Shagrat

Shagrats are 1-meter-high (sheep-sized), woolly, almost capybara-like ground squirrels with shaggy ragged fur, descended from marmots, and native to such northern tundra as the North European Ice as well as the Northern Ice Age. They first appeared in Future is Wild.

Facts
It is the largest mammal of the northern tundra. They are herd animals, living in large herds, often huddling together for warmth and for predator protection. They have short, stalky legs and small ears to reduce heat loss.

Shagrat herds spend their winters at the northern edge of the birch and conifer forest away to the south. At the end of the long winter, they migrate back to the edge of the northern ice sheets to reach their summer grazing grounds. The females give birth in early spring, following a gestation period which lasts throughout the winter. In the middle of spring, about a third of each herd consists of youngsters.

When shagrats crunch through the banks of shingle and splash through the muddy torrents, their broad feet prevent them from sinking in. Their fur is so thick that a brief immersion does them no harm - they shake off the water before it soaks into their skin and chills them. Shagrat fur is layered as well as thick. An outside coat of coarse hair provides external protection, and a tightly-packed inner layer acts as an excellent insulator. The dense underfur traps a layer of warm air next to the body as insulation, and the long waterproof guard hairs keep this fur dry (these guard hairs are hollow, and the air inside provides extra insulation). This makes two layers of fur. Thus, a shagrat is doubly insulated against the ice age winters.

Out in the open, shagrats can survive as low as -50. The herds have to cover large distances each day to find sparse patches of grazing.

Unthinkable Ices
in the series, the Northern Ice was snowing rapidly when a herd of Shagrats were migrating to a place to eat. But, they were being ambushed by a young male Mountain Werecat and caught one of them by the mouth. Then, the Werecat brang the carcass for himself and ate it to bones.

The Shagrats then migrated again, and yet again, the young Werecat was going to ambush them, and yet caught another one for himself and ate it to bones.