They walked and discussed more about jungle survival. Tazrae had questions as Bree darted back and forth trying to track more Mussurana. The Jungle Ixam seemed so happy here among the wilds. She didn’t exactly blend in though, which was something that Tazrae considered odd. “Bree doesn’t blend in with the foliage. Do you think that’s odd?” Taz asked Randal as they walked along, skirting vines and slogging through what was getting to be more and more muddy terrain.
“No… it just tells me the Ixam are apex predators. Her colorful green and blue patterning is just so she can attract mates. If you think she’s lovely, you should see the males of her kind. They are even more striking.” Randal commented.
“Do you think she’ll have babies?” Taz asked, curious, having no knowledge of the real Ixam reproductive patterns.
“I suspect she’ll lay a clutch in the spring if she’s old enough to be bred. Some wild male or another will come along and catch her. I’ve seen her kind’s eggs tucked up against the base of trees in a nest. I don’t think they even guard them… much like snakes they lay and take off. You’ll have to have a talk with her about not running off if she gets egg heavy so we can watch her and take care of the eggs as well. It would be nice to have a few more Ixam around Syka like her. I wouldn’t even mind mounting the Rangers up entirely. They’d get places faster.” Randal mused.
Taz nodded. She knew that any eggs the jungle ixam laid would belong to Bree and ultimately it would be up to Bree what would happen to them. Tazrae was certain of that. But if the Ixam grew as slowly as Bree seemed to suggest to her they did, then it was years and seasons into the future they’d need to worry about such things.
“So you’ve talked about fruits and nuts in the jungle, but what about meat? What’s the best way to go about hunting here?” Taz asked. “Can I just use my bow?” She added, looking thoughtful.
Randal nodded. “You can. But what if something happens to it? I’ll show you how to make a deadfall trap, set snares, and create a four-pronged fishing spear so you can get meat for yourself.” He said thoughtfully. “You never know when you are going to be stranded in the jungle with nothing, perhaps not even clothing.” He said, knowing it was true enough. And then at that point he began looking around long enough to spot something useful and he whistled to Bree to bring her back to them. “We’re stopping for a moment to teach some skills…. Deadfall and fishing spears and snares.” He added for the jungle Ixam’s benefit. Bree nodded, bent her neck to nibble at one of her legs, and waited quietly while Randal got on with his explanation of Deadfall traps.
“The first one I’m going to show you is a trap you can make with almost no tools. You need a knife, but in a pinch, you can just try and break the stick in a certain way or use a rock to cut into the stick. The thing you need is a large flat heavy rock, a sturdy stick you can cut into, and some bait. Bait can be anything from already dead vermin, to crushed berries, to bread… just anything that something might eat in the jungle... even some mushed-up grubs or termites would work.” Randal explained.
“It sounds very primitive. Does it work well?” Tazrae asked.
Randal nodded. “It actually does. Its easy, takes very little energy, and there’s no complicated snare knots or cordage. It acts with tension and the natural tendency for rocks to fall. Here, let me show you.” Randal said, hunting around until he had located a large flat rock, and broke off a branch that looked sturdy enough to maybe hold the rock up if set up right.
