I play animals dumb. They will repeat themselves. They don't know much. Food is a good thing. They like food. They may know good hiding places, or paths, or places to avoid (magical predators). They don't think about larger size though, so a mouse may try to lead the PCs through a hole in the wall, or a chipmunk climbs a tree to get over the river.
Think short sentences. Nothing too complicated. Jittery animals should speak quick and nervously, very cautious. Beasts of burden, or large animals would often be slow and morose. At least thats how I handle it.
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I lot of the animal encounters I play as non combat. Elks, a small pack of wolves etc aren't going to risk taking on a group on horse back (my group also have 5 dogs) for little reward. If the PCs spot the animal(s) from a distance and maintain that distance, I usually play that they don't engage. Similarly, if there is combat, they won't fight to the death.
I think you are doing the right things in terms of chat. If the hex (or a nearby hex) had a magical beast of some kind in it, there is no harm in rewarding the player for his thinking by doing some foreshadowing...
"Don't go there, big scary lives there. Smells bad. Eats you it will" etc