on two legs, and travels by lengthy bounds and hopping around. It is docile and rather unintelligent. The appearance is similar to that of a satire or large goat crossed with a kangaroo. It is harvested for its hide, milk, and meat.
Type: Herbivore
Class: Marsupial
The Kamec is the 'fancy riding animal' that the Gartagens use. These animals are bred for appearance, and for dexterity. They're often raced at tracks or ridden through complex obstacle courses at shows. These creatures stand fairly high, and are reptilian in appearance, though they are more closely related to birds. Their scaled skin often possesses bright primary colors, and most breeds possess soft downy feathers. They're two legged and possess a variable gait, though they cannot carry as heavy loads as a four legged creatures. They bare a loose resemblance to over sized hawks, and when mounted with a rider can top out with a running speed of fifty miles per hour. They are agile, and omnivorous, and maintain some aggression to be used in battle, while allowing for enough room to be tamed.
Type: Omnivore
Class: Bird
The Shosho is a long, rather flat, and large lizard like creature. Their hips are not as developed as the earlier mentioned creatures. They have thick leathery skin with a large frill/ridge that runs along their neck. They are carnivorous creatures and are often bred for war and hunting. Their teeth are envenomed. They are cold blooded reptiles and have a limited intelligence making their use rather limited in Gartagen society. Shosho can be released into areas to root out prey or enemy forces, as pets they are generally caged and separated from society.
Type: Carnivore
Class: Reptile
The Hilou is an insect of very large size. They possess six limbs, and weave communal webs which catch small pests. Gartagens treat them similarly to the way humans treat cats. Their webs are occasionally collected and woven to form clothing. They stand around a foot tall, and can weigh up to eight pounds. Depending on the breed their bodies can be covered by thick wiry hair, and they sport a set of fanged mandibles for consumption. They are kept to ward off pests in the warrens and prefer dark spaces.
Type: Carnivore
Class: Insect
The Renshe This creature resembles an oversized echidna. They're digging creatures and work animals, as well as pets. They have a very dog like relation to the Gartagens, as they show many similar social features, despite their spines. They're often trained to help Gartagens dig out their burrows. They also serve as a source of milk and eggs and thus help to feed Gartagen families. Renshe are pack animals and have a good amount of low intelligence allowing them to easily bond with the Gartagens. A Renshe will defend his/her family if they are in danger as well as alert them to the presence of an interloper.
The Renshe feeds by eating small ground dwelling insects by licking them up with its long sticky tongue that resides in its beak like mouth. They have four limbs. The first two limbs are powerful and muscular and sport large durable claws for digging; the hind limbs have smaller claws but are used for digging as well. The Renshe's hide is covered in stiff spines which vary in length and appearance from breed to breed.
Renshe have an excellent sense of touch, and a superior sense of smell enabling to smell creatures actually under ground and in the air. They sport poor vision, and have average hearing making them receptive to auditory commands.
Type: Insectivore
Class: Monotreme
The Rhonyt is a massive quadrupod that stand roughly eight feet tall and weighs over two tons. They are herbivorous and are one of the few true mammals on Gartaga. They have cushioned flat feet a lumbering gait as they move. They are relativity docile animals and are thus right at home on massive farms that allow their vast herds to graze freely. Rhonyt are harvested for their meat, hides and bones (Used as an ingredient to make chemical adhesives) and dung. They look like elephant-pigs.
Type: Herbivore
Class: Mammal
The Inish are worm like animals that live under ground and reproduce via asexual reproduction. They are farmed and harvested as a food source. Like the Rhonyt they can be served in various forms and ways, but the most common is for the Inish to be served live, with rather spice brown sauce. They deliver a very high dose of minerals into the Gartagen body, due to the fact that the Inish eat the dirt they live in.
Interestingly enough the Inish population is said to be booming as and are believed to be one of the creatures actually restoring Gartaga to its former beauty. Their waste is actually healthy for plant growth, though much more research needs to be done.
Type: Herbivore
Class: Opisthopora
Jabocks are a type of insect that is eaten for food. They are beetles, and are very very large. They're predators, and they eat other insects and Inish. They possess a very large amount of protein per weight, and they have a tangy flavor that explodes into your mouth. They're most often served either live, or baked so that their insides are all bubbly when they're bitten into. Jabocks have a very pretty, though fragile, shell that shimmers with several colors when struck by light in the right ways. Gartagens sometimes use Jabock shells to decorate things.
Type: Omnivore
Class: Insect
The Silkne are a species of flighted bird that Gartagens interact with commonly, and even raise. Male Silkne are very small, and posses brightly colored plumage that reflects sunlight, as well as a piercing song that's described as 'mad' and 'chattering. They fly incredibly rapidly, but only live about two to three years. They feed mostly off of nectar, and can hover in the air by flapping their wings rapidly. They will mate with any female Silkne that they can. This mating is not voluntary for the females who tend to suddenly be attacked by mad little balls of feathers many times smaller then them mid flight, ejaculated into, and then the ball of feathers flies off to find another female. The eggs in one nest can be fertilized by multiple males. Unfertilized eggs will hatch into males.
Female Silknes are incredibly large, with a wingspan that's larger then a grown Gartagen's height. Female Silkne are used as food animals, their eggs are eaten, as are they. Unlike the males who have a very restrictive digestive system, if a female can fit it into her mouth, she can probably eat it. They're not very aggressive, unless you come too close to their nest, and they can often be seen smashing fruit by battering them with their wings and eating the pulp, or similarly battering a dead animal on the ground. They are grey and white colored. Typically they kick male children out of the nest within a few weeks of hatching. Females stick by their mothers for a couple years.
Both male and female Silkne are used as messengers, carrying small objects from one location to another in a way that's difficult to intercept.
Type: Omnivore
Class: Bird
The Vikya are a deep sea creature that Gartagens have taken a liking to, due to percived similarities between the species and Gartaga. Vikya is used as the symbol of the Gartagen Wet Navy, and many ships will posses a Vikya. Vikya are similar to octopuses. They possess an elongate body, large eyes, and a set of tentacles of various lengths and sizes
Vikya are ambush predators, and use a variety of tricks to fool prey into swimming directly into the flesh webbed tenticles, at which point they are grabbed and sucked into the mouth. These tricks show remarkable intelegence, including holding carrion near their mouth to attract scavengers. Pretending to be injured to attract other predators. Pretending to be other species by changing their coloration, and squeezing themselves into a different shape, Pretending to be a plant to attract herbivores, and even displaying fake luminescent krill. Vikya often will also pick up rocks, and bash other predators with them to scare them off, or attempt to slice them with sharp pieces of coral. They are typically kept as pets, and often used for food.
Type: Carnivore
Class: Mollusk
The Lakya are related to the Vikya, but live in deep sea areas. They're smaller then the Vikya, and posses webbing between their tentacles. When threatened they pull their tentacles behind their head, and inflate their webbing causing fake spikes to pop out and menace the threatening animal. In truth these spines are very soft, and about as threatening as rubber ball. If this doesn't work they sneeze mucus laced with photoplanctites at their opponent, temporarily blinding them in the darkness of the deep sea, then flee. This creature is often bred for dining.
Type: Carnivore
Class: Mollusk