# Does anyone know what a donbeag is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2000, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-a-donbeag-is/46506 "2000-12-20T13:07:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cjharker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cjharker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjharker)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-a-donbeag-is/46506/1 "2000-12-20T13:07:10Z")
I did several internet searches and came up empty. The only two references I pulled up were a glossary that referred to the book series I was reading, and a medal of some sorts that a Japanese (I think) man received. The book series I read talked about a donbeag as if it were some sort of small furry creature, a rodent perhaps. Is this a real creature, or did the author make it up? It’s a fantasy series, so that’s possible. And does anyone know of any pictures if it is a real creature? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-a-donbeag-is/46506/2 "2000-12-20T13:40:51Z")
Is it _The Witches of Eileanan?_ [http://www.ozemail.com.au/~kforsyth/glossary2.htm](http://www.ozemail.com.au/~kforsyth/glossary2.htm) > [@](#): > > donbeag > don-beg small, brown shrew-like creature that can fly short distances due to the sails of skin between its legs. You’re right, [http://www.google.com](http://www.google.com), “donbeag”, brings up only 2 hits. Other than that, I dunno. It’s not in any of my on-line dictionaries, nor in my 20 pound hardcover Webster’s Deluxe Unabridged, so obviously it’s not a real critter. If it was a real animal, Google would have brought SOMETHING up. There’s no animal so strange that it doesn’t have its own web page somewhere. I’d say the author either made it up, or appropriated some obscure Gaelic term that only folklorists would know about. Is the series any good? ---
**Author:** ![cjharker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cjharker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjharker)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-a-donbeag-is/46506/3 "2000-12-20T15:13:26Z")
That’s exactly the series in question. I really enjoyed the series, and it was recommended by a friend. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2000, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-a-donbeag-is/46506/4 "2000-12-20T16:15:33Z")
Since even my search on “alactaga” (another small, obscure furry animal) brought up 72 hits on google, I think we can conclude that your critter is fictional. ---
**Author:** ![cjharker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cjharker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjharker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-a-donbeag-is/46506/5 "2000-12-21T03:46:42Z")
I emailed the author and she responded that the donbeag is indeed just a figment of her imagination, though she said it is similar to an Australian sugar glider. ---
**Author:** ![jcgmoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@jcgmoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcgmoi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-a-donbeag-is/46506/6 "2000-12-21T04:18:24Z")
Thanks cjharker. I will immediately add the sugar glider to my animal pantheon where it will find the dik-dik and the aardwolf. ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2000, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-a-donbeag-is/46506/7 "2000-12-21T08:14:30Z")
I saw some sugar gliders the other week and they are unbelievably tiny and unbelievably cute. I really really want one for Xmas