My creature is a 'chimera', so it is a combination of a few different animals. As a defense (or an offense) mechanism, it can coat itself in a flammable oil and self ignite. I would prefer to reference endothermic animals (in particular avian and mammalian). What I have had the most trouble with so far is how the creature will gather charge, if it can gather charge instantly, and how well keratin will spark flame. The chimera is also coated in a fire resistant gel like oil, so burns are not an issue. It is unnaturally occurring, thus it has quite few evolutionary rules to follow. The chimera has intelligence at the level of humans, if that will help. Thank you; I appreciate any thoughts.
1 Answer
Fur is great for generating static electricity.
If your chimera has fur and can rub itself, and the air is dry, it will have no trouble generating static electricity. I found videos on youtube with cats generating sparks when being pet. Here is one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th3GY5wgouA
I am less sure that greasy hair or fur will be good at generating static electricity. It seems like clean, flyaway hair is the best.
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1$\begingroup$ The tail or something could lack oil glands, and thus remain dry to generate a spark. $\endgroup$– VikkiApr 11, 2018 at 20:52