Afterthought on animal symbolism

[Carol]

Magpie wrote:
> From what I know about Celtic mythology, the swan was very fitting
for Cho, as is the hare for Luna. I like those two choices.

Carol responds:
Yes. Me, too.

Magpie: 
> It's always bugged me that Ravenclaw was an eagle. I mean...hello? 
Ravens? Associated with knowledge, even? Eagles are important in
Celtic mythology too, of course, but having a special love for corvids
(*winks back at Carol*)I couldn't help but feel like they were a
little dissed. 

Carol:
Right. Ravens can be taught to talk. And look at their role in, say,
"The Hobbit," where they're wise birds who help the Dwarves. (Contrast
crows, which Tolkien evidently doesn't like.)

Magpie:
 I wondered if JKR just naturally leaned more towards animals
associated with courage and away from the ones that had more Gothic
associations or were associated with death or ill-omen.

Carol:
That could be. Or maybe, for SS/PS, she was looking at animals that
her young readers (British children in particular) would be familiar
with. Children might automatically lump lions (the only non-British
animal in the group), eagles, and badgers together as "good" animals
with snakes as the "bad" animal while adult readers might have a more
realistic perception of all the animals involved and a more
sophisticated awareness of connotations, symbolism, and mythology or
folklore. How much of that folklore JKR consciously considered when
she chose the animals to represent the Houses or assigned as
Patronuses to various characters is the question that interests me now.

Setting aside lions, which aren't included in Celtic mythology (I
suppose we could consider Greek mythology or just our own "king of the
jungle" stereotype for them), we have:

Badger:  courage / tenacity / dream guidance / individuality

Eagle:  resurrection / rebirth / wisdom / reality / keen sight

Snake:  wisdom / good fortune / healing / spiritual energy / cunning /
transformation

Hmmm. Looks like the badger should have been the symbol of Gryffindor,
and any one of those symbols to some degree fits Harry. They don't
seem to fit the Houses particularly well, unfortunately. Maybe I just
need a different website!

Carol, now leaning toward the view that JKR chose the House animals
based on children's perceptions of the creatures involved