Arknights: Archetypes and Elements of “Gray Hair” and “Flame Tail”, Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel Part 2

Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel: Gray squirrels’ damage to Britain’s forests

Invasive gray squirrels are physically stronger than red squirrels and have greater adaptability and foraging ability. Once gray squirrels are present in an area, the red squirrels in that area will slowly disappear. Take acorns for example, in North America gray squirrels in the digestive system, there is a special enzyme, able to directly digest those hard green nuts; but red squirrels cannot, they must wait until the acorns become soft, from green to fully mature brown, before eating.

This means: as soon as there are more gray squirrels, the red squirrels have nothing to eat. They even steal the red squirrels’ food stash. Those stockpiles that the red squirrels have buried will be plowed out without mercy by the sniffing intruders.

Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel: Gray squirrels digging for treasure

It’s a real tragedy that not only do they have nothing to eat, but the food they have stored will also be stolen, and all the red squirrels can do is move on. But the threat to the gray squirrels doesn’t stop there. They carry a squirrel parapoxvirus, a disease that has little effect on them but is fatal to the red squirrels.

This type of transmitted disease is enough to “wipe out” the red squirrel family. Gray squirrels are able to transmit the virus from their scent glands to red squirrels via feces, urine, scent markers, and even fleas. In the days that follow, the red squirrels will begin to weep profusely until they develop fluid sores on their feet and face. After several weeks of infection, the organism dies and the virus continues to spread through the colony.

Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel: The Almond Butter Thief

By the time the British realized the seriousness of the invasive gray squirrel problem, it was a little too late. Since January 2006, the British government has been hunting the huge numbers of gray squirrels. But the actual efficiency has not matched the rate at which they are breeding. Often, within weeks of doing the removals, the gray squirrel population returns to pre-hunting levels.

When physical hunting failed, British experts took a different direction and began urging people to “eat” their way out of the problem. This reasonable sounding approach was echoed by many Britons, who came up with the slogan: “Eat a grey, save red.

Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel: Squirrel meat in British supermarkets

But the era of face value is justice has not yet passed, “Gray squirrel is so cute, how can you eat it?” The invasive species gray squirrels have attracted a large number of fans and supporters because of their cute and cuddly appearance. When experts suggested eating them, it was even more controversial, with protests being sent letter after letter to the government.

BBC TV, under pressure and in an effort to make squirrel meat acceptable for consumption in the UK, even cooked the squirrels live on its evening program. The result was that the controversy not only didn’t stop, but became even bigger, and people started cursing the BBC along with it. Brits who can’t eat end up overestimating their ability to create food.

Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel: Controversial program on BBC TV

This red squirrel vs gray squirrel war continues, but the red squirrel is in a big way. According to the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, which predicts that if the red squirrel population doesn’t rebound as expected within the next 10 years, the species could become completely extinct in the UK. Flame tail, where to go from here?

Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel: The Knights of the Red Pine

Fortunately, in this Terra Grande, the red squirrels, in addition to waiting for extinction, there exists another survival option: leave. As described in the game plot, under the indirect effect of the gray millimeter family, Flame tail infected with ore disease, she chose to leave her hometown.

Flame tail has taken it upon herself to form an order of infected knights: the Red Pines. Why are they called “Red Pines”? There may be two answers: red squirrels and red pine trees. The Red Squirrels, as I’m sure I don’t need to explain any further, are Flame tail’s way of honoring the people who belonged to her tribe, the tribe that was on the verge of extinction and was forced to leave their homeland. Here we will mainly talk about the second imagery, the red squirrel tree.

Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel: Red squirrels storing food

Red squirrels, their favorite food, pine nuts. As mentioned above, they can’t eat acorns like gray squirrels, so pine nuts are their favorite. In the fall, after filling their stomachs, they bury the collected pine nuts in a mud pit and cover it with soil. This is their little “treasure”.

At the same time, the red squirrels have another characteristic: poor memory. After they have happily hidden their treasures, they basically cannot find their buried winter pine nuts the next spring. The squirrels forget the “treasure”, soon after the growth of red pine seedlings. Therefore, the red squirrels inadvertently become the forest’s “seeder”, promoting the renewal of the red pine forest.

Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel: Red squirrels feeding on pine nuts

This storage behavior is of great importance to the forest ecosystem, as the seeds that are not found by the squirrels become new plants in the forest, especially in the red pines, whose only natural regeneration depends on the squirrels and other animals burying and spreading them. Therefore, the name of her order is “Red Pine”, a symbol of the beauty and resilience of the magnificent plants on which she has built her life and on which she has built each other.

Red Squirrel vs Gray Squirrel: Red Squirrel’s Mansion

In the real world, British parks protect red squirrels by giving them their own “mansions”. The large-scale introduction of pine martens may have brought a silver lining to the war between red and gray. Hopefully, the Flame tail on Terra will do the same and make Rhode Island its new home and become the new “Red Pine”.