Month 5 (05/07/24)
The Avka Felo sensed the storm before it hit. The first droplets of rain hadn't fallen yet when Poison slunk out of its favorite stream and headed for the woods. Now, that stream gushes and churns beneath a torrent of wind and rain, turned black after violently stripping sediments off the bank.
I watch Poison for some time. Despite moving beneath the dense canopy, it doesn't seem bothered by the rain. In fact, it seems that the rain motivates it to travel even further than usual. As it shoulders its way beneath some ferns, I find myself glancing at the tracker to see if there are any other specimen nearby...and there are. One of the Etarakido, Arcade, is close. I flip to its perspective.
It's huddled inside of a bush at the foot of a tree, feathers fluffed out in an effort to stay warm. It doesn't seem to be in good health, I note. Suddenly, its head snaps up, alert. There's the slightest shiver in the leaf cover before crash! A flash of orange-and-white splotched paws lunge into the foliage, Arcade shrieks, and the camera is knocked askew. The screen is just a whirling blur in the chaos. In the seconds it takes for it to stabilize, Arcade has fled far off, its panicked shrieking echoing through the forest. Poison sits amongst a pool of soggy feathers, tail swatting irritably. I'm stunned by the moment I caught, before hastily ordering another drone to hone in on Arcade's position.
. . .
It takes some time but, eventually, I see Arcade again. Now, it's perched on a branch in some far off tree. It looks even worse for wear, shivering and eyes tightly clenched shut. I don't think it'll pull through this...
Sometime later, I purchase a new Stranga Sciuro into the dome. This one, I've named Squeak, has beautiful white wings tipped with glowing cyan markings. It's the first time I've handled the variant of Stranga Sciuro that has bioluminescence. Glowing colonies use their light to communicate, but I wonder how it'll mix with those that do not glow? I release Squeak near the hollow where Bumble and Tiny have burrowed into. My hopes is that it'll be accepted into the small colony and, perhaps, we'll eventually see some courtship behavior.
. . .
Storms have battered the Biodome relentlessly, thwarting mostly all attempts to hunt and forage. Another Etarakido has been injured and, although I didn't witness it, my hypothesis is that it was one of the Avka Felo attempting to hunt again. The Etarakido in question is Night, one of the more agile and energetic of the flock. The injury seems minor, though, so it'll be fine. Arcade, on the other hand, has unfortunately passed away.
I worry about the Avka Felo. The aerial prey are proving to be very difficult for them to hunt so they tend to stick to the waterways, hunting fish. I will be introducing more small, aquatic creatures into the Biodome soon enough to diversify their diet. I can't help but question if it was right to introduce these predators so early on in the Biodome Project, however.
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| Bumble♀ | Tiny♂ | Squeak♀ | ||||
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| Hungry | Hungry | Hungry | ||||
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| Coin♂ | Star♂ | Silver♀ | Bronze♀ | Dust♀ | Night♀ | Shiny♀ |
| Hungry | Hungry | Hungry | Hungry | Hungry | Hungry | Hungry |
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| Poison♂ | Toxic♂ | Berry♀ | ||||
| Hungry | Hungry | Hungry |