The Immortal Naturalist's Guide to Cryptic Creatures: The Flying Badger

This post is part of the Immortal Naturalist's Guide series. The explanation for that series can be found in this post.

    Sometimes while travelling through the bog lands of Squee, one can hear a strange droning sound in the distance. The Bog People say that it is the sound of the Flying Badger as it soars through the air. Although it is the size of a normal badger, the creature appears to have had metal wings and a tail added onto it, as well as a propeller for its nose. How such a creature came to be is anyone's guess, but the Flying Badger seems to take to its odd biology as if it has always been like this. The Flying Badger uses its ability to quickly travel from place to place. Although the creature still digs and burrows in the soil for food, it is able to range much farther than its terrestrial brethren.

    I have no doubt that the coexistence of mechanical and biological in the Flying Badger is the result of some kind of magic, though I could not tell you what. The creature is very quick both on the ground and in the air so I was only ever able to observe it for a few moments from afar before it would fly away or disappear underground. The Flying Badger does not appear to keep a permanent residence, instead choosing to dig a new burrow every night in a dryer part of the bog lands it calls home. It does not seem to have much interest in attacking anything larger than a swamp rat unless provoked, and it is quick to run away whenever anything larger than it shows up.

    Somehow, the metal parts of this creature do not rust or weather in the damp, muddy environment of Squee. I have reason to believe that the Flying Badger produces a special oil on its skin that protect the metal. If one could harvest this oil somehow, they would have a very effective method of preserving whatever metal things they own. If one were able to actually capture the Flying Badger long enough to collect oil from its skin, they may also want to take some anatomical notes, but I suppose that isn't strictly necessary.