a new kind of animal

(This one will be short. I promise.)

Today in the car, Peter asked me if "Hites" were a real kind of animal. I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Joe did, though, and asked Peter, "Do you mean, like, 'afraid of heights'?" Yes, that was what he meant, although we couldn't get him to understand the concept of "heights". He still thinks it's an animal.