I never kill bunnies or foxes. I kill wolves on sight. Bears only if they attack me. I kill sabercats because they ALWAYS attack me. I'll kill deer, Elk & moose for food and hide. I never kill cows, dogs (unless they attack me) or chickens. I killed one mammoth "just for grins" early on in the game and felt bad afterward.

I fought and killed a dragon in Dawnstar and thought I'd do the polite thing and FUS RO DAH his bones off the main road and accidentally killed a chicken in the process. I was immediately attacked by every guard within a ten mile radius, who shot me full of arrows and fined me 40 gold pieces. So much for being polite. NEVER KILL CHICKENS!

I usually don't attack unless I'm attacked, however, I did kill a hawk and a couple of deer when I first started playing. I just wanted to see if the game would let me shoot the hawk down with an arrow and what items it had. It was pretty cool but I haven't done it since because I like birds of prey irl.

@ Arverne...I agree about the druidic type character. That's an awesome concept. Maybe a character that could summon a spriggan.

I found that out the hard way, too. Chicken are to Skyrim as cow are to India. It's like chickens are holy or something. Never mind that you just saved their sorry hides from a dragon, you harm a chicken and that is an unforgivable offense. Unless you pay the fine. Then everything's hunky-dory.