Three Fluffy Critters

Aww, I love these little guys.

According to the man that takes care of them at the animal sanctuary, these animals are called "Buli" (pronounced boo-lee) and they are native to a place that is hot and dry like an african savannah but rugged and rocky in a lot of it as well. The thing is, despite it being so hot and dry, the dirt there always stays kinda soft and these little critters love to dig holes in it. I think the man said the name means something like "hole digger."

It also rhymes with a local word meaning "frustrated anger," which is apt because that's what people experience when they trip on their burrows! It sounds kind of like the word "bully" too but the man said they aren't mean animals. They tend to be really skittish and shy but would never try to actually hurt you if you don't go out of your way to give them a good reason to.

I asked the man what their names are and I think they are all super cute! The smallest one is a girl named "Etam." He said she's not mature yet and is pretty skittish and shy. I like how little her head is and how much more ear floof she has.

The second one is a boy named "Sisu." He was nice and let me pet him. He's 4 years old and a little skinny. It's adorable how all of them like to sit in basically the same pose.

The third one is named "Doti." Apparently Doti is a lot older than the others (he should be about 17 years old, and Buli live for 30-35 years when not in the wild) and has acted kind of like a foster dad to the younger ones. How sweet! The man at the sanctuary said he's the friendliest one. He's definitely a bit pudgier but that just means there's more of him to be all cute and smiley :3

Doti even let me pet his big belly! Buli are pretty soft and their fur is thicker than you'd expect considering how short it looks. I think that's just because it's dense like a chinchilla. Etam never let me get very close to her but I so desperately wanted to pick her up and hold her. I'd say I want one as a pet, but the whole reason these guys are here is because they were taken from the wild by people who had no idea what they were getting into.... Poor critters... At least they are well taken care of and seem to be happy here.

P.S. I'm sorry mister caretaker at the sanctuary, I never asked your name You were really nice and helpful.

I really take every opportunity I can to do some creative writing, huh?

The first piece took me 25 minutes, the second one took me 30 minutes, and the last one took me 1 hour and 30 minutes. I made the first drawing after playing around with a shape brush and solid colors. The first shape I drew looked kind of like an animal head so that ended up becoming a simple little drawing.

I needed more practice doing simple shapes and even simpler shading so I can get better at form, and these three drawings have been good for that but I'll need to practice more. I'm still not that great at art but I can definitely see my improvements from my earliest art.