# Redruff — Wild Animals I Have Known character guide

> Redruff in Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** poor Redruff

**First appearance:** 0010-redruff

## Snapshot

A ruffed grouse of the Don Valley, raised by a watchful mother and stalked by hunters, owls, and weasels through every season of his brief, vivid life.

## Who they are

Redruff grows from a chick hidden in the underbrush to a proud, drumming cock, his survival a daily negotiation with predators and weather. His mother's lessons and his own instincts shape a bird who is both wary and magnificent, and the encroachment of human hunters adds a persistent dread. His story traces the full arc of a wild creature's life, making the forest feel intimate and the losses feel personal.

## Relationships

### [Brownie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se/characters/brownie)

_family_

Brownie is likely Redruff's offspring or sibling, part of the same grouse family group.

### [Graytail](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se/characters/graytail)

_rivalry_

Graytail is a rival grouse competing with Redruff for territory and mates.

### [Cuddy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se/characters/cuddy)

_friendship_

Cuddy is a fellow bird or animal that shares Redruff's habitat without conflict.

### [Mother Partridge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se/characters/mother_partridge)

_family_

Mother Partridge is Redruff's parent, guiding and protecting him during early life.

## In the story

### [Note to the Reader](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se/chapters/note-to-the-reader)

Redruff lived in the Don Valley north of Toronto and was killed in 1889 between the Sugar Loaf and Castle Frank.

### [Wild Animals I Have Known](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se/chapters/wild-animals-i-have-known)

Listed among the featured animals, a grouse whose tragic fate illustrates the themes of the book.

### [Redruff](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se/chapters/redruff)

The central character, a Don Valley partridge, who grows from a chick into a magnificent copper-ruffed cock, survives a snare, and ultimately dies by a Horned Owl.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se/characters/redruff
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/wild_animals_i_have_known_se/characters