Part II: Kamacuras
My name is Wes Atkins and I'm a Mega Zoologist that has spent my whole life studying the colossal inhabitants of this world...Kaiju. I now have the opportunity to see these fantastic creatures in person and not only that, but I get to share this experience with many of you across the world. My goal is to show that these are not mindless monsters but simply animals that deserve to live peacefully. So join me today as we take another look into the Wild World of Kaiju.
The opening shot shows a small base camp on, a beach, with Wes packing various survival items into an outdoor backpack before noticing the camera. He's a bit surprised at first but quickly addresses the camera with an energetic attitude.
"Welcome back folks, just packing a few things we're going to need for our adventure. Last time, we encountered perhaps the largest living being I have seen, so far, in my life. But today we will be taking a look at some much smaller inhabitants of Monster Island, the Kamacuras. These are praying mantises that can grow up to 2 meters tall (or a little over 6 feet) and 3 meters long (which is a little under 10 feet). Now they may sound small compared to Sanda, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous. Kamacuras are voracious predators and well equipped to hunt prey."
Wes turns around and pulls out a large duffle bag which he opens up. He then takes out, what looks to be, a large insect like claw and lifts it up with both hands to show the camera.
"This is the foreleg of a Kamacuras, called a raptorial appendage. A Kamacuras has two of these and will use them to great effect. Now this appendage was taken from the molted shell of one so it is surprisingly light" he says while lifting it up and down with his arms.
"The front forelegs of a normal mantis serves two functions. The tip of one is equipped with a leg-like appendage, called the tarsus, and this is used to assist the mantis in walking. The inner part consists of several hard spikes that are meant to grip prey and hold it in place. However the foreleg here is missing the tarsus entirely, leaving only the claw which is more blade-like and serrated. That's because when it hunts, it uses its forelegs to slice into its prey and then waits until the unfortunate prey animal dies from loss of blood. If that isn't scary enough, they are rarely alone and choose to hunt in groups. All these attributes make the Kamacuras very formidable predators."
Wes then puts the foreleg back in the duffle bag to continue his previous task of packing.
"Now you are all probably thinking that it sounds absolutely insane that I'm actually going out to find these creatures, and I don't blame you." He briefly pauses to zip up a couple of his backpack compartments before continuing. "Luckily, Kamacuras have a very poor sense of smell and hearing. They rely mainly on their eyesight, to hunt, which is designed to easily detect movement. But I will be moving very slowly and sticking close to the trees for cover. However if that doesn't work then I'll be using these babies to help us out."
Wes shows the camera a small, metal, cylindrical device being held in his hand. The metal object read Smoke Grenade on the side of it and he gave it a jingling motion before strapping it to the side of his backpack.
"These smoke grenades should be able to distract and confuse the Kamacuras long enough for us to get some distance between them. Well...that is the theory anyways."
"Wait what?!" A voice chimed in from behind the camera
Wes gave a chuckle as he zipped up the last compartment and shoulders the survival backpack. He then made his way close to the camera and gave what appeared to be a quick pat on the shoulder to the person behind the device.
"That is science mate; testing out to see what is true and what isn't. Don't worry Shawn, stick close and you'll be alright." Wes gives a reassuring smile to the unseen person before looking back at the camera. "As I said last time, please do not attempt anything I'll be doing and never confront a Kaiju under any circumstance. Now let's go find ourselves some bugs."
Without skipping a beat, Wes began making his way into the jungle, behind him, with the camera following very close behind. True to his word, Wes was being more cautious this time around. The usually lively host was now methodically moving through the dense vegetation while constantly surveying his surroundings.
After a few minutes, the land shifted into a more forest-like environment with the plant life being much less dense than before. The area was mostly flat ground that was brown in color due to the dirt and rotting foliage that made up most of the forest floor. Up above were tall tropical trees with incredibly thick tops. Small rays of sunlight could be seen breaking through the forest canopy, creating a much cooler environment than the jungle from earlier.
"We are definitely in Kamacuras territory now as this habitat is well suited for them. " Wes explains as he continues to be vigilant of the surrounding area. "Kamacuras are a natural brown color so that allows them to blend in easily with everything here, from the trees to the ground. Meanwhile the thick forest canopy above hides them from the much larger Kaiju that would want to make a meal out of them. This all results in a territory that the Kamacuras can thrive in and that means we should be seeing some any minute now."
As if on cue, a sound of rustling leaves resonates from the area to the left of the crew. Wes reacts almost immediately and goes prone next to the nearest tree with the camera following closely by his side. He gestures to the camera to stay down as he peers around the tree trunk to investigate the origin of the noise.
"Come here and take a look at this Shawn" he says in a low tone while looking back.
The camera rounds the corner to see exactly what Wes wanted to show. The device focuses on a group of bovine animals traveling through the forest floor, not too far from where the adventurers were at.
"These aren't quite what we were looking for, but they are real beauties nonetheless. These are wild water buffalo and they are among the several other non Kaiju species that are living on Monster Island. Gives you a bit of a reminder that we're still here in the present day doesn't it?"
Without warning, a blaring shriek resonates through the forest alerting the herd. The lone shrieking was followed by several others that sent the buffalo into a panic, causing them to stampede away from the noises. The camera then picks up a couple of fast moving bodies pursuing the herd.
"There they are!" Wes exclaims while springing up from his previous position to chase the animals.
During the pursuit, Wes loses sight of the herd trying to keep a fair distance away, to not attract the predators. He was forced to follow the tracks that were left by the buffalo for a while until hearing a familiar sound. The same shrieks as before could be heard in the distance, allowing Wes to follow the shrill noises to their source.
After following the sounds for several minutes, Wes stumbles upon the creatures they have been searching for. The camera zooms in to focus on the site of 4 human sized praying mantises that had a lone water buffalo surrounded on all sides. The large insects were keeping their distance from the bovine as it stomped its hooves and showed its horns if they strayed too close.
Wes then gets into frame of the shot to help narrate the event as it unfolded.
"We're very fortunate that we didn't miss this. It's even more remarkable getting to see these hunters in action. Now the Kamacuras are being very careful because even though they are around the same size, the water buffalo is much heavier and can easily kill one of them with its horns "
Suddenly a loud buzzing noise whizzed past the buffalo, leaving a cut on its body. The animal was clearly in pain but still held its ground against the insects. Another unseen attack happened to the buffalo, leaving another cut along its body which was immediately followed by another.
"If you weren't able to catch that, this is the main hunting strategy of the Kamacuras. Most of the group will surround their prey, and distract them, while another ambushes the animal from behind. Sounds like a pretty simple strategy right? Well there is actually more going on here than you may think. I previously mentioned that Kamacuras have poor hearing and that is partly true. They actually just hear differently than we do. Kamacuras can only hear ultrasonic frequencies which are sounds that our human ears can't detect. Now if you look closely at the wings of the Kamacuras you will notice they are vibrating. What they are doing is creating that ultrasonic frequency that we just talked about and they use this to help them during their hunt. When they surround their prey, an individual will beat its wings only when the prey animal is looking at it. This lets the Kamacuras, that is doing the ambushing, know which way the prey is facing so that it can safely attack from behind. When it is ready, the Kamacuras uses its wings to quickly fly close to the animal and deliver a nasty cut with it's razor sharp forelegs. They will continue to repeat this process until their prey eventually dies." Wes finishes his long monologue with an audible exhale and a smile.
"That sure was doozy of an explanation wasn't it? It is even more amazing that everything that I just said happens in only a couple of seconds. It just goes to show how truly remarkable these creatures are."
As Wes finishes his statement, the water buffalo finally collapses. The surrounding Kamacuras close in on the now motionless animal and proceed to devour it. The camera turns away from the sight and instead focuses on Wes.
"Now this is much too grisly to show on camera and it may seem cruel, but you must remember that these creatures are just surviving the only way they know how. With that said, the Kamacuras will eat the entire buffalo using their incredibly powerful mandibles that are strong enough to even chew through bone. Nothing will go to waste here as they will need all the energy they can get for their next hunt. So while our friends here are preoccupied with their meal I say we start heading back before it starts to get dark. We're still going to have to be careful because there are other groups of Kamacuras, just like this one, hunting throughout this forest so we're literally and figuratively not out of the woods yet." he says slightly chuckling at his bad joke.
The camera feed cuts out and turns back on to show Wes at the base camp from the beginning.
"It did take us quite a while to make it back here because we were looking out for other Kamacuras but luckily we didn't encounter any more of them. It is a bit of a bummer that we didn't get to see if the smoke grenades would actually work on the Kamacuras, but I'm sure Shawn here isn't complaining."
Reaching from behind the camera, a hand comes into frame of the shot and gives a thumbs up before focusing back on Wes.
"Now our ride will be here momentarily to pick us up, so I thought we could talk a little more about the Kamacuras since we didn't get to see a lot of them. Their pack hunting behavior is still a mystery as to how, and when it was developed. Usually pack hunting is very common among predatory mammals like wolves, or lions, and is practically unseen among insects. The closest thing would be ants but they operate more akin to a super organism or a structured society. Some researchers believe that the Kamacuras lived in a time where they shared their habitat with far larger animals, and they developed pack hunting as a way to better survive by catching prey easier. Others believe that this behavior is recently developed and that it is a response to the new world that they now inhabit. Further studies are being conducted to solve this mystery and it is only a matter of time before we do."
The audio then picks up a faint noise in the distance that get louder and is identified as a type of mechanical humming.
"That must be them now." Wes says with an incredibly pleased tone as he waves at the approaching craft.
"And just like that, we are at the end of another spectacular adventure. Thank you all again for joining me and hope you'll return next time to learn more about the Wild World of Kaiju."