Noises
When pretending to be a rabbit, it can be easy to mistakenly thing that peterillies are quiet; They're actually very vocal, mostly communicating in barks, yips, whistles, growls and howls with each other, but they'll often pick up on the calls of local animals and use them to communicate with them. They're easily detected during evenings by their howling, which is distinct from canine howls by its resemblance more to singing than the howls of canines. Their howls typically carry one note, but each peterilly has a unique short tune that they howl when the group is checking in with each other.
Hunting
Because peterillies are capable of imitating rabbits, they have a very unique hunting style. They travel in packs when hunting, and will take on the hopping gait of a rabbit as soon as something draws near enough to see them; if their act is successful, they will slowly and casually surround their prey, and attack all at once before it can get away. They will do this to anything larger than them. They will also use this technique on animals actively hunting them, but instead, one peterilly will sit out in the open while the others hide, waiting for the predator to attack and make itself vulnerable to them.
However, they have a different tactic for hunting rabbits. Rabbits are a staple of their diet, but because they put in effort to get the local rabbits to trust them, they won't kill any while simply sitting out with them. Instead, they wait for rabbits to venture off on their own and follow them, killing them away from the others so as to not scare the other rabbits. Because peterillies socialize with rabbits, they are good at recognizing them, and can tell if the rabbit they've found is from a colony they know of or not, and will follow unfamiliar rabbits back to their colonies before they consider hunting them.
Humans
Peterillies aren't shy or hostile around humans, and are actually willing to walk right up to them if they seem interesting. They find humans wearing bright colors or holding food to be the most enticing, and as a result will often approach children. They approach humans not only for food or things to take, but also simply to play with humans and their pets. Petties that spend a lot of time around humans also pick up on some human words, and have even been known to repeat them on occasion.
Because petties have a fascination with garbage and wearing accessories, humans who know of their colorful trash-collecting habits tend to give them things like beads, string and other things they can use. Petties will not only come to humans for these resources, but also to their homes; They will venture up to several blocks from the forest, looking for gardens to raid, lawn decorations to steal for their dens, or pets to play with. They've also been seen playing on play equipment, not just in yards, but in parks as well - they have a fondness for the activities built into playground equipment, and have been seen jumping on trampolines. They don't tend to enter homes unless caught in extreme weather, however, they like watching people, and have a tendency to scare homeowners by sitting on open windowsills, fences or even rooftops to look inside.
Crafting
Peterillies are known for having exceptional creative abilities. They're capable of simple weaving, which they use to make mostly ornaments for their dens and useful items like simple baskets or carrying straps.
Most of their construction involves the decoration of their spaces. They will weave fences, arches and covers for the land their communes occupy, lending them to look more like small villages than animal dens, and in rainy places, will often make curtains for their dens to keep rain out. Many other decorations, commonly garlands and decorative posts, are often decorated with small trinkets that they collect, like flowers and garbage. These items are often the same color, and allow those studying them to identify a petty's den by the colors it's decorated with. They tend to share dens with other petties that either like the same color, or a color that goes well with it.
They also use their crafting skill to make accessories to wear. They can do simple braids and weaves, and have a habit of chewing small holes in manmade bits of garbage to string them onto grass stems or strings of gut. However, they are also very fond of human beads, and it's not uncommon for humans living near peterilly communes to give them offerings of string and beads to craft with. They enjoy bright colors, and prefer beads with glitter or a shiny finish. They recognize beads in shapes they can find in their environment - flowers, bugs, fruits and animals - but don't tend to use more abstract shapes like hearts and stars. It's not uncommon for them to make garlands with beads as well, but they also use them to mark paths if they have some leftover. Beads stuck onto branches no more than a foot off the ground are most likely a peterilly's way of marking the way to something it wants to find again.
They also often find ways to wear flowers, usually in the form of flower crowns sitting around their ears or flower chain necklaces, but much prefer fake flowers to real ones, as a peterilly usually has a small set of accessories it prefers to wear and real flowers don't last very long. They can have a serious impact on gardens growing flowers they like, but damage to flowers is often by one peterilly in particular; it can be prevented by leaving either bundles of fake flowers of that type, or a crown or necklace made of them for the peterilly to wear instead of taking the real ones.
Despite their obvious intelligence, petties only use crafting for the most rudimentary survival tools. Despite their ability to advance their society, they seemingly don't care to; they have been observed using weapons, but only out of convenience, such as throwing things at birds, but they won't actively make or carry them. They seem to be content being wild and feral, but expressing themselves in a more visual way than most animals will.
Anthro
Anthro petties can vary in personality, but most will tend to be quirky, a bit strange, and fashion-oriented (or just like wearing random stuff they find). They will, however, have a few specific traits; Peterillies tend to have unusual speech patterns, using strange adaptations of words to get their point across, and very rarely will they answer questions about themselves that you couldn't answer by looking at them. They're difficult to follow, easily disappearing without a trace of not kept a very close eye on.
Social behavior
At the commune
Peterilly communes are like small towns. There are dens shared by one or more petties, but also burrows where food or materials are stored and maintained by the commune. There are usually many out and about, as they tend to have varying sleep schedules. In a forest, there is one main commune, but many smaller den sites scattered through the area that petties will migrate between.
Petty communes tend to be centered in the abnormal parts of their territory. These parts of the forest can be unusually dark, and it has been observed that these forests often have a mineral similar to flint; this mineral is the most obvious clue as to the supernatural properties of the forest, because petties can use their teeth on this mineral to make small, cool fires in very unusual colors. They're used to light lanterns that border the commune and line its paths and dens. These are only seen in the abnormal forests, however, and outside in normal forest where they can see better, petties don't use fire at all. Typically, a group of denmates will be tasked with lighting the fires and making sure important ones don't go out.
Communes will often have one style of decorations throughout, usually thought of by one peterilly and then copied by all the others, leaving bits of personal flair and favorite colors to make a very unified-looking community. This allows observers to tell where one commune's reach ends and another's begins; the popular design trend in one commune will eventually spread to all its smaller den sites, and it's easy to tell by comparing decor which sites belong to which commune. However, communes don't really compete, but merely avoid stepping on each others' toes, so it's not uncommon to see den sites overlapping into another commune's "territory" or even within a stone's toss of one of their den sites. Peterillies from different communes often greet each other and share resources, though some may simply ignore each other. It's rare for two communes to have bad blood.
Petty communes can range in size from twenty to over sixty individuals, but it can be hard to tell how many petties belong to one commune because they will very often pack up and move to a different den site. They can move to start families in less busy areas, for gathering trips, or even just because they're bored.
Each peterilly has a name it uses with other petties, and it will often share this name with humans it likes as well, given that it learns the sounds to translate it. Their names tend to sound plantlike when translated, but not like real plants, but this isn't always the case.
Dens
Petties will share dens with several friends. Because of their particular style of decoration, they tend to live together with others who like the same colors, and will decorate together. Denmates will often do their traveling, gathering and hunting together, as well as grooming and sleeping.
Petties often store interesting things they find in their dens, as well as some food, and any tools they've made like baskets, straps, and if needed, flint lanterns. Their dens are usually quite organized, having holes dug in the walls for storage and sticks poked into the walls to hang things on.
Animals
Peterillies have the ability to pick up on the calls of other animals, and because of their ability to appear as a prey animal, most other species don't tend to flee from them. This gives them the means to cooperate with other species, frequently hunting with predators like dogs and foxes, trading with corvids, and having other interactions with anything from deer to cats to raccoons. They will often share resources in exchange for being able to shelter with other animals while wandering.
Humans and pets
Petties aren't skittish, and as a result can be befriended easily by humans. They can easily recognize human faces and voices, and can often be mistaken for a human's pet by how readily they'll come when summoned to someone they like; the same goes for friendly dogs or cats, who may befriend a petty and eventually bring them home to the confusion of their owner. Their confidence is mostly chalked up to their ability to defend themselves; if someone tries to catch them, they are agile enough that doing so is extremely difficult, and they are extremely hard to track by other animals, so they are fairly safe interacting with the average person.
Petties can be acquired as pets by simply befriending them. They do not require housetraining, and will understand property lines if they're clearly marked with fences or the scent of other owned animals, and these traits along with their agreeable nature make them a good addition to a household. They need a fair amount of exercise and stimulation, but this can be provided in ways that other animals may not respond well to, like toys for human children, or being taught to dance or paint. They can also learn to read, and can learn to speak in a similar way to parrots or corvids. This is how humans can come to learn a peterilly's real name; once they've learned english sounds, they have a very consistent system - varying in syllables by region - for translating the name they use when identifying themselves to other peterillies. Sometimes they choose to use their real name once they can say it, but they sometimes choose to use the name their owner gave them if they like it. They tend to like names based on things they can understand, like things they could find in the forest, colors, aesthetics (pearl, sparkle, velvet) or foods or flavors (vanilla, strawberry, milk, honey).
Along with being a good addition to a family, petties also provide excellent home security; they will follow cues like fear and tenseness in their humans or the aggression of household dogs when someone tries to intrude. There have been several stories of petties sleeping with babies or small children, and savagely attacking would-be kidnappers who mistook them for rabbits or toys; as a petty will willingly come home with a human they like, they accept the human's family as theirs, and are viciously protective of them.
This is all assuming that they have willingly joined a family, but peterillies captured against their will will not show the same agreeableness. They don't tolerate being captured, and go out of their way to be a pain, destroying anything they can before escaping at their earliest opportunity. If captured with the intent to treat wounds they have or give them medical care, though, they tend to quickly realize when someone intends to care for their wounds, and will cooperate only as long as they are being cared for.
Rabbits
Peterillies and rabbits have an unusual relationship. Because rabbits are their primary prey, they make an effort to get the local rabbits to trust them. To an extent, they will protect these rabbits and help them through hardships, being able to communicate with them, but they are only accepted to an extent; rabbits seem to understand that there's something strange about peterillies, even if they don't seem to notice the difference, and often act slightly wary of them until they've been around the colony for a while. Once a petty spends enough time around the colony, they can lower some of their disguise; Looking directly at rabbits will startle them, but petties have been seen walking normally or sitting in their natural posture if they've been deemed safe by the rabbits around them.
Rabbits in the areas within a commune's reach will benefit from a bounty of food, as areas where peterillies frequent are often less populated by deer and other herbivores that will compete for greenery. Because of this, these rabbit colonies will often be large in number. This is where other predators may find peterillies to be a problem; They don't like when other predators make a significant dent in the rabbit population they live off of, so they will often chase off animals that hunt them excessively.
In the abnormal forests, where a lot of animals don't go, on rare occasions a rabbit will have done something to offend one of the higher-ups in its colony and will be chased off toward the dark woods. It's unknown why they do this, as it's a behavior only seen in forests with these dark, surreal groves. These rabbits often end up coming to petty communes out of necessity, having followed their lights, and these rabbits will usually be adopted into the commune... this emphasizes the supernatural nature of these dark groves even more, because if a rabbit chooses to stay in the commune, as it adapts to keep up with the petties, it will also slowly begin to change physically. Eventually, it will be indistinguishable from all the rest, though rabbits from its colony will still be able to recognize it. Rabbits who have turned into petties are hard to distinguish from regular petties, but they have a distinct lack of fixation on human objects, and can stand out among their peers by either not wearing anything or only occasionally wearing flowers.
Making a peterilly
So you want to make your own peterilly, huh? They're an open species, so you don't need permission to make one or be put on a masterlist. Despite the rules for "realistic" petties, peterilly OCs can get the same treatment as real animals - feral petties follow the color rules, but anthro petties can be any color or aesthetic, even when they're occasionally drawn feral.
No accessories are off limits, feral or not. Even clothes are possible for feral petties - you never know what they might steal off someone's clothesline or build-a-bear while they're not looking. ;3
You can do anything you want with your peterilly! Draw them, roleplay with them, lewd them, make fursuits of them, use them however you please. Please credit the species' creation to Hiilumaru (tumblr, deviantart, toyhouse, furaffinity, instagram and Here on furry amino or Anmorata on tiktok) when you first post them, or somewhere on their toyhouse page or ref sheet, but you don't have to worry about credit on other artwork if you don't want to!
I currently don't have any bases made, but with a little tweaking you can use any toony rabbit base - just add paw pads!
I have a Peterilly generator here for you to play with!
sorry about all the text 😬
Social behavior
At the commune
Peterilly communes are like small towns. There are dens shared by one or more petties, but also burrows where food or materials are stored and maintained by the commune. There are usually many out and about, as they tend to have varying sleep schedules. In a forest, there is one main commune, but many smaller den sites scattered through the area that petties will migrate between.
Petty communes tend to be centered in the abnormal parts of their territory. These parts of the forest can be unusually dark, and it has been observed that these forests often have a mineral similar to flint; this mineral is the most obvious clue as to the supernatural properties of the forest, because petties can use their teeth on this mineral to make small, cool fires in very unusual colors. They're used to light lanterns that border the commune and line its paths and dens. These are only seen in the abnormal forests, however, and outside in normal forest where they can see better, petties don't use fire at all. Typically, a group of denmates will be tasked with lighting the fires and making sure important ones don't go out.
Communes will often have one style of decorations throughout, usually thought of by one peterilly and then copied by all the others, leaving bits of personal flair and favorite colors to make a very unified-looking community. This allows observers to tell where one commune's reach ends and another's begins; the popular design trend in one commune will eventually spread to all its smaller den sites, and it's easy to tell by comparing decor which sites belong to which commune. However, communes don't really compete, but merely avoid stepping on each others' toes, so it's not uncommon to see den sites overlapping into another commune's "territory" or even within a stone's toss of one of their den sites. Peterillies from different communes often greet each other and share resources, though some may simply ignore each other. It's rare for two communes to have bad blood.
Petty communes can range in size from twenty to over sixty individuals, but it can be hard to tell how many petties belong to one commune because they will very often pack up and move to a different den site. They can move to start families in less busy areas, for gathering trips, or even just because they're bored.
Each peterilly has a name it uses with other petties, and it will often share this name with humans it likes as well, given that it learns the sounds to translate it. Their names tend to sound plantlike when translated, but not like real plants, but this isn't always the case.
Dens
Petties will share dens with several friends. Because of their particular style of decoration, they tend to live together with others who like the same colors, and will decorate together. Denmates will often do their traveling, gathering and hunting together, as well as grooming and sleeping.
Petties often store interesting things they find in their dens, as well as some food, and any tools they've made like baskets, straps, and if needed, flint lanterns. Their dens are usually quite organized, having holes dug in the walls for storage and sticks poked into the walls to hang things on.
Animals
Peterillies have the ability to pick up on the calls of other animals, and because of their ability to appear as a prey animal, most other species don't tend to flee from them. This gives them the means to cooperate with other species, frequently hunting with predators like dogs and foxes, trading with corvids, and having other interactions with anything from deer to cats to raccoons. They will often share resources in exchange for being able to shelter with other animals while wandering.