Given her features, Carrot couldn’t have had any other name. Green mane and tail contrasted sharply with her orange coat. I smile, watching as the filly tried fitting the teething ring into her mouth, ears flopping side to side.
“Dummeh moufie huwties,” was the phrase of the day. Yesterday it was “moufie owies.” The day before it was “Owie owies.”
Alan peers over, scribbling on a clipboard. Its probably one of his behavioral forms. Squeakyfriend Farms sent her and another Scooter to us at the Georgia Wildlife Department for analysis. Two others went to the University of Georgia’s Agricultural department for Dr. Hensworth to check over.
“I still can’t get over her morphology. She’s like a bunny-fluff.”
“Well, you’re the one who always said Hasbio gave themselves a lot of room for genetic customization.”
“True, but its like they snuck in incomplete genetic code for other animals.”
I watch as Carrot’s eyes look about while trying to bite down on the ring with the side of her toothless mouth. Well, near toothless. Two white incisors stand out against pink gums. At her age…
“How old did Squeakyfriend Farms say Carrot was?”
“About two months.”
I pick up the orange filly. Light, only a few pounds, she coos at being in my hands.
“Say ‘aaah’ for me, sugar.”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaw,” Carrot replies.
A pointer probes along the inside of the fluffy’s jaw. She jumps a little when I touch the area where her other teeth, all molars, should be. Honestly, she should have nothing but molars like other fluffies. Teeth made for kibble and soft foods.
But the incisors?
“We need to get some x-rays,”I say, brushing back long, floppy ears.
“Want me to call Dr. Wilcox?”
“Nah. Call Dr. Sheridan downtown.”
“Your dentist?”
“How did the appointment go, Leanne?”
“Pretty well. Got the xrays emailed to us and UGA.”
“What did Sheridan say?”
I pause a moment, listening to sucking sounds coming from Carrot’s carrier. “Well, some over the counter stuff for sensitive teeth ought work for our little girl here as well as Scooter.”
“Cawwot hab nummie?” the yellow and orange colt asked. Scooter was standing on his hind legs, trying to see inside the pet carrier.
“Dok-tah gib Cawwot nummy fow be-en’ gud fwuffy.”
“Scootaw wan’ nummie too,” he pleaded, plopping down and hugging Allen’s leg.
“Anything else?” he asked, picking up the young fluff.
“All of her other teeth are essentially impacted.”
“Wait, what?”
“They’re basically fused to the jawbone and can’t come through the gum-line. They’re perpetually teething.”
Allen sighed. “You know, there’s an old Star Trek novel where Q explains why all the weird stuff happens to ships named Enterprise.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. If I remember right its because Trelane got fascinated by the ship and thus the name. Always tossing random stuff at them to see how it’d go.”
“Okay, that’s kind of random.”
“Hey, Q!” he said, jokingly looking around. “Is that why Leanne gets all the weird fluffies?”
Scooter and Carrot stared up at the ceiling, trying to see who the black man was talking to.
“Thank you again for those x-rays, Leanne, it was very helpful.”
“Not a problem Dr. Hensworth. I just had a thought and went with it.”
“Well, our two little buffies are exhibiting similar behavior. That said they’re definitely chewing more with those bunny teeth of theirs.”
“Buffies?” I laugh. “Bunny Fluffies. Got it. I’ve gotten ours to eat kibble-mush and that’s about it.”
“Liquid diets for our two. They keep chewing on cages, table-legs, anything so we don’t actually want them to associate nourishment with that. If anything, we’re trying to get them to associate it with playing.”
“Playing?”
“Well, the teeth are a bit dull for incisors and a little soft. Wears easily. So if they were to lose the teeth we’ve been afraid they’d think they won’t be able to eat.”
“Oh, that makes sense. I’ll let Allen know.”
“At least with playing it just means they’ll lose certain toys. But things like balls and blocks are still good.”
“I’ve managed to get the breeding lines from Squeakyfriend Farms, so hopefully we can isolate the gene carriers a bit faster. Their records are rather good, so tomorrow I’ll be tracking back to a few of the other breeders they’ve worked with.”
“So far I’ve submitted the blood samples for DNA testing but honestly four examples won’t be much for the biology department to work with. Are they closely related?”
“Fortunately for me yes. Sadly, that means they’ll have more in common than just the lagomorphic features.”
“It is interesting that the teeth and ears seem to come as a set so far.”
“Yeah. Usually its just one trait popping out oddly and that’s it.”
“Might explain why they can process fecal matter as a food source.”
“Coprophagia? Its not really great for them though.”
“True. But it is viable as a food source. Not their only one, but still.”
“I’m not sure Hasbio would’ve wanted to incorporate eating cecotropes like rabbits eat into the fluffy diet.”
“Oh, there’s no telling what was going through their minds. Maybe they were testing ideas that didn’t work out. Or were only able to partially remove it.”
I sigh. If there was one thing about technology companies, it’s that many of them simply throw spaghetti to the wall to see what stuck. Carrot nuzzles up to me as I finish the call. Promises of more data sharing are given mutually. Report outlines get scribbled down. Thoughts of research grants fill my head while looking at bunny-eared, buck-toothed fluff. These four little oddities certainly have given me something to chew on professionally.
((I wanted to do something a little different. Where Leeane and the others are still learning about a new, weird fluffy. So this. Also, this is directly inspired by @SqueakyFriend’s subspecies post. This one meanders a bit and doesn’t have a real point so much as follows.))
For more of Leeane’s weird fluffies: Chikahiro's work, mostly in one place! - #10 by Chikahiro
