Home Declaration

Home Declaration is a Yukkuri behavior, mostly seen in Gutter Trash and Wild Yukkuris, in which a single yukkuri or a family of yukkuris will proclaim its ownership of a den, or even a human house. During a home declaration, usually an adult yukkuri will proclaim ownership of a new "Easy Place"; if its a parent yukkuri, the koyukkuri will actively cheer their parent, even if their size prevents them from taking a more active stance.
The home declaration serves two main purposes; the first, and the most obvious, is a claim of ownership about an "Easy Place", an attempt to settle once and for all every possible complaint. The second is a function of the yukkuri concept of easiness. yukkuri will brag about its possession of an "Easy Place" to imply that, being "Easier" than its brethren, it was able to secure for itself and its family a better status, a better house, and better food.
While Pet Yukkuri are a domesticated group, owners will note that younger pets will give a home declaration. Though it's a way to express amazement and gratitude for being given a part of its "Mister Human" house all for itself.
==In the Wild (and/or in the Gutters)==
Since in the wild yukkuris are burrowing creatures, it's not uncommon for them finding an abandoned nest hole and electing it as their residence. In that case a yukkuri will merely bring its family along, and declaring "This will be yukkuri [Insert Species] Easy Place!". If no one answers, the yukkuri will become sure of the abandoned status of the den and take it for itself, even if the den was only temporarily vacated. In the latter case, upon the return of the yukkuri owner, the "invader" will simply "defend its Easy Place", thus fighting with the rival yukkuri for the possession of an "Easy Place" they both think belonging to themselves.
The average home declaration has rules, to which Wild Yukkuris tend to adhere. A yukkuri is encouraged to do its home declaration whenever it doesn't see a proper barrier in front of an empty nest. In the wild a barrier of twigs and pebbles, much like a closed door in human housings, is a clear mark of ownership and adult yukkuris are supposed to replace the barrier every time they go out hunting. A barrier-less nest is seen as empty, or not cared for enough. Yukkuri unable to, or unwilling to build such a barrier may leave koyukkuris too little for foraging but big enough to be somewhat independent at home to "Guard the home". This however carries the heavy risk of the little ones falling victim to an home invasion, being squashed to death for refusing to acknowledge the invasion.
Not every Home Declaration is merely accidental, though.shithead Yukkuris may willingly invade a burrow or a yukkuri den, reasoning that, since the invaded family is "trash", and they're more able to "Take it Easy" than the owners of the burrow or den they've seen, the invaded family is unworthy of having an easy house for themselves where the shithead invader is homeless. In that case, the shithead will directly attack the rival family, being driven away or taking possession or their Easy Place. Since some intelligent yukkuri have the ability to build their own "Easy Places", building small huts with stones and mud, a bossy Deibu (a Reimu) may take possess of a freshly built nest, thus avoiding the hassle of building it itself.
The same dynamics apply to the Gutter Trash Yukkuris, where dens and burrow will be replaced by trash bins, cardboard boxes furnished with a wax-cloth exterior or the small space between vending machine (especially sought because allows Yukkuri Families easy access to the leftovers of humans, such as crumbs of sweets or the occasional spilled can of soft drinks and orange juice). As for mud and stone huts, Deibus and other trash yukkuri may extend their Home Declarations to card box boxes. Lacking the ability to care for them however, it's not uncommon for a Deibu ending homeless as, for example, it forgets to replace the protective barrier and lets the cardboard take water.
==In human housings==
Since yukkuri first contact with human housing, Home Declarations towards humans have increased, to the point of becoming a serious nuisance (not an outright hassle because the weak nature of the would-to-be invaders) to rural humans, or humans living in cities with a large population of strays.
In time, yukkuris have learned to smash windows (often leaving a wounded parent yukkuri behind, with pieces of glass still embedded in its skin), and entering the larger and "Easier" (according to their standards) human houses, rich of weird "Mister Treasures" for the "little ones", good processed foods and sweets, and sturdier (thus easy to defend) housing materials.
Aside for that, the same dynamics of the aforementioned wild invasion apply, with a single yukkuri or a Yukkuri Family proclaiming ownership of an empty Human House, and refusing to acknowledge the ownership of the returning human family. In that case a "Mister Human" can simply humor the Yukkuri Family by asking them to "Take it easy together for a bit", or asking them to "Take it easy with Yukkuri's easy family", and, when he gets the trust of the entire family of Yukkuris, either remove the yukkuri from the home, dispose of them, or if the yukkuri are nice start training them into pet yukkuris and reverse the dynamic of their intended relationship. A shithead family of yukkuri may be a bigger nuisance then typical home invasion, actually harming the resident Pet Yukkuri (if there is one) and/or fouling up the place.
==Pet Yukkuri==
Much like wilder counterparts, some pet yukkuri tend to make a home declaration when first brought into their environments. Normally, as soon as they are introduced into their own home, they will declare it their "easy place". A peculiarly comical form of "benign" home declaration is the one employed by just-bought koyukkuris or mini-yus. Too young to have received a proper education at the Yukkuri Pet Shop, these yukkuri will make a declaration that is a bizarre mix of their instinctual behavior and their gratitude to Mister Owner. They will proclaim to him or her that "Thish ish Yukkuri [Insert Species Name] eaji place! Mishter/Mish ish allowed as an exchepthun!", thus remarking the knowledge that its going to consider the owner's house or the cage as its own and reconciling the idea of a human sharing its Easy Place with it.
Perpetuating such delusion in later stages of its life is a sign of shithead behavior to be closely watched, however it may be educational avoid letting a koyukkuri free in the house since start, but place it into a yukkurarium (as mentioned above) or a cardboard box furnished with a toilet, a fluffy bed, pet toys and a "Mister Treasure" (a ball, a small portable toy for the ko to play with) until, getting used to it, the koyukkuri proclaims that its "Eajy Place", part of "Mishter Eaji Place", with the added effect of giving the koyukkuri some early responsibilities, such as arranging the position of the fluffy bed and the "Mister Treasures" on its own.
When such conditions are met, an "Home Declaration" is to be considered an important part of koyukkuris' education, and will ensure that, even as a grownup Yukkuri, the pet will actively care for its nesting place, lessening the load on its owner.
Category:Behavior
Category:Background
Category:Pet Yukkuri