Most people have heard about woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Those are the usual predator and prey animals you hear about with Ice Age stories. Thanks to the animated ‘Ice Age’ movies, people know a few others, especially if they have kids. So, what are some other creatures that an author can pull from? (All images taken from Google Image Search.)

Woolly Rhino

American Lion and Hagerman’s Horse

Teratonis

Irish Elk

Glyptodon

Giant Sloth

Giant Owl

Cave bear




I’m partial to the giant owl. We’ve seen a lot of stories of giant eagles roaming the skies. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But I’d like to see a giant owl or two.
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Closest I can think of is Ocarina of Time having the big wise owl.
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True. And there was a librarian character who looked like a giant owl in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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They slip in at times.
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Terrific selection of animals, Charles. It is a wonder man could survive.
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Maybe we were too small to care about.
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I love ice age creatures. I know I’ve used Glyptodons before. Wrote dog bears into one once. Used titanotheres in my current one.
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I should use more of them in my stories.
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That cave bear is mighty impressive! And I’ve love to see a giant owl – maybe with giant wisdom?
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I think the owl would scare me. Silent nocturnal fliers means I could get eaten easily.
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Too true! I once had a snowy owl dive bomb my car at night – scared the whey out of me. It is a HUGE bird.
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The giant owl looks impressive. Odd how all the really huge animals are no longer with us, from the dinosaurs onwards.
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I’ve read that it’s because there’s less oxygen in the air. Also, massive climate change over the decades meant less food for big animals too.
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Sounds reasonable.
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I grew up in LA near the La Brea tar pits, so I’m familiar with a lot of them. In fact, I used them in one of my fantasy settings, although with different names. The giant owl is new to me, though.
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Always wondered if the tar pits only had the animals you would naturally find in the area.
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Animals were trapped in the tar for thousands of years, so all of them were local animals in their time.
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I really enjoyed this post! Thank you, Charles.
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You’re welcome.
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