Onward for the A to Z Challenge!

Today we have:

R is for Rainbow Dragon

So, this is the Rainbow Dragon by American deviantartist Hannah Swedin, aka DragonsPainter.  Now, I know what you’re thinking — this might look like a Night Fury from How to Train Your Dragon to the casual observer.  But the artist assures us in her comments that she didn’t intend for this dragon to be a Night Fury at all, she just based the design off of this hoodie by KayPikeFashion.  (Meanwhile, the hoodie was completely based on a Night Fury…  but that’s okay.)  *grin*

I had to share this cute little Rainbow Night Fury Dragon because the instant I saw it, I began to imagine a cute animated short film with this dragon and Toothless meeting up and becoming best friends and mates.  🙂   I think they’d make such a cute pair, don’t you?  Disney, make this happen!

And speaking of adorable, as I was browsing Hannah’s gallery, I came across this little guy called Everyone Needs Love Sometimes.  Brace yourself for the cuteness.

I know, I know, it’s not a dragon, or a rainbow — in fact, this little guy looks like he’s suffering through the storm before the rainbow as we speak!  He’s based on a real wild cat called a kodkod, and as the artist herself explains:

Why is the kodkod sad? Because you probably didn’t even know that kodkods existed, let alone that they are quickly approaching becoming endangered. It breaks my heart that so few people know of this tiny cat, weighing around 5 pounds. The Tigers may need your love, but these little cuties need your love as well!

Oh my goodness, she’s right!  Just like I didn’t know that Rainbow Night Furies existed, I didn’t know these cute little cats existed either!  According to the Wiki, this cat is found only in South America, in Chile and Argentina in the mixed temperate rainforests of the Andes mountains.

Interestingly, according to the website of the Cat Specialist Group, the kodkod is actually known as the guiña, and that the “name [kodkod] is not used in the range countries [of Chile and Argentina] and its origin is not clear.”  Hmm.  I wonder who decided to call you a kodkod then, little one?

The CSG goes on to say that the guiña is a protected species in both Chile and Argentina, and they are listed as vulnerable because of the threats posed to the diminishing population by humans, either through deforestation or illegal retaliatory killing.  Guiñas sometimes raid chicken coops for an easy meal, and much of the native human population has a negative view of these wildcats.

Another blogger and biologist by the name of Lexi Menth found that last photo and wrote a great post all about the kodkod/guiña at her blog The Occasional Creature Fact, so you should also check that out if you want to know more.  In fact, Lexi’s most recent post is entitled, “Are Pokemon Animals?,” and as soon as I saw that, I immediately hit Follow!  🙂  Dragons are animals if Pokemon are, of course. I can’t wait to check out more of her site.

Thanks as always for reading, and stay creative!

Image credits:
The Rainbow Dragon by DragonsPainter
Everyone Needs Love Sometimes by DragonsPainter
Guina from the Cat Specialist Group site
Baby guina from The Occasional Creature Fact