"I was fascinated by an interview with some Creationists who said there couldn't be life on other worlds, because it wouldn't be fair that they'd missed out on God's involvement with Earth."
[FACEPALM] So damn parochial. Just think of everything we've missed in God's involvement with all those other planets! =:o\
I'm particularly chuffed with my Listening Camels, but in twenty years I've never been able to get them into a story that worked.
Basic idea: The planet (or this region of it, at least) is densely forrested and so damn noisy, what with all the smaller creatures chittering to each other and echo-locating their way around and wotnot, that hearing a stealthy predator coming is hard work. So big slow-moving mammals (of which there aren't many) need really clever hearing, or some other sense altogether. The Listening Camel has a body that looks roughly like a camel, except with neck about half as long as a giraffe (that's normally kept sagging in "U" bend so that the head is in a camel's normal position), a head with two ears tilted slightly forard and a third ear at the back... and big wide bony collar rising out of its shoulders that just happens to be a pretty good approximation to a parabolic reflector. =:o}
By shifting their heads from side to side they can scan the horizon for sound sources (head left to scan right, and vice-versa); by shifting the head further away from the body or nearer they can focus at specific distances; and if the alarm goes up that something's going on outside of their quadrant of interest, they can pop the head straight up, above the reflective collar, to get an omni-directional overview. They tend to stand around grazing in groups of three or four, with their backs to each other, each monitoring a different quadrant, and tapping a hoof on the ground to alert the others if needed. They're actually more vulnerable when moving than when standing still: the leader walks head down, scouting ahead; the ones in the middle of the train walk heads-up, ducking down occasionally to check out suspicious noises, and the youngest and most agile/whoever drew short straw has to cover their retreat by walking backwards, which makes the whole group slow but quiet - unless a hungry is actually spotted, when they all just face front and run like hell!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-11-19 12:56 am (UTC)[FACEPALM] So damn parochial. Just think of everything we've missed in God's involvement with all those other planets! =:o\
I'm particularly chuffed with my Listening Camels, but in twenty years I've never been able to get them into a story that worked.
Basic idea: The planet (or this region of it, at least) is densely forrested and so damn noisy, what with all the smaller creatures chittering to each other and echo-locating their way around and wotnot, that hearing a stealthy predator coming is hard work. So big slow-moving mammals (of which there aren't many) need really clever hearing, or some other sense altogether. The Listening Camel has a body that looks roughly like a camel, except with neck about half as long as a giraffe (that's normally kept sagging in "U" bend so that the head is in a camel's normal position), a head with two ears tilted slightly forard and a third ear at the back... and big wide bony collar rising out of its shoulders that just happens to be a pretty good approximation to a parabolic reflector. =:o}
By shifting their heads from side to side they can scan the horizon for sound sources (head left to scan right, and vice-versa); by shifting the head further away from the body or nearer they can focus at specific distances; and if the alarm goes up that something's going on outside of their quadrant of interest, they can pop the head straight up, above the reflective collar, to get an omni-directional overview. They tend to stand around grazing in groups of three or four, with their backs to each other, each monitoring a different quadrant, and tapping a hoof on the ground to alert the others if needed. They're actually more vulnerable when moving than when standing still: the leader walks head down, scouting ahead; the ones in the middle of the train walk heads-up, ducking down occasionally to check out suspicious noises, and the youngest and most agile/whoever drew short straw has to cover their retreat by walking backwards, which makes the whole group slow but quiet - unless a hungry is actually spotted, when they all just face front and run like hell!