Tag Archives: Phoenix Zoo – Phoenix

The Race

The race was on.

The enemies were approaching the hive and reinforcements were needed. Two hundred and twenty five meters was a long way, but it was necessary. The invaders must be stopped.

Only a quarter of the way and she was already getting tired. Still, the thought of the costs of her failure, drove her forward. Fifty thousand lives depended on her. And one two hundred and twenty five meters.

Glancing backward, she saw the invaders massing on the horizon and increased her speed. She realized she wouldn’t make it in time if she held anything back. She need not make the return trip. Conveying the message was enough. If the other hive could be alerted, they just might make it in time.

As she passed the three quarters point, she powered on, burning the last of her energy for the final stage of the race. She felt, deep in her body, that this was the end. When she reached her destination, she knew she’d just be able to deliver her message and, quite likely, collapse and die.

Death, however, was practically a guarantee in either case. If she stayed and fought, she would be slain with tens of thousands of others. If she was too slow, again, tens of thousands would die. If she just stopped, she might survive, but she might be the only one. No. Her only hope was to alert the others, in the hopes that they could help keep the total casualties low.

Though it may cost her life, she must fly.

WLD_6914

Bird

WLD_6077

It’s hard to get a mate as a bird. You must keep your feathers in perfect order, defend your territory, and have a perfect song. You must excel in your conformity.

Some birds, however, give up on the process completely and build their own mate. Piece. By. Piece.

The Selection

It was the morning of his twelfth year. As all in his tribe do at that time, he stood on the edge of the desert, preparing himself for his spirit journey. He wasn’t worried that he’d lack a guide, but he did have some concern as to who would select him.

As he walked the Trail of Selection, he thought back to his youthful dreams. As a small child, he had admired the strong guides. The tribe was led by a bear-chosen, rare but powerful. His parents were both puma-chosen – like often attracts like – and had been wonderful protectors, though relatively solitary ones.

He ducked through the briar, taking care not to tear his ceremonial questing coat. He was pretty sure the older kids were trying to scare him with stories of careless children being saddled with toads or worms, but there was no point in taking a risk.

Later, when he had had to run from the older bullies rather often, he had dreamed of joining with swift spirits. Pronghorn- and falcon-chosen grew into great messengers, fleet of foot and able to get away from all that threaten them.

He reached the boulder at the end of the trail, and paused, thinking about the spirit he truly wanted.

More recently, as he quietly watched adults, he had begun to desire a stealth spirit. A fox could lead him to become a great tracker. An owl could help him become more aware, and help guard the tribe at night.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, turned the corner and dropped to his knees knowing that when he opened them, his life-long spirit animal would be there. When he could hold his breath no longer, he exhaled and opened his eyes to see his new partner, his god, the extension of his own soul reaching out to him.

WLD_6933

He was rather disappointed.

Gerenuk (Litocranius walleri)

Gerenuk (Litocranius walleri)_1
Sometimes choosing to do something according to a schedule is a bit of a stretch. Stuff you can reach some days you can’t reach all days. Also, sometimes you really work hard and reach a lot of important things, but it leaves you too tired to get everything done.

Which is a long way to say, my priorities are doing my real(tm) job, taking photos, and posting photos, in that order. Hopefully, my schedule has adjusted so I can get back to posting. I expect it’ll be erratic for a while though.