Jackalope: Red Wood

I've been working on jackalope ideas in my head for personal use.

Jackalopes are such a weird creature, basically a rabbit with horns/antlers. I've always felt there should be a way to add on hooves but no matter how I tried none of it made much sense to me. But I was laying in bed last night and it hit me... Kangaroos? They have those big middle toes on their hind feet, they're very deadly if they were to kick into you.

And same goes for deer, if a deer were to rear up and strike you it could easily tear into you with just it's sharp hooves! I decided to take these ideas and combine them onto the Jackalope's hind feet.

Now the Jackalope is pretty well equipped for battle. Horns on the head for slamming into and back claw/hooves to kick and slice into! I naturally thought these creatures would be aggressive. But the more I sat on it the more I realized, no. They're not inherently aggressive - just extremely territorial. They will fight off predator creatures head on if they are lurking in their turf and threatening their warren. If they see another Jackalope they deem a threat they'll chase them off too.

I figured Jackalopes can live in groups around each other, but tend to have a lower tolerance for each other. Instead they mostly surround themselves with normal rabbits and bunnies - kind of like being their sheep dog protecting the flock. A Jacklope can't huddle underground into the warren due to their antlers and they're not exactly the best at den keeping with those back claws. So instead they made a rather shallow den or personal crafted den and sleep above ground. Not only because they have too, but as a show of their dominance of their area. They'll be faster on the scene and able to patrol much more often - occasionally taking rest breaks in their shallow den.

I've crafted up a basic looking jackalope above and named him Red Wood for now! I'm really loving his concept and want to draw him with more of my other rabbit characters. <3

_{Before anyone tries to "correct" me or "teach" me about REAL JACKALOPES please understand I don't care. These are just my PERSONAL ideas about the species and how I'd like to use them. AJ just having some fun. c:}