Things Better Left Unvisited:
Exactly What It Sounds Like, Mates.
There's a lot, and I mean A LOT, of species mentioned in the entire Redwall series. Has anyone ever bothered to count up a complete estimate before me? Probably, but just like me they probably missed at least a few.
There's so so so many: Mice, rats, voles, squirrels, dormice, shrews, moles, hedgehogs, a beaver, a hamster, weasels, stoats, ferrets, otters, bats, badgers, rabbits, hares, foxes, wolves, wildcats, other cats, lizards, a tortoise, snakes, frogs, toads, newts, slow-worms, birds of every sort, dolphins, wolverines, seals, a sea lion, whales, possibly something completely unknown to Americans called a moonrat (if you are skeptical of Razzid the Wearat's heritage like I am-no way can a rat and weasel really beget an offspring... unless one of my earlier installments is true...), and more I have completely forgotten.
But, wait! Didn't you all forget the others? They are mentioned multiple times. Some characters are even named after them. They are featured in poems and described in vivid detail by a certain hare. Some characters even wear clothes made of their haircuts.
They are the deer, the sheep, the wild boar. They are the horses and cows. That one time a dog was mentioned without "stripe", "river", or "soil" stuck in front of it. Even the humans, YES, HUMANS, which are only implied to exist in High Rhulain as the enslavers of the feral cats in ancient history. That is not a typo. It is seriously there.
But of all these, you only see one. Just one, and it's a horse enslaved by Cluny the Scourge. Just one. One of thousands.
So where have all the ungulates gone? Not into Hershey's Ungulates 'n' Cream I hope. You've got to know there're there. Basil Stag freakin' Hare is obsessed with stags. You can't be obsessed with something that does not exist. A ferret uses the insult "pigsears". How do they know when they see ears like a pigs' to insult if they've never seen a pig?
A freakin' badger Lord is NAMED BOAR. How do they know to name the big fighter beast more dangerous than the typical living creature by far something so appropriate as "Boar" if they have never seen a boar?
But these animals would be much, much bigger than any badger. Heck, from the description of a single horse being able to pull a cart packed full of five hundred rats, they've got to be the size of rhinos to the rats' hobbits. Or even bigger.
*Why They Don't Show Up More Often*
The Rapscallion Army of Damug Warfang marched in huge columns across the plains to the foretold meeting place of destiny and war and stuff. The greatrat looked on proudly at his huge-nomous army, easily the largest ever seen by any woodlander.
"But, milord, didn't that Warlord Ferahgo the Assassin have an army described as outnumbering forty hares by at LEAST one hundred to one?" the rat Henbit spoke up. Damug gazed at him in wonderment.
"Aren't you just some thug? You do math?"
Henbit scratched his chin awkwardly.
"Umm... I DID have a degree in economics, before that squirrel fired me for bringing a dead wren to work for lunch..."
"Oh. Well, that sucks."
Suddenly there was an ominous rumble. On the horizon huge shapes loomed up: Shapes with manes and hooves and tails.
"Holy mother of--" Damug managed to get out before fleeing from the massive equine horde--er, herd like a little sissy. It had become apparent that the horses had become sick of all the pointless fighting between vermin and goodbeast, so they had stepped in to finally equalize the situation. Lady Rose Eyes ran berserkly at one palomino from a nearby gorge, not satisfied unless she was attacking something. The horse, standing a modest three Creggas tall, became quickly annoyed and punted her easily, sending her flying into a rock shaped like an otter's tail...sort of.
Also, gotta add that at one point two hares in Outcast magically transformed into horses for thirty seconds. It was a typo, but it was damn funny if you didn't realize that right off in your first reading.
More may follow. If you like, you may leave an as-of-yet unanswered bit of unusual Redwall yore as a suggestion, but it is more than likely I'll cover the grand majority of oddness and unmentioned unmentionableness.