The Kittyhawks

275 million years PE, the savage gravedigger has evolved into several distinct new genera. The kittyhawks are an up and rising one, with about a dozen species already found across the northern continent. They are all significantly smaller than their ancestor, ranging from a robust 60 lbs in the swamp kittyhawk, which hunts small trunkos in wetlands, down to the 20 lb crested kittyhawk of the upland plains, which hunts small molodonts. These gravediggers share common ancestry as cat-like, non tool-using predators that are less fiercely solitary than their ancestors. 

The sturdy swamp kittyhawk is a sogland species, a decent swimmer and strong enough to take down prey up to twice its own size. Its feathers have taken on a variegated olive green hue like so many soglands animals to hide itself in tall grasses, as it stalks its prey and creeps close enough to pounce. Swamp kittyhawks mostly feed on snifflers and snoots, though their diet also includes fish, eggs, the pupae of seraphs, tribbetheres such as poppits, and occasionally young thorngrazers. Smaller kittyhawks are also on the menu, but habitat preferences keep most smaller species out of their preferred wetland environment. To spot prey they seek out tall boulders and climb on top to scan the horizon for a potential target, and they also rest on these raised perches and drag their kills up them to keep them safe from competitors. These gravediggers move with a steady awareness of their environment, and can be described as quiet and contemplative, in stark contrast to the more frantic and on-the-go temperaments of smaller species. They don't play with their food and are quick, effective killers that take down their victims in seconds with a fatal bite to the neck or skull, and they are not wasteful either, eating all parts of it. They are strong fighters, with loose skin that is difficult to get a hold of and knife-like serrated jaws; though they are small, they are left alone by most predators, and may even use bluff to intimidate them enough to steal a piece of a kill and run off with it. Occasionally groups of swamp kittyhawks, usually related, will cooperate to take a large carcass, though when hunting live prey they always do so alone as most of their chosen prey is only sufficient to feed one individual. 

The crested kittyhawk is a species of the drier uplands which only rarely enters the soglands. Little and fast-moving, it is mainly a predator of burrowing molodonts such as smols (pictured) and poppits. Its fur is earthy-colored and duller than the swamp kittyhawk, spotted with darker browns and no longer very strongly contrasted, allowing these little killers to stalk unseen by their prey, low to the ground. A faintly banded beige and white crest of long, hair-like plumage grows from a ridge on the back, normally lying low but able to be risen up like a flag to make themselves look larger against enemies or to show their presence to rivals at a distance, and so avoid a fight. They hunt by sight and hearing, honing in on where little creatures scurry in the grass or tunnel just below the surface. They are highly energetic, very animated hunters, moving in twitchy lunges and rapid footsteps as they approach their quarry, and they are strong jumpers. The prey is captured with a swift final pounce and pinned down with the arm claws, but crested kittyhawks rarely dispatch their victims quickly. Molodonts have very large, sharp teeth and are capable of damaging bites, so to tire them out this predator tosses them back and forth across the ground, keeping them at arms length until they are exhausted or injured enough that it can deliver a killing bite to the skull. It appears to be a game to the kittyhawk, which often lets its food run off only to jump ahead, corner it, and catch it again and again until it is too exhausted to run any longer.

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All kittyhawks are still solitary hunters, but they have stronger social bonds than the savage gravedigger, perhaps because prey is now much more abundant across the flooded continent. Female territories overlap with those of males and with their own mothers, offspring, and sometimes sisters, and when food is not scarce, familiar adults sometimes meet and may travel with one another for several days. Kittyhawk cubs, born in litters of up to eight in smaller species but just two or three in the larger, are usually raised by the mother alone, and only about half survive the first few weeks. Though their mother keeps them safe in an underground den for the first two weeks, and there brings them back prey, they grow up quickly and by three weeks old will follow mother around the grasslands as she hunts and begin pouncing on small insects and each other, practicing hunting skills. Kittenhawk babies of this age are exceedingly cute and playful, causing mischief as they "hunt" each other and their mother and anything which moves, such as a blade of grass in the wind, is likely to to face their attacks. Less endearing to observe, but very important for the cubs' development, are the hunting lessons their mother begins demonstrating to them around four weeks of age and continuing for the next few months. She begins bringing back live prey, biting a leg to cripple it but ensuring it stays alive so that the young can learn to kill. Though she still provides the prey, she will begin expecting them to kill it all on their own by six to eight weeks of age, and will then try not to interfere, letting her young figure out the best techniques through trial and error. Swamp kittyhawks have less patience, however, and will end the game if it appears that the prey will not be killed by the young in a reasonable time period; mothers of this species may even scold their young for not taking lessons seriously, hitting them on the back of the head with their forearm. Crested kittyhawk mothers give their young more free reign and do not seem to care how long it takes their cubs to learn life skills - rather, by letting them take their time, they know that eventually hunger will force them to take it seriously and figure out what to do. While swamp kittyhawks may baby their young and continue cutting their food for them even when the cubs can realistically feed themselves, crested kittyhawks simply stop altogether at one point. If the babies haven't figured it out yet by then, they must do so quickly or starve. 

By four to five months, cubs of either species are usually accomplished hunters and can both hunt and kill their own food, but they will remain with their mother for as long as nine months before they gradually move off and settle their own territories nearby. Unlike their ancestors, and many other animals, kittyhawks are tolerant of their young even once they are fully grown and independent, and though they are expected to feed themselves and live on their own, relatives may continue to meet and interact throughout their lives along territorial boundaries. Related adults of these highly intelligent small predators may cooperate to claim territories from unrelated rivals, sharing the resulting land as a sort of neutral hunting ground with an unspoken agreement as a thank-you to the other for their help acquiring it. By working together, related kittyhawks can thus maintain larger territories than they could alone.