Missing the forest for the exotic small mites living under the feathers of the woodpecker. – RecklessPrudence
She was focussed intently on the little bird on the branch above her. Of course, as an avian herself, birds were nothing new. But this little creature was like nothing that came from the records of Hu'lu'a. It did not scratch or pick at the bark between her and the grubs. It hammered at it.
Toktoktoktoktoktoktoktok…
She could infer that this creature had protection for its brain. Otherwise, how could it survive?
A feather dropped, a great fortune. T'reka put it into her field scope and peered down it to see what she could see.
Fascinating. Lice that evolved to live on the feathers of a bird previously unknown to science! She placed the feather, louse and all, into a specimen bottle for later analysis.
The DNA of this island was strange. Almost as if another planet had seeded this world as well as her fellow Numidid. Bizarre hybrids had, of course, sprung up.
But if some other species had seeded this world - where were they?
A chime alerted her to the oncoming sunset. T'reka sighed and headed back to her base camp.
Behind her, one of the bushes stood up and struggled out of its canopy…
*
Susan did her best to pant quietly. Nobody had told her how hot Gilly Suits were. She was bathed in sweat and desperately thirsty and, frankly, very lucky that her “pretend friend” Grey Chicken hadn’t noticed her sneaking up to her in the underbrush.
She was also incredibly lucky that her camera was the quiet kind.
But the important thing was that she had proof, now.
Grey Chicken was real.
The only question remained was - what to do with the evidence?
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