Post by Naga on Nov 16, 2004 15:43:52 GMT -5
Such blood might attract the voracious blue grunt, a small, fresh-water variety of the much larger and familiar salt-water grunt of Thassa. The blue grunt is particularly dangerous during the daylight hours preceding its mating periods, when it schools.Its mating periods are synchronized with the phases of Gor's major moon, the full moon reflecting on the surface of the water somehow triggering the mating instinct. During the daylinght hours preceding such a moon, as the restless grunts school, they will tear anything edible to pieces which crosses their path. During the hours of mating, however, interestingly, one can move and swim among them untouched. The danger, currently, of the bint and blue grunt, however as not primarily due to any peril they themselves might represent, particularly as the grunt would not now be schooling, but due to the fact that they, drawn by shed blood, might be followed by tharlarion.
Explorers of Gor, page 267
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Kisu pointed overhead. "See the mindar," he said. We looked up and saw a brightly plumaged, short-winged, sharp-billed bird. It was yellow and red. "That is a forest bird," Said Kisu. The mindar is adapted for short, rapid flights, almost spurts, it's wings beating in sudden flurries, hurrying it from branch to branch, for camouflage in flower trees, and for drilling the bark of such trees for larvae and grubs.
Explorers of Gor, page 282
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A great spined anteater, more than twenty feet in length, shuffled about the edges of the camp. We saw it's long, thin tongue dart in and out of it's mouth. The blonde-haired barbarian crept closer to me. "It is harmless," I said, "Unless you cross it's path or disturb it." It lived on white ants, or termites, of the vincinity, breaking apart their high, towering nests of toughened clay, some of them thirty-five feet in height, with its mighty claws, then darting its four-foot-long tongue, coated with adhesive saliva, among the nest's startled occupants, drawing thousands in a matter of moments, into it's narrow tubelike mouth.
Explorers of Gor, page 293
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A grasshopper, red, the size of a horned gim, a small, owllike, some four ounces in weight, common in the northern lattitudes, had leapt near the fire and disappeared into the brush.
Explorers of Gor, page 293
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This afternoon, late, when we had come inland, almost in the dusk, she had become entangled in the web of a rock spider, a large one. They are called rock spiders because of their habit of holding their lges folded beneath them. This habit, and their size and coloration, usually brown and black, suggest a rock, and hence the name. It is a very nice piece of natural camouflage. A thin line runs from the web to the spider. When something strikes the web the tremor is transmitted by means of this line to the spider. Interestingly the movement of the web in the air, as it is stirred by wind, does not activate the spider; simiarliy if the prey which strikes the web is too small, and thus not worth showing itself for, or too large, and thus beyond it's prey range, and perhaps dangerous, it does not reveal itself. On the other hand, should a bird, such as a mindar or parrot, or a small animal, such as leaf urt or tiny tarsk, become entangled in the net the spider swiftly emerges. It is fully capable of taking such prey. When the blond-haired barbarian stumpbed into the web, screaming, trying to tear it away from her face and hair, the spider did not even reveal itself. I pulled her away from the net an slapped her to silence. Curious, as she, sobbing, cleaned herself with leaves and saliva, I loacated the gentle, swaying strand which marked the location of the spider. It, immobile on the ground, was about a foot in diameter. It did not move until I nudged it iwth a stick, and it then backed rapidly away.
Explorers of Gor, page 294
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I was interested in the fauna of the river and the rain forest. I recalled, sunning themslves on exposed roots near the river, tiny fish. They were bulbous eyed and about six inches long, with tiny flipperlike lateral fins. They had both lungs and gills. Their capactiy to leave the water, in certain small streams, during dry seasons, enables them to seek other streams, still flowing, or pools. This property also, of course, makes it possible for them to elude marine predators and, on the land, to return to the water in case of danger. Normally, they remain quite close to the water. Sometimes they evn sun themselves on the backs of resting or napping tharlarion. Should the tharlarion submerge the tiny fish often submerges with it, staying close to it, but away from it's jaws. Its proximity to the tharlarion affords it, interestingly, and effective protection against most of it's natural predators, in particuar the black eel, which will not approach the sinous reptiles. Similarly the tiny fish can thrive on the scraps from the ravaging jaws of the feeding tharlarion. They will even drive one another away from their local tharlarion, fight in contests of intraspecific aggression, over the plated territory of the monster's back. The remora fish and the shark have what seem to be, in some respects, a similar relationship. These tiny fish, incidentally, are called gints.
Explorers of Gor, page 299-300
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In the rain forest we may distinguish three separate ecological zones, or tiers or levels. Each of these tiers, or levels or layers, is characterized by its own special forms of plant and animal life. These layers are marked off by divergent tree heights. The hightest level or zone is that of the "emergents," that of those trees which have thrust themselves up above the dense canopies below them. This level is roughly from a hundred and twenty-five feet Gorean to two hundred feet Gorean. The second level is often spoken of as the canopy, or as that of the canopies. This is the fantastic green cover which constitues the main ceiling of the jungle. It is what would dominate one's vision if one were passing over the jungle in a tarn flight or viewing it from the height of a tall mountain. The canopy, or zone of the canopies, ranges from about sixty to one hundred and twenty-five feet high, Gorean measure. The first zone extends from the ground to the beginning of the canopies above, some sixty feet in height, Gorean measure. We may perhaps, somewhat loosely, speak of this first zone as the "Floor," or, better, "Ground zone," of the rain forest. In the level of the emergents there live primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits. Monkeys and tree urts, and snakes and insects, however, can be found in this highest level. In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more. Here, too, may be found snakes and monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels, climbing, long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, and the usual variety of insects, ants, centipedes, scorpions, beetles, and flies, and so on. In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the umbrella bird. Guernon monekys, too, usually inhabit this level. In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and the lang gim. Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as the jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders. Also in the ground zone are varieties of snake, such as the ost and hith, and numerous species of insects. The rock spider has been mentioned, and termites, also. Termites, incidentally, are extremely important to the ecology of the forest. In their feeding they break down and destroy the branches and trunks of fallen trees. The termite "dust," thereafter, by the action of bacteria, is reducted to humus, and the humus to nitrogen and minteral materials. In the lower branches of the "ground zone" may be found, also, small animals, such as tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels, four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling, solitary giani, tiny cat-sized panthers, not dangerous to man. On the floor itself are also found several variety of animal life, in particular marsupials, such as the armored gatch, and rodents, such as slees and ground ruts. Several varieties of tarsk, large and small, also inhabit this zone. More than six varieties of anteater are also found here, and more than twenty kinds of small, fleet, single-horned tabuk. On the jungle floor, as well, are found jungle larls and jungle panthers, of diverse kinds, and many smaller catlike predators. These, on the whole, however, avoid men. They are less dangerous in the rain forest, generally, than in the northern latitudes. I do not know why this should be the case. Perhaps it is because in the rain forest food is usually plentiful for them, and, thus, there is little temptation for them to transgress the boundaries of their customary prey categories. They will, however, upon occasion, particularly if provoked or challenged, attck with dispatch. Consicuously absent in the rain forest of the Ua were sleen.
Explorers of Gor, page 311-312
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Explorers of Gor, page 267
------------------------------------------------------------
Kisu pointed overhead. "See the mindar," he said. We looked up and saw a brightly plumaged, short-winged, sharp-billed bird. It was yellow and red. "That is a forest bird," Said Kisu. The mindar is adapted for short, rapid flights, almost spurts, it's wings beating in sudden flurries, hurrying it from branch to branch, for camouflage in flower trees, and for drilling the bark of such trees for larvae and grubs.
Explorers of Gor, page 282
------------------------------------------------------------
A great spined anteater, more than twenty feet in length, shuffled about the edges of the camp. We saw it's long, thin tongue dart in and out of it's mouth. The blonde-haired barbarian crept closer to me. "It is harmless," I said, "Unless you cross it's path or disturb it." It lived on white ants, or termites, of the vincinity, breaking apart their high, towering nests of toughened clay, some of them thirty-five feet in height, with its mighty claws, then darting its four-foot-long tongue, coated with adhesive saliva, among the nest's startled occupants, drawing thousands in a matter of moments, into it's narrow tubelike mouth.
Explorers of Gor, page 293
------------------------------------------------------------
A grasshopper, red, the size of a horned gim, a small, owllike, some four ounces in weight, common in the northern lattitudes, had leapt near the fire and disappeared into the brush.
Explorers of Gor, page 293
------------------------------------------------------------
This afternoon, late, when we had come inland, almost in the dusk, she had become entangled in the web of a rock spider, a large one. They are called rock spiders because of their habit of holding their lges folded beneath them. This habit, and their size and coloration, usually brown and black, suggest a rock, and hence the name. It is a very nice piece of natural camouflage. A thin line runs from the web to the spider. When something strikes the web the tremor is transmitted by means of this line to the spider. Interestingly the movement of the web in the air, as it is stirred by wind, does not activate the spider; simiarliy if the prey which strikes the web is too small, and thus not worth showing itself for, or too large, and thus beyond it's prey range, and perhaps dangerous, it does not reveal itself. On the other hand, should a bird, such as a mindar or parrot, or a small animal, such as leaf urt or tiny tarsk, become entangled in the net the spider swiftly emerges. It is fully capable of taking such prey. When the blond-haired barbarian stumpbed into the web, screaming, trying to tear it away from her face and hair, the spider did not even reveal itself. I pulled her away from the net an slapped her to silence. Curious, as she, sobbing, cleaned herself with leaves and saliva, I loacated the gentle, swaying strand which marked the location of the spider. It, immobile on the ground, was about a foot in diameter. It did not move until I nudged it iwth a stick, and it then backed rapidly away.
Explorers of Gor, page 294
------------------------------------------------------------
I was interested in the fauna of the river and the rain forest. I recalled, sunning themslves on exposed roots near the river, tiny fish. They were bulbous eyed and about six inches long, with tiny flipperlike lateral fins. They had both lungs and gills. Their capactiy to leave the water, in certain small streams, during dry seasons, enables them to seek other streams, still flowing, or pools. This property also, of course, makes it possible for them to elude marine predators and, on the land, to return to the water in case of danger. Normally, they remain quite close to the water. Sometimes they evn sun themselves on the backs of resting or napping tharlarion. Should the tharlarion submerge the tiny fish often submerges with it, staying close to it, but away from it's jaws. Its proximity to the tharlarion affords it, interestingly, and effective protection against most of it's natural predators, in particuar the black eel, which will not approach the sinous reptiles. Similarly the tiny fish can thrive on the scraps from the ravaging jaws of the feeding tharlarion. They will even drive one another away from their local tharlarion, fight in contests of intraspecific aggression, over the plated territory of the monster's back. The remora fish and the shark have what seem to be, in some respects, a similar relationship. These tiny fish, incidentally, are called gints.
Explorers of Gor, page 299-300
------------------------------------------------------------
In the rain forest we may distinguish three separate ecological zones, or tiers or levels. Each of these tiers, or levels or layers, is characterized by its own special forms of plant and animal life. These layers are marked off by divergent tree heights. The hightest level or zone is that of the "emergents," that of those trees which have thrust themselves up above the dense canopies below them. This level is roughly from a hundred and twenty-five feet Gorean to two hundred feet Gorean. The second level is often spoken of as the canopy, or as that of the canopies. This is the fantastic green cover which constitues the main ceiling of the jungle. It is what would dominate one's vision if one were passing over the jungle in a tarn flight or viewing it from the height of a tall mountain. The canopy, or zone of the canopies, ranges from about sixty to one hundred and twenty-five feet high, Gorean measure. The first zone extends from the ground to the beginning of the canopies above, some sixty feet in height, Gorean measure. We may perhaps, somewhat loosely, speak of this first zone as the "Floor," or, better, "Ground zone," of the rain forest. In the level of the emergents there live primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits. Monkeys and tree urts, and snakes and insects, however, can be found in this highest level. In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more. Here, too, may be found snakes and monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels, climbing, long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, and the usual variety of insects, ants, centipedes, scorpions, beetles, and flies, and so on. In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the umbrella bird. Guernon monekys, too, usually inhabit this level. In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and the lang gim. Along the river, of course, many other species of birds may be found, such as the jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders. Also in the ground zone are varieties of snake, such as the ost and hith, and numerous species of insects. The rock spider has been mentioned, and termites, also. Termites, incidentally, are extremely important to the ecology of the forest. In their feeding they break down and destroy the branches and trunks of fallen trees. The termite "dust," thereafter, by the action of bacteria, is reducted to humus, and the humus to nitrogen and minteral materials. In the lower branches of the "ground zone" may be found, also, small animals, such as tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels, four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling, solitary giani, tiny cat-sized panthers, not dangerous to man. On the floor itself are also found several variety of animal life, in particular marsupials, such as the armored gatch, and rodents, such as slees and ground ruts. Several varieties of tarsk, large and small, also inhabit this zone. More than six varieties of anteater are also found here, and more than twenty kinds of small, fleet, single-horned tabuk. On the jungle floor, as well, are found jungle larls and jungle panthers, of diverse kinds, and many smaller catlike predators. These, on the whole, however, avoid men. They are less dangerous in the rain forest, generally, than in the northern latitudes. I do not know why this should be the case. Perhaps it is because in the rain forest food is usually plentiful for them, and, thus, there is little temptation for them to transgress the boundaries of their customary prey categories. They will, however, upon occasion, particularly if provoked or challenged, attck with dispatch. Consicuously absent in the rain forest of the Ua were sleen.
Explorers of Gor, page 311-312
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