Chapter 37- catching the toucan 'clan' at Pedra de Gavea
Somewhere else on the Blu Bird Sanctuary, Blu and Andromeda with her bat-bird Rouge were flying through the dark forest to a specific location of the reserve: the Pedra de Gavea cave where Basil and his colony of Linda's golden orange bats lived. With the trio were D'Artagnan, Sapphire, Levi, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa, Roberto and Augustus who had been allocated to this group by Athos, especially since Blu and some of the others including Brisa knew where the cave was. As the group flew through the jungle, Augustus examined the dark surroundings that were partially lit by silvery shafts of moonlight from the half-moon that illuminated the leaves and other exposed surfaces, but only when the moon was not eclipsed by the individual puffs of clouds in the sky. The sounds of cricket chirrups flooded the air, dancing stars from fireflies buzzed gently close to the ground and other movements indicating the presence of other nighttime animals flashed by in the branches. However, Augustus's mind was on the Linda's golden orange bat colony.
"I'm surprised that there is another species of Brazilian bats alive in this country," he said to Blu, "I thought that we Brazilian flying foxes were the only bat species in Brazil."
"Oh, no, the Linda's bats disprove that claim, Augustus," said Blu with a slight smile, "We found them while we were searching for that legendary liquid said to grow back hair or feathers and their discovery was what saved the Blu Bird Sanctuary from being lost."
"How small are they?" asked Augustus.
"About half your size when fully grown," said D'Artagnan as he flew alongside Sapphire, "They're quite small."
"You'll see how small they are compared to you when we meet them," said Levi. Augustus flashed an intrigued smile, one of the rare smiles he had managed since Sandalwood and the other kids' capture by the poachers the other day and continued flying on.
As the group continued, Lapis Lazuli said, "Fernando's group will be arriving at the Pedra de Gavea Cave with their bird catching equipment any moment now. Hopefully we'll arrive roughly at the same time as them."
"And then we'll set to helping those humans catch as many of those toucans chicks that had settled in the trees outside the cave's mouth the moment they set to the task," said Brisa to which Roberto flashed a surprised glance.
"So these toucan kids are definitely everywhere?" he asked in his voice as silvery as the moonlight.
"Many of Rafael and Eva's grownup offspring have been having one clutch after another," replied Brisa, before she threw on a frown, "You've heard from Bia about how the population has grown over the past few years, Beto."
Roberto just shrugged and flew on. Soon the Pedra de Gavea Mountain melted into view and at the foot of the mountain, the cave where Basil the bat's colony lived.
"Here we are," said Blu and with that, he slowed the group down as the members put on wary looks, "Let's be careful around here. Those pesky toucan kids and their parents that have settled here could be anywhere, especially in the nooks and crannies of those leaves and branches of the surrounding trees in the darkness."
Andromeda and Rouge, D'Artagnan, Sapphire, Levi, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa, Roberto and Augustus did so and began to scan the environment carefully. From the trees, dozens of curious pairs of eyes gazed at the group of colourful feathers, one cluster with a metallic sheen glinting in the moonlight, and drabber brown fur or reddish pterosaur 'hair' and black and reddish membranous wings as they slowly moved through the jungle towards the mouth of the Linda's golden orange bat colony's cave. Most of the eyes belonged to a variety of nocturnal animals but a few of the eye pairs were laced with malice as they glared at Blu's group, for they belonged to a certain bird that had settled in this part of the sanctuary in a large number. Hisses escaping the outline of the large beaks below them, the owners of the eyes darted from their hiding places.
As Blu's group continued advancing towards the cave mouth, with Andromeda flashing intrigued glances at it for she was reminded of the mouth of the Cave of Colours and Sparkles, the treasure cave that was dangerously guarded by a massive flock of enormous predatory bat-birds that nested around the site leading to the mouth in her and her Amazonian clan's former homeland the Jurassic Jungle in Guyana. However, rustling leaf sounds pulled the archaeobird's attention from the cave mouth to her surroundings. Behind Andromeda and Rouge, Augustus and the macaws continued to scan the leaves and trees, watching for any suspicious movements. Though they didn't know where the toucan clan of some of Rafael and Eva's many, many, many offspring and grandkids lived exactly, they knew that this clan had settled on this site and could be lurking anywhere. Then Roberto saw a flash of light through the jungle as well as the sounds of an artificial moving object. The handsome Spix macaw gazed through the clutter of leaves and branches and saw a four-wheeled object, a truck loaded with a number of figures drive through a road.
"I think that's the human group tasked with catching the toucans coming this way," he told the others.
"Right, thanks for letting us know," said Blu. Then D'Artagnan and Sapphire fluttered up.
"That'll be Fernando and his group with their equipment," said D'Artagnan.
"We'll follow those humans to the cave and then alert and guide them to the toucan clan's living space as soon as you find them," said Sapphire and with that, the two Lear's macaws fluttered away in the direction of the truck.
"Alright, you be careful," called Levi as the pair left. As D'Artagnan and Sapphire disappeared into the dark, moonlit clutter of the jungle, Blu, Andromeda, Augustus and Rouge advanced further towards the mouth of the Pedra de Gavea cave, alert looks on their faces as they continued to scan the environment. Andromeda had something packed by her side, something that none of the macaws or Augustus had yet seen but she was about to put it to use in a moment. Suddenly, the sounds of shaking leaves reached the group's ears and pulled their attention to the leaf cluster that shuddered but their eyes did not see anything. Behind the four, Levi, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Roberto, whose blue eyes were inflating with fear and his crest was spiking out, continued to examine the area.
"G-g-guys, I'm b-b-beginning to g-g-g-get s-s-s-scared…" stammered Roberto as nervousness continued to boil.
"Now this is no time to let fear set in," replied Brisa rather irritably, "I know how nerve-wracking you're finding it but we've got to do this job for the sake of Basil and his colony."
"Yes, absolutely," said Lapis Lazuli in agreement. Levi also shot the timid Roberto an agreeing glare, prompting Roberto to continue examining the environment, fearful blue eyes bulging out of their sockets. Levi then felt a flash of sympathy.
"I'm wondering if this is an effect left behind by his traumatic experience of getting caught by poachers as a chick after those flying foxes slaughtered his family," he whispered to Lapis Lazuli, but he flinched when his mate shot him a glare. Levi uttered a word of apology before the glaucous couple resumed their scanning of the dark, moonlit trees decorated by a few dancing firefly stars.
Ahead of Levi, Brisa and their mates, Blu, Rouge, Andromeda and Augustus continued advancing towards the Pedra de Gavea cave's mouth. The artificial light, which was from the headlights of the truck, had pulled up through the trees, signalling to the group that Fernando's group was about to disembark from the truck and prepare to search for the toucans. At the same time, Augustus saw the movement of a small shadowy figure emerge from the cave mouth and into the moonlit jungle air. At first he thought it was a bird but then he saw that the creature's wings were shaped like his own larger wings, indicating a bat.
"I think some of those little bats of that colony are about to start their nightly activities, Blu," the flying fox whispered. Blu followed Augustus's gaze and saw another small bat flit out of the cave and into the air. The brown-eyed Spix macaw threw on a frown.
"Yep, they are," he said, "Well spotted Augustus."
"So they're the golden orange bats of your human friend?" asked Andromeda as she watched another tiny bat flit out of the cave in awe, "They're tiny."
"They don't belong to Linda like a piece of property like her bookstore, or an object would," said Blu, "Their species is named after her."
"I see," said Andromeda.
"Interesting," said Augustus.
"There are quite a number of species named after humans who are experts in animal subjects," said Blu, "Our species, the blue Spix macaw, is named after a human with the last name Spix, while D'Artagnan and Sapphire's species is named after another animal studier whose last name was Lear."
Andromeda and Augustus made small smiles of intrigue. However, those smiles were soon stripped from their faces when the trio heard a whooshing sound. The Spix macaw, archaeobird and flying fox, as well as Andromeda's bat-bird mount, all flinched and a split second later, the group found themselves confronted by a small group of little birds. All of these birds resembled Rafael, Eva, Tom and Diantha and their eyes were laced with mischief as they bore into Blu, Andromeda, Augustus and Rouge. Some of the Rafael lookalikes' talons bore sticks.
"Intruder alert!" shouted one of the toucan chicks, before aiming the tip of its stick at the trio and Rouge, "YOU are under… arrest!"
Blu and Augustus threw on flabbergasted and alarmed looks but then Andromeda took action. With a scowl on her face, the archaeobird on her bat-bird mount bravely advanced towards the small flock of toucan kids, brandishing some sort of disc shape in her wing claws.
"Oh, YEAH!?" she retorted, much to the shock of the toucans and also Blu and Augustus, and soon, Roberto, Brisa, Levi and Lapis Lazuli and before anyone could stop her, Andromeda flung her wing claws holding the disc and launched said disc at the toucans. "Try arrestin' THIS!"
Then before the toucan kids could react, the disc, which was actually a double disc bound together, flew in a flash from Andromeda's wing claws, straight at them. The disc was attached to some sort of string and was spinning as the string unwound, the end of the string held in Andromeda's wing claws and as Blu and Augustus watched on in utter astonishment, the toucan kids, flooded by panic from the surprise attack from the archaeobird, tried to flee but were caught by the string of the double disc which subsequently spun around them like a ball on a string Blu had seen was called a swing-ball.
As the double disc swung around the toucan chicks, its string wrapped around them, adding one loop per swing and soon, the toucan kids were bound tightly into a bundle. Then seconds later, the subdued and tightly tied toucan kids were flung onto a nearby branch where Andromeda and Rouge speedily rushed over to them and finished the binding job by tying the other end of the string to the double disc to ensure that the toucan kids didn't escape. Blu, Augustus, Brisa, Roberto, Levi and Lapis Lazuli's faces then morphed into awed and amazed looks.
"What was that thing you just used?" asked Blu. Andromeda flashed him a smug look.
"Doble Disco en una Cuerda," said the archaeobird as she tightened the string binding the toucan kids one more time by pulling on the double disc which Blu saw was made from two flat, round pebbles bound together and the string being some very tough plant fibres which had been wrapped around a central material Andromeda had used to bind the pebbles together into the double disc, "Spanish for 'Double Disc on a String'… an invention inspired directly from a human made object of a similar design. I saw some humans swing one of these around a pole such that its string wrapped around it so I figured it could entrap some mischievous toucan kids."
"How very clever," said Roberto with an admiring smile.
"You've based that on the yoyo?" asked Blu. Andromeda flashed him a confused look.
"Yoyo?" she repeated.
"It's a human trick device that has two discs bound together with thread wound in the middle," explained Levi, "My former owner Blake who lives across the Atlantic Ocean, used to play with one until he lost interest. You throw the yoyo down and it spins and then when you tug on the string, it winds back up onto the string and returns to your hand or wing."
Then Lapis Lazuli smiled at the others.
"You know?" she tittered in admiration at Andromeda's species' resourcefulness, "There certainly seems to be no end to archaeobird talent and ingenuity, is there?"
"Yeah, I'm starting to feel a little jealous," said Blu with a titter and those titters rolled through the others. However, this humour faded to seriousness as Blu turned his attention to the bound toucan kids who glared bitterly at their captors, "Anyway, time to take this lot to the humans through there," he nodded to the artificial lights through the tree branches.
"Just WAIT till our parents HEAR about this!" snarled one of the kids who struggled in the tight plant material string with his comrades.
"Yeah, they're gonna go MAD!" put in another, a female. Without sympathy, Levi glared at the speakers and their comrades as the other toucans protested the same thing.
"I'm afraid you're going nowhere, except to our human friends, you bunch of little troublemakers," said the glaucous macaw flatly, "Hopefully it'll teach you a very BIG lesson about respect!"
"And your parents about having so many kids," put in Lapis Lazuli, "There are hundreds and hundreds of other toucans scattered throughout the sanctuary already and they're causing the other residents no end of trouble in terms of living space, food and mischief."
"Yes," said Blu in agreement, before his gaze turned to the others, "Let's get 'em to the humans, now."
Then before the captured toucan kids could protest again, they were lifted into the air by three Spix macaws and Lapis Lazuli and carried in the direction of the artificial light. As they did that, Andromeda, Rouge, Augustus and Levi continued to the Pedra de Gavea cave.
"We'll check on the Linda's bat colony while you take those troublemakers to be caged," said Levi as the four left. Blu nodded and with that, the group split up. Blu, Roberto, Brisa and Lapis Lazuli continued carrying the toucan kids as they started to throw an enormous tantrum and screech for their parents.
As Augustus, Levi, Andromeda and Rouge closed in on the cave which was beginning to disgorge several more small bats by now, one of the little bats happened to turn its gaze in the direction of some forms as they approached the cave. The little winged mammal slowed to a hover as it blinked and gazed at one of the forms, a turquoise macaw with a grey head and yellow around his eyes and by his lower beak, before recognition took hold. As soon as it did, the bat darted back into the cave.
"Toby, Toby, Velma!" it shouted in a squeaky voice laced with a Brazillian accent like most animals and humans living here, "We've got visitors!"
Levi, Andromeda and Rouge, and Augustus touched down onto the foliage near the mouth of the cave and stood near the rim of the mouth leading to Linda's orange bat colony's home. Levi, who had heard the bat shout for the colony leaders, said to Augustus, Andromeda and Rouge, "Wait here," before entering the cave to ask for the leaders. As the glaucous macaw disappeared into the cave, the remaining three began to examine the surrounding area. The mountain was massive and extended high into the patchily cloudy sky for tens of metres, and opposite the cave mouth, a dense sea of vegetation consisting of trees, shrubs and ferns stretched from the mountain. Augustus then gazed at the small bats as they continued flitting out of the cave and in to the vegetation.
"So those are the Linda's orange bats?" he said with intrigue, "They certainly are small."
The bats were indeed small in comparison to the larger Augustus. Most of the little bats had orange fur but some also had a hint of brown and auburn as well. The majority of the bats' eyes were orange but some also had amber and yellow eyes, but these shades of yellow and orange weren't the unsettling and fear-inducing amber and orange glares of the predatory bird of every winged and arboreal (tree dwelling) jungle creature's worst nightmares, the harpy eagle. The size of as fully grown Linda's golden orange bat was only half of that of Augustus and the average spans of their wings, which were dark grey to black in colour, were only probably about a third of Augustus's wingspan which was about a metre and a half when fully opened. Around the flying fox, Andromeda and Rouge, moving stars, indicating fireflies, decorated the moonlit night jungle, and Rouge playfully chased one before flinching as another little bat flew past her. Andromeda then gazed at two streams of artificial light as they moved this way and that and deduced that they must be the humans. The light was coming from things Blu had noted to Andromeda and Augustus were called flashlights, or torches to the macaws that grew up in the UK.
"The humans look just about prepared to carry out their task," said Andromeda to Augustus. Augustus then heard some human voices emanate from the flashlight holders. The flying fox cocked his ears to listen.
"Well done, Blu, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Brisa's mate," said one, "You've managed to capture some of the toucan chicks."
"Let's get these birds caged and placed in the back of the truck," said another. Andromeda smiled as she heard the humans give praise to Blu, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Roberto. "I was actually the one who caught them," she said. Squawks were heard from the four macaws as they explained that their 'four-winged friend', referring to Andromeda was the one who had helped capture those kids.
As Andromeda and Augustus continued listening to the humans talk to Blu and the other three, the sounds of wing flaps, some from a pair of feathered wings and the rest from three pairs of small membranous wings one third of Augustus's wingspan, reached the pair's ears. The flying fox and archaeobird turned to see Levi touch down with three of the small orange bats onto the foliage and walk over to them.
"Andromeda, Augustus, this is Toby and Velma, the leaders of this cave's bat colony and also Basil's parents," said Levi, before gesturing to the younger bat next to the pair who was now fully grown, "And this is Basil with his stick friend Jeffery."
Augustus and Andromeda reached out their membranous wing and wing claws respectively and shook the wings of Toby and Velma, both orange coloured bats with grey wings. Toby had yellow eyes while Velma's eyes were orange. Basil also had orange eyes and the muzzles of all three bats were yellow, a characteristic of this bat species. Clasped in his wings was a stick which he had called his friend 'Jeffery', which he had kept as a bat pup and treated like how a human child would treat a toy closest to him or her, such as a teddy bear.
Basil had indeed grown over the past few years. When he first met Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago for the first time, he had only been a baby bat but now, he was a full grown adult. He still kept a hold of his beloved stick, however, and when his eyes landed on Andromeda and the much larger Augustus, his yellow muzzle widened into an intrigued smile.
"Well, it's nice to meet you two," squeaked Toby as he shook wings with Augustus, "We've never actually seen bats that are twice our size and have faces like a domestic dog."
"Oh, it's a feature of our species, the flying fox," said Augustus, "Humans say that we flying foxes have faces resembling a doglike animal called a fox."
Velma gazed at Andromeda and commented on her unusual features, "And we've never heard of a bird species with feathered legs and a long tail."
Andromeda smiled and gazed at her feathered legs.
"Our legs are actually like a second pair of wings," she said, "We're called archaeobirds, thought by humans to be survivors when those strange, mammoth animals they call dinosaurs but we call giant lizards walked the earth."
Basil then gazed at Rouge who waited near the rim of the cave mouth.
"And what sort of bat is that?" he asked. Andromeda gazed at Rouge.
"Oh, that's a bat-bird or as humans calls her kind, pterodactyl or pterosaur," she said, "They look like bats, don't they, but they have beaks and their wing membranes are supported by only one long finger. They're also reptiles, not mammals."
"Reptiles!?" repeated Toby incredulously. Basil walked over to Rouge and examined the unusual creature's wings. Velma also examined Rouge. "That creature doesn't look like it has scales."
"Yeah, its body's covered with hair like us," said Toby.
"Those 'hairs' are actually called 'pycnofibers' or 'pterodactyl hair'," said Levi but then he decided to change the subject, "Anyway, enough introduction on the archaeobird and the pterosaur or bat-bird, let's talk about how you orange bats are doing."
"As well as what trouble those toucans that have settled in this part of Rio sanctuary are causing you," said Andromeda. When she said this, outraged and frustrated looks were thrown onto Toby and Velma's faces, and the now-adult Basil emitted an angry hiss. Toby turned round and walked a few steps, his back to the group but not out of disdain for them.
"Oh, don't mention that group of big nosed birdbrains," he growled, before turning back to face Andromeda, Augustus and Levi, "That lot keeps interfering with our foraging tasks and nightly outings, especially the chicks."
"Ever since around two or three couples of those toucans have settled here," put in Velma, "The number of kids they had had exploded and soon, those trees," she nodded to some of the tall plants, "have become infested with those pesky toucan chicks."
"They cause us no end of trouble," said Basil as he held his Jeffery stick, "They keep interfering with our foraging trips, making a racket during the daytime and keeping our pups awake, and," his face hardened, "Once, those kids pelted the entrance to our cave with fruit and shouted abuse at us."
Andromeda, Augustus and Levi all flinched as though they had been stung by a swarm of bees, that sting being horror as it tore through them.
"You're joking!" said Levi but the three orange bats shook their heads.
"No, we're not," said Toby, "And when I and some other bats went to complain to the parents of those numerous chicks, they denied their kids' bad behaviour and told us to back off and not interfere with their lives."
"Because those toucan kids keep interfering with our hunt for insects and other small flying prey," said Velma, "The number of successful catches has been badly affected. Some nights, most bats come back to the roost without a single successfully caught meal, some of them mothers with pups, by the time dawn comes round."
Andromeda and Augustus gazed at Levi.
"That sounds very serious," said Augustus, shock and disbelief lacing his face.
"Yes, it is," snapped Toby angrily, "Honestly, those pesky birdbrains with big beaks are causing hunger for some of the families in our colony. Mothers can't suckle their young without sufficient meals and weaned pups are complaining constantly of hunger due to insufficient numbers of successful meals caught."
"We've even searched for prey further away from our cave, hoping to forage in peace," added Velma, "But those toucan kids keep following us and causing us trouble, wherever we go. Some of the foragers are even too scared to come out of the cave because of those troublemakers."
Levi, Andromeda and Augustus continued standing there, speechless as their brains absorbed this information. Then after a minute or so, Levi broke the silence, an assuring look coming on his face.
"Well, some of our human friends have arrived to help deal with the problem," said the glaucous macaw with a nod to the group of humans through the moonlit night air, "They've come with the necessary equipment to help catch some of the toucan chicks as possible."
"But if they're gonna catch those four or five dozen chicks roaming about the trees;" protested Velma, "Shouldn't they target the three pairs of adults that have moved here as well? After all, they're the ones producing all the chicks."
Levi flashed Basil's mother a look and was about to reply when suddenly, commotion erupted not too far away from the cave's mouth. The three little orange bats, the glaucous macaw, flying fox and archaeobird all snapped their gazes into the night air hanging over the trees and to their horror, they saw what looked like a mid-air fight breaking out. Shouts of frustration and mischievous laughter also flooded the air and the group saw several of the bats trying to out-fly something. Some of the bats also looked like they were covering their faces with their wings as little bullets flew from their chasers at their bodies, bouncing off their heads, wings and backs like seeds. Levi narrowed his eyes. 'They are seeds', he thought. Some other bats were frantically trying to dodge some other missiles that were emitting mischievous cackles, like the cackles of crows. Basil, Velma and Toby also frowned.
"That's what we're talking about," said Toby with a nod to the chaos, "It's been going on for months. Those interfering big-nosed nuisances keep causing us havoc as you can see up there."
Levi rubbed his beak with a talon, opened his wings and lofted into flight.
"Where are you going?" asked Basil as he clutched his stick 'Jeffery'.
"I'm gonna see if I can lure those toucan chick troublemakers to our human friends," shouted Levi as he left, "You need to stay in your cave for the time being. Andromeda and Augustus will look after you."
Basil, Velma and Toby gazed at Augustus and Andromeda who ushered the trio back into the cave. Then a thought hit Andromeda as she gazed back at the little bats trying to out-fly the pesky toucan chicks who kept chasing them and pelting them with seeds, laughing all the way.
"Wait, if those little bats are struggling to find food for their families and colony because of those ruffians," she said, "We might need to lend a wing in feeding them."
"But Andromeda, I'm a flying fox… a fruit bat and you're an archaeobird who can only glide without your bat-bird mount Rouge," protested Augustus, disbelief at Andromeda's suggestion, "These little bats must have the ability to hunt and catch flying insects in mid-air, something we flying foxes do NOT, if ever, do for we are too big for that kind of thing. How are we gonna catch such small and agile aerial critters?"
Andromeda gazed at the flying fox, a plan formulating in her head.