Reavers are the mutated descendants of beavers.
Description[]
Reavers weigh anywhere from 60-100 pounds, on average growing as large as big dogs. If left to their own devices, the creatures can grow to double or even triple that size. They are covered in water-resistant fur that comes in shades of brown and black. To help them navigate while swimming, they have a large, flat, scaly tail and large, webbed hind feet. Their eyes have developed to give them the ability to see clearly underwater and in very low light, giving their eyes a reddish hue.
Behaviour[]
Reavers are known for the large dens that they create in on the water’s bank. Using their sharp claws, they dig out channels and chambers into the waterbed and fashion hovels of sorts, using the sun to bake shut their adobes.
Reavers are monogamous, staying together with one specific mate for years. A male and female generally occupy the same den, raising a single cub at a time. It is because males generally have at least a female to protect but sometimes a mate and a child, they are very territorial when not safe in their dens. Anything that passes through their territory is considered a threat to their mate and/or offspring and is to be challenged. In many cases, this challenge is nothing more than a hiss and some stamps with the tail. When creatures they regard as threats do not back down after being hissed and stomped at, the creatures attack.
They are mainly active at night, as their low-light vision gives them an advantage over creatures that do not possess that ability.
Habitat[]
While the reaver population spread across the entire Continental United States and Canada, from New York to California, they are particularly plentiful in Cascadia. Semiaquatic, they make their homes in riparian zones, where the land meets, streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes. Using scent markers, they mark the boundaries of their territory, with larger creatures claiming larger and more resource-rich swaths of land.
Diet[]
Reavers are omnivores, surviving on vegetation, fish, insects. The creatures are known to stockpile food in their dens.
Offensive Capabilities[]
Reavers have a pair of razor-sharp teeth that grow out of their mouths. They are used when hunting, hovering over insects and using the incisors like a nail. The creatures also have long, sharp nails on their front legs.
Defensive Capabilities[]
When threatened, reavers rear up, using their flat, wide tails to prop themselves up. If the display of size does not cause whatever is threatening them to back up, they become hostile, attacking with their claws and teeth. They are not particularly fast or agile, especially on land, and generally will remain hostile until the threat has passed. When given an opportunity, Reavers generally will return to their dens, which they defend with their lives.