All about Ginks

I'm not sure in MPH, since they are leaping, but they are faster than galloping horses as far as ground covered. They don't have good endurance at top speed, so their usual tactic is to sprint into tall grass or similar cover and lose their enemy before they can catch up, dart to a vertical or otherwise unreachable surface, or simply ditch their enemies by leaving them in the dust. This doesn't always work fantastically as ginks aren't very smart, and sometimes two or more ginks will leap for the same shelter, clonk heads, and knock eachother out or otherwise cause a delay. Ginks often stampede, but they are pretty harmless and good at dodging you if you get caught in the middle of one.

Three toed ginks can leap 15 feet in a single bound when running. Four toed ginks can leap up to 30. They leap with both legs at the same time, like a kangaroo, but unlike kangaroos they can walk slowly, like an emu.

Three toed ginks average on 6-10 lbs, like an adult cat.
Four toed ginks weigh about 400-650 lbs. There isn't a size or color different in sexes.

They pee, poop, mate through and lay eggs from a cloacal vent under their tail, like a gecko's butt. Their poop looks like lizard poop.

A bunch of ginks is called a flock. xD And they all run around together in numbers. As huge a flock as possible makes them happy, since they are prey animals and are pretty defenseless, like a really fast sheep. For this same reason, the flocks don't ever get over 50 members or so, 100 is impressive.

Ginks don't mate for life, but they do choose a single mate every year, and sometimes it's the same one for many years in a row. After choosing a mate, the female lays three to six differently colored eggs in sand or mud and both parents take turns guarding and brooding the eggs. Four toed ginks usually only lay a single egg, occasionally two, but have the same mating habits.
The males have sheathed peens but still pee through the vent; their peen is only for mating. They have no external testicles.

Once the eggs hatch, the babies can already walk, run, and feed themselves like baby chickens. They are still defenseless, and have not learned what dangers to avoid, and follow their mother everywhere ALSO like chickens. The female will nurse the babies with teats located in the crevice of each leg for six months (Three toed) to a year (Four toed). The young usually stay with one of either parent even after adulthood, sometimes joining another herd that conjoins with their own territory, but they never forget their relationships and can switch back and forth like a person changing towns. They are social, and can get really depressed if there isn't at least one other gink around.

Surprisingly, ginks almost never fight as their mortality rate is already really, really high. It's practically unheard of since there is no real pecking order or harem culture, but gink 'fights' occur by squeaking and squealing in one another's face, ear and tail pulling with their mouths, chasing each other, pushing and stomping their feet. Their bite force is very weak and their teeth are like combs, so biting is ineffective. Their teeth are mostly used to chew food, manipulate objects and carry young. They don't fight enemies, only run. If they are caught, they will kick and struggle as hard as they can to get away before being killed, and due to their strong legs they are sometimes able to escape.

They don't really have a mating dance, but ginks form relationships the same way humans do. They bond with other ginks of both sexes by spending time eating, grooming, playing and sleeping near each other. The ginks that they get along most with become their friends, and they stay together a lot of the time, like humans. The friends that are the opposite sex are the usual candidates for mating, and a desire to mate is expressed by singing, bringing food, sticks, toys, dropped coins and other 'impressive' objects until they are either accepted or denied.

In the wild, ginks normally only survive for 6 to 10 years, the smaller ones dying earlier more often because more things eat them. In captivity, they can live long lives due to protection from predators by their masters and can reach up to 25 years of age, but they are considered old as fuck after 20 and a lot of them can't walk properly or eat solid food after 22.

Normal ginks cannot fucking swim, they are tools in deep water, much like stretched out goats. But, ALSO like stretched out goats, they can normally jump across rivers and such, using rocks to get halfway across the really large ones. They can also wade quite well in shallow water, as their feet can stick to the bottom really great, and their long necks help them to reach the surface and breath. Some breeds of Gink can swim if they have large sail fins on their tail and legs, since it helps them propel their skinny bodies through the water, but even they must stay in shallow water, near a place where their feet can touch the ground because they can't swim quickly for very long (like sprinting) and there are predators. They are more amphibious than aquatic, like a moose. They are built to live in many environments, but they do best where they can run and hide such as deserts, forests, mountains and open fields.

Ginks can hold their breath under water for a long time and feed on plants from the bottom due to their ability to seal their gills. They can also withstand sand storms and other places with high debris for this reason.

Ginks are normally afraid of all other life forms, but can learn from their parents which ones are safe (such as deer) and which ones are dangerous (such as dinosaurs, wolves, etc.) and will eventually become curious about non dangerous things, but they don't keep them around.Sometimes, three toed ginks will co-habitate with four toed ones due to seeking out the same resources, and they can interact and form social bonds with the other species. With other animals, they can't communicate or empathize with them so they lose interest and wander off. They can easily form a bond with humans, like a dog or horse can, unless they are abused. Because ginks are so fear based, mental damage done by abuse cannot be undone.

So far, there are only two species of Gink. All the 'breeds' shown are subspecies of ginks that evolved in different environments. The two species, three toed and four toed, came from the same prehistoric ancestor, but cannot interbreed. But, within either species, the breeds can reproduce with eachother and make hybrids. Like horses and Llamas. There are many kinds of each animal, and all kinds can breed with eachother, but you can't breed a llama to a horse, and most of them wouldn't be interested.

Ginks are warm blooded, some are more sensitive to cold than others. Ginks are monotremes, meaning they are an egg-laying mammal like a platypus, but they do not have a pouch. Sometimes, such as when crossing water or making a difficult climb or jump, the parents will carry their babies in their mouths, grabbbing them randomly by whatever part they happen to pick them up by that day, such as the face or left buttock. If there are more than two babies, the parents will make a second trip. In the presence of predators, the uncarryable babies are forced to keep up with their parents or die. Ginks look after and care for their babies, sometimes even 'stealing' another gink's babies to to help overburdened parents or by confusion. However, they unfortunately won't risk their ass past a certain extent for their offspring. They can always make more. Parents of the year.

Ginks are not intelligent enough to make tools. They're actually not that intelligent on average. xDD They're not STUPID, but they're kind of pushing it. They are about as smart as a horse or a mentally slow dog. Three toed ginks are somewhat less intelligent than their larger cousins, and are about as smart as a goat or a cat. They do have good problem solving skills when it comes to finding the best path or hiding place, escaping a room, pen, or getting unreachable food. They are also great at telling time, remembering schedules, and they have fantastic memories and facial recognition. They communicate vocally with kazoo-like beeps and squeaks and a variety of squeals, and can remember 3-15 (Less for three toed, more for four toed) human command words due to having a well developed speech area in their brains. Ginks can be taught simple commands, like 'sit' 'come' 'play dead' and 'find my keys.' If they saw you put them down, they'll know where they are, and ginks are eager to please, but they don't always obey, and they have very short attention spans. 'Stay' doesn't catch on with them.