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Post by Herbert "Herbie" Skik on Jul 12, 2010 13:42:20 GMT -5
Herbie was instantly grinning.
"You's got a funny accent der, Boo. Wat's dis bayoo plees? I wanna go der sumtime." He slowly sank out of the tree to the ground, coiling up into a pile with his thick snake tail under him. "Sound like it mite be fun."
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Post by Beau Boudreaux on Jul 12, 2010 14:05:25 GMT -5
Beau's jaw dropped as he saw Herbie's coils. "You a 'onest-ta-goodness naga?? Dat somedin else...and you dunno 'bout da Bayou? It down in Loosianna near Naw'leans. You have all kinda fun dere." Beau looked a little closer at the snake tail. "I never seen da like 'fore. Dis Dymphna is jus' too much fun."
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Post by Herbert "Herbie" Skik on Jul 12, 2010 14:35:18 GMT -5
"I's from Jemeeca. It's de best plees ta be. Oh, I noo. Come ovah ta my room latah, I'll shoo ya my pet sneek. She's cool." Herbie was completely off in his own world now. Talking about his snake was the most interesting thing, teacher or no teacher.
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Post by Beau Boudreaux on Jul 12, 2010 14:41:59 GMT -5
"I do dat." He then looked at Prof. Shiyal. "Sorree I late. What we do?"
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Post by Aravind Shiyal on Jul 14, 2010 1:12:32 GMT -5
Aravind nodded at the answers, and the new arrivals. "No worries, it's still the first day; just don't do it again. Also, what are your names? You don't want me to issue nicknames, trust me."
To the people who had answered, he nodded, with a slightly amused look at Less. "Er, Less, remind me to give you that translation collar."
"Good answers," he said, "For the most part. I meant in general, not necessarily in a stranded situation-- but if you are, for whatever reason, in a desperate situation, separated from your party, then by all means try to stay near where you were lost, barring imminent danger.
"The first thing you should do, in any situation away from civilization-- and it doesn't hurt in civilization, either-- is orient yourself, get your bearings." He pointed to the sun, shining wanly through the trees, about forty degrees over the horizon, to their left. "That way, because it's morning, is East. Opposite there, obviously, is West; North is more or less behind us, and we're headed due South.
"Anyone know why?"
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Post by Beau Boudreaux on Jul 14, 2010 1:23:04 GMT -5
Beau spoke up immediately. "Da moss grow on da nort' side o' da tree." Beau smiled as he finished, knowing he got the answer right.
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Post by Herbert "Herbie" Skik on Jul 14, 2010 12:46:29 GMT -5
"Nah, moss groos werevah it wants. De sun goos up in de East. An' it goos doon in de West. De moss thin's a bust." Herbie pointed at moss, which was on the side the professor had indicated as being South. He folded his arms behind his head.
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Post by Susan Daunt on Jul 14, 2010 12:58:02 GMT -5
Susan laughed at the exchange before volunteering to the teacher, "So you don't get more lost while you wait for backup or try to get back yourself, Mr. Shiyal?"
Seemed simple enough to her anyway. Probably wrong and shallow, but she had never really been lost before.
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Post by Kahlen Jeanne Nox on Jul 14, 2010 13:10:14 GMT -5
Kahlen nodded. "I agree with Susan."
She grinned, remembering he trip to the woods. She and Mellianne had stayed put so that they wouldn't get lost. "It also helps, if you are in the woods, to stay on the trail if there is one."
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Post by Aravind Shiyal on Jul 16, 2010 22:39:10 GMT -5
Aravind nodded at Herbie. "Moss grows best in the shade," he said, "And in the northern hemisphere, the northern side of a tree is shaded more often than the southern side-- same with rocks, roots, and the like. The saying holds true in the open, but in a forest, especially one so dense as this, it's a lot more complicated than just looking at the moss."
Glancing at Susan, he thought for a moment before shaking his head. "That's a part of it," he said, "But only if you're stranded and trying to get back to a party of some sort." He gave Kahlen a slight grin and a nod. "Indeed it does, Kahlen."
After a moment of thought, he folded his arms. "I know this class is called Forestry and Survival, so maybe it's a bit misleading, but I feel some of you have gotten the point wrong, here. Survival is possible to sustain, in the woods-- it does not always amount to simply trying to get out as quickly as possible. In this case, the benefits of knowing which directions are which are manifold.
"For one, you can judge the direction of the prevailing wind-- in this region, it's North-Northwest-- which helps you decide where you want your shelter, and in what direction the opening should face. It also has a lot to do with weather, and being able to tell what kind of storm may be heading your way from the direction of the wind. Aside from which," he said, a bit more lightly, "It's nice to know where the Sun is coming up from, sometimes."
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Post by Damien Griffiths on Jul 17, 2010 4:46:55 GMT -5
"Ah, yeah, sun. You can also look at the stars, right? If it's night, and not too cloudy. Stars can be used for guiding as well, 'specially the North Star. That one's always North." Damien was slightly muffled by his coat, but tried to participate in the discussion.
"For shelter, isn't the best spot to find a natural cave or something, if those are in the area? Then you already have a shelter ready, it takes a lot less effort to simply baricade that up, and it tends to be drier as well. Otherwise, should you build a shelter in a tree, off the ground?"
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Post by Tane Matthewson on Jul 17, 2010 5:38:36 GMT -5
Tane has to keep flipping things around mentally, still used to the southern hemisphere. Luckily, he avoids blurting out anything embarrassingly reversed.
"Ut might not be drier, depending on what sort of cave ut us," Tane points out. "Somma'em are made by water. And un the southern hemisphere, you can't see the North Star - you use the Southern Cross instead."
He pauses for a moment, then says, "Another reason to get your bearings first us that then, uf you keep your bearings, you can find your way around un the bush."
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Post by Less Than Beta East Tundra on Jul 19, 2010 23:27:40 GMT -5
Follow the sun in the day and your nose at night, was all Less knew. He usually stayed in an area that he knew every part of, and could tell wherever he was in it simply by analyzing the smells in the air. Caves were a bad idea, though; they tended to be inhabited by dangerous things like bears. You always knew that a den you just dug didn't have any nasty surprises waiting for you.
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