Behold, the majestically cute rock hyrax

If you’ve never heard of this week’s featured cute animal, the rock hyrax, allow me to paint you a word picture — imagine a cross between a loaf of bread and a groundhog, add adorable little fangs, and inflate the resulting animal’s paws to comically round proportions. Now visualize a whole colony of these rotund critters scampering up and down near-vertical cliff faces, only taking a break to emit a blood-curdling scream or take an extended nap.

I never really had a definitive answer to the question, “what is your favorite animal?” until I spent a few minutes watching a herd of these goofballs chase each other around at my local zoo. If you’re lucky enough to catch them during a rare period of not-sleeping, they really put a smile on your face with their curious appearance and wacky shenanigans. They do spend upwards of 95% of their lives snoozing, so pack a lunch if you’re planning on staking out the nearest hyrax exhibit.

While you might be tempted to refer to this long-toothed critter as a rodent, they actually belong to the same group of animals as elephants and manatees. The name for this branch of the mammalian family tree is ‘Paenungulata‘, which roughly means “almost-hoofed”. It’s certainly true of the hyrax, with its plump, rubbery soles. The arrangement of muscles on these rotund paws allows for an effect much like that of a suction cup, allowing for effortless climbing in addition to maximum cuteness.

Another adorable feature of this fuzzy climber is their smile. Their two sharp front teeth are actually tusks which grow throughout their lives just like an elephant’s. It has given the rock hyrax the reputation of being a small but wise animal since ancient times — although that meditative look might mean that it actually just fell asleep on guard duty. Eventually the hot sun wears out the hyrax colony and they engage in their favorite pastime, “heaping”, which is exactly what is sounds like — napping in a big pile.

My love for these vertically-inclined furballs was enough for me to include one as my ongoing responsibility in our Tavern Watch game of Triangle Agency. Hopefully some hyrax cuteness was just what you needed to jump-start your week — or to rationalize that nap you’ve been contemplating all day.