Rats and Slizards and Growls, Oh My!
Day 2
One of the animals that loves us to pieces back on Earth, has decided to follow us to our new home….rats. I can’t believe it, yet I can at the same time. I’ve been running around trying to capture them — the last thing we need is them proliferating and destroying the local ecology (who knows what kind of impact they could have). I’ve asked those in the kitchen if we could perhaps make a stew out of them. We’ll see how that goes.
Some colonists have seen one of the native animals that they’ve called the Slizard (courtesy of the Parkers). Can’t wait to see a snake with legs!
We’ve also seen some little flying insect things. One is like a daddy long-legs spider with wings, about as big as a mosquito. And the other one is a bright blue dragonfly thing, about the same size and shape but the wings are the same blue as the body and are opaque. They like to dart back and forth to the wildflowers, and have started venturing into camp.
There’s also this strange noise we all hear at night. A hiss then a growl, but more like one sound than two. Sometimes it is a yip then a growl (same animal, or different one?).
The really interesting one we’ve only heard twice. It is a low pitched (g)rumbling sound. It rolls, so to speak, and lasts for a full 5 seconds or so. It is unlike anything I’ve heard before (though one person mentioned it was a little like a “purring” gas engine on idle but deeper and more animal-like; I couldn’t say as I’ve never heard a gas engine before).
Breakfast is often peppered with theories about what kind of animals are out there. Some are even taking bets (latrine duty being the most common exchange).