I must apologize to you all for not responding in a timely manner to your questions. I thank those who were helping me out and answering all the questions for me, that is wonderful of you! I am sorry I have been absent for so long. After my laptop crashed it took a very long time to get me a computer that worked well enough to get back on. I am so excited about releasing my halloween map. I know its way early for that but I have had it since the halloween before and am eager to finish it off.
As for the deer/wolf/hyena particles, I would have to warn you that they would not look very good at all. They would simply be flat pictures of those animals that scooted across the map without moving their legs. Also, any hills or rocks or trees they would go right through them. It would be silly looking and far less realistic than simply a standing 3d mesh.
If any of you have any other questions/concerns about the particles, please post them. As for other ideas, feel free to go to my DeviantArt page and send me a note or message. I get on DA all the time and it would be much faster to answer your questions there.