In the last log we documented how the environment and climate of the Neverglades can be a constant killer of the fluffies. However, the united forces of wildlife are the largest killer of fluffies overall. Any fluffy caught alone or a single mare and foals are guaranteed to die within a week to a predator. First of all before we delve into the predators we will discuss fluffy fur colors.
Most fluffies are born with an assortment of bight colors. From pink to cyan to yellow, these fluffies are effortless for the predators of the Neverglades to spot. Some fluffies are born with more natural tones like brown, however, as stated in the first log, these kind of fluffies are called “poopie babbehs” and are usually outcasted. If there is enough nursing mares to go around a brown furred foal can make it to sexual maturity. Yet, over the years, there have been communities of brown toned fluffies forming herds and taking in any discarded brown fluffies. In return these communities of brown fluffies then reject colorful toned fluffies. When a colorful herd meets a brown herd, verbal fights commence. If a herd is hardened enough, they my attack and cannibalize the other herd. This is very rare, most fluffies are far too timid to start a large fight and most have learned they can simply swap the unwanted foals and then move on. Some herds have even used unwanted foals as barter. A colorful herd promised to give all their brown foals to a brown herd if the brown herd let them share the same shady woodland to survive the day.
Green is the one color that blends into the environment best, and both kinds of herds can have green fluffies. Bight green and dark green fluffies both blend into grasslands quite well, so well, Dr. Jera even tripped over one while doing a survey. Overall, the brown herds have the best camouflage, true, a dark brown fluffy sticks out just as much as a purple fluffy in a grassy field, but the brown fluffy at least has a handful of biomes they can blend in such as slash pine forests and landfills. You would think that this means brown fluffies would be more common, but that is not the case. It seems color has no heredity. A brown fluffy can give birth to all colors of the rainbow and a neon red fluffy can give birth to all colors of the toilet. Yet, colorful fluffies seem to be born more, while brown fluffies survive slightly better. Due to this, both shades of fluffies are equally as common.
As stated earlier lone fluffies don’t last long, unless they find a community. Fluffies have 2 main communities. Nomads and nesters. Nesters do not roam, and instead form a community at a set location. Nester communities can range from 5 to 150 fluffies, anything over 150 and the community will be forced to become nomads to survive due to food depletion. We have watched a nester community go from a population of 7 to 150 and forced to become nomads. Nester communities are most common in the habitats of abandoned human ruins, landfills, and oak forests. Nesters are at a constant battle with their own fecal incontinence, these fluffies are usually the most rancid as they just sit in their shit all day. We hear them complain about it yet… they don’t seem to do anything about it. Nesters that make homes out of human ruins are required to leave the protection of the ruins to forage for food, while nesters in oak and landfill biomes have food all around them.
Nomads can range from a population of 5 to 500. Nomads can devour all the foliage in an a few acres in just a week. They constantly deplete food in the region, food that is below 60 centimeters that is. Anything higher than that they can not reach. One time we have witnessed them making a pile to reach a Ghost Orchid growing on a tree, but the climbing fluffy kept defecating making the pile disperse. Nevertheless they move on in search of greener pastures under 60 centimeters. However, their fecal matter is a double-edged sword for the environment. If they defecate and it rains, all the fecal matter will wash into the waterways causing mass eutrophication killing nearly anything in the water. But if it does not rain their fecal matter will be a massive boon to the plant growth equivalent to the rejuvenating effect that a controlled burn has, but without having to kill wildlife. Also, humans caused far more eutrophication with fertilizers from farms and golf courses. So, we consider fluffies an overall boon to the environment when it comes to nutrient cycling.
Large herds do not last forever. They can literally deplete the food in a region and starve if they do not find a green region soon. They are very prone to depleting 4 habitats and then walking in a circle through the 4 habitats until they starve due to them being too stupid to realize they are going in circles. If they wander in a human ruin habitat they tend to get distracted by everything and break into smaller herds. These smaller herds will join up again, stay permanently lost and starve after depleting the food, or continue to survive just as a smaller herd. These herds can also be easily wiped out to heat stroke. One herd wandered into a cypress dome during February. The cypress tress have not grown back their needles and the only shade was a cabbage palm. This herd went from 457 fluffies to 12 because they could not all fit under the palm come high noon. One entire 500 population herd was killed due to high tide. This herd found shelter at night in a cluster of red mangroves in the Naples Tide Flats. High tide came abruptly and they were mostly asleep. The ones that awoke could not escape the mangrove in time due to other sleeping fluffies in the way and the cage-like root system of the mangroves. Those mangroves grew much faster then normal the following year. And of course. A herd is easy food for Florida’s countless predators.
Where do I begin? Fluffy predators fall into 2 categories. Foalavores, and Fluffavores. Foalavores can only eat foals.
Mammal Foalavores
Raccoons: With humans no longer producing garbage, the raccoon’s main food source is now foals. During the night they will approach a sleeping mare and pluck away a foal. However, the foal is usually covered in fecal matter. So, the raccoon will take it to a water source and wash it off. During the heist, the foal will either chirp in fear or call for its mother if it is old enough. Once the foal is clean the raccoon will hold it in its paw and bite and pull off bits of the foal. If the raccoon does not pull off the head first the foal will usually chirp or scream in agony.
Grey Fox: Like, the nocturnal raccoon, the grey fox will prey on a mare’s foals at night when they are asleep. Unlike the raccoon the grey fox will still gobble up a foal regardless of how foul it is. And many a mare has woken up to having no foals. However, she will think they ran away due to her being a bad mother and not because she chose an awful hiding spot to sleep. Making her repeat this mistake with her next batch of foals.
Opossum: These marsupials WERE only opportunistic omnivores. Meaning they never really hunt for meat and instead scavenge it. Not anymore thanks to fluffys. Their feeding habits are identical to the raccoon except the washing part.
Avian Foalavores
Herons/Egrets: The Snowy Egret was almost brought to extinction in the Victorian Era thanks to woman demanding hats with their feathers in it. Now in 20[XX], the Snowy Egret has made a massive comeback due to humans interference brought to a minimum and foals.
(Video plays)
A pink mare is hiding in the root system of a mangrove and clearly thinks she is safe from an eyeing snowy egret. “Stoopi’ wingie munstah, 'ou nu can get fwuffy’s babbehs!” The egret’s long serpentine neck slithers through the roots and with its long dexterous beak plucks one of the foal away. “Nu! pwease gib babbeh back mean wingie munstah!” The foal cries “Hewp mummah!” The egret then juggles the foal a little bit so its head is the first to slide down its gullet, all while the foal cries for its mother. The egret then swallows the foal as the viewer can clearly see it slide down its long neck, still crying for help until it reached the stomach. The egret does this with another foal. A Great Blue Heron then joins in. The mare tries to swat away the beak of the heron but the large bird impales the mare causing her to cry and relent. It snatches up a foal and devours it no different that the egret. A small Green Heron then sneaks up and plucks away the runt foal. But at this point the mare completely gave up and accepted her foal’s fates.
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Pelicans: Usually apt as marine hunters. Now, they can easily waddle up to a mare and scoop up all the foals on her back.
Reptile Foalavore: Florida has a variety of snakes, North America’s largest native snake is the Indigo Snake and the continent’s most venomous snake, the Coral Snake, are both found in the Neverglades. Adult fluffies are still too big even for the Indigo to eat, but the foals are easy game. It is also important to note, that flufflies are bio engineered to be obsessed with spaghetti, and they are so deprived of spaghetti in the Neverglades that they will confuse snakes as the pasta dish, always to their detriment.
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A water moccasin slithers from one pond to the next, however it is intercepted by a mare. “Bwack sketties! oh boy am su happy!!” The 3 foals on her back also cheer “Skettie Day! Skettie Day!” As the mare approaches the snake it lashes out and injects venom to the mare’s neck. In moments, the mare grows weak and topples over “bwack sketties gib mummah owwies. Nee’ to sweepies.” The foals roll off her back as the water moccasin devours one foal. The other foals run to the other side of the mare and cry about the “skettie monsta.” The moccasin then devours another. Foals will even cry in the throat of the moccasin “We num sketties, sketties nu num us!” until the foal dies to suffocation. The moccasin is sated and slithers away to a quiet place to digest the foals. The mare dies to the venom as the last foal nuzzles her snout “Mummah, nu sweepies fowebah otay’? we weabe aftah nap!”
(Video ends)
Softshell turtle: These reptiles hunt similarly to the alligator, but only with foals.
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A mare and her foals stop for a drink at a canal. A long leathery neck darts out of the water, nabs a foal and pulls it into the depths. The foal barely let out a chirp.
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Arthropod Foalavores
Wolf Spider: These spiders do not produce webs, instead they will sneak up on foals at night and silently drain one of its fluids as it sleeps. The mare will wake up thinking her foal died of starvation overnight.
Golden Orb Weaver: These spiders can catch small birds, however, they are now building their webs low to the ground to where the average height of a mare is. A mare will walk through the web, thinking it is spaghetti, and although she breaks many parts of the web, one foal usually gets snared in one strand of web.
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A mare is walking with 5 foals on her back. She is singing to her foals and the foals sing with her, poorly. The Golden Orb Weaver immediately readies itself after hearing the voice of a fluffy. The mare spots the web and gets very excited “Guess what babbehs? it am skettie day!” She does a happy little prance as she approaches the web. She bites parts of it to disappointment. “Yuck! sticky skettie am bad skettie!” The foals also try to eat the web and they get stuck, the orb weaver grabs one foal and pulls it up to a higher portion of the web. “Hewp mummah dah weggie munsta got fwuffy!” She then pulls one of the lower foals away from the web but the orb weaver then pulls another up to the top and begins the entomb it in web. All while it screams about the “weggie monsta.” The mare pulls down the last foal but the two the orb weaver pulled away are too high up for the mare to reach. Also note that fluffies can’t jump for shit. The mare and surviving foals cry as the 2 captured foals get wrapped in ivory web. The captured foals only slightly wiggle as the web binds them. The mare then sings a song to soothe the captured foals. Their cries soften slightly but then the orb weaver plunges its fangs in a foal causing it to scream in horror. The mare’s song becomes riddled with sobs as the 3 surviving foals look away and cry. As the orb weaver drains the foal of fluids its screams and chirps become more and more meek until it is silent. The mother continues to sing all day and night to the last captured foal until the orb weaver gets hungry again. It is very common to see foal bones and fur strewn over an orb weaver’s web.
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Various Land Crabs: Land crabs are clumsy, even still they are effective predators against a foal.
(Video shows a screaming foal getting pulled back into a burrow)
With their pinchers they will tear off chunks of flesh and consume it.
Fish Foalavores: Saltwater fish have not adapted any new strategies to hunt fluffies. Since fluffies rarely wade in saltwater they have no reason to. Freshwater fish in the other hand have adapted fascinating strategies to hunt foals.
(Video starts)
A herd of fluffies wade through a shallow swamp. There is a whole group of mares that catch the attention of a school of largemouth bass. The largest of the school charges and rams a mare, causing her to fall over, and spill her foal into the water, causing a bass frensy. The frensy makes the other mares panic, which then makes more foals fall off. Some mares even run into deeper water causing them to drown as bass mop up the helpless foals on her back.
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Next log we will discuss how humans and other Fluffavores interact with fluffies in the Neverglades.