*looks at promised time for the final round's result* *looks at time of posting* *looks at clock* ... Welcome back to the final round of March Mammal Madness! Both of our competitors have survived five fights (well, five rounds) to make it to the finals! Who will bring home glory, and who will bear the shame of defeat? graphic design is my passion As always, results are synthesized from here. Tonight's battle takes place in along the coastal area of Northern Queensland Australia where two World Heritage Ecosystems meet: the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef! Brown hyena is adapted to coastal living, in Namibia hunting and scavenging many species on land and inter-tidal zones. Although most associated with dense forests, Gorilla also make use of coastal scrub in Gabon. Gorilla finds himself on the beach as gentle waves lap at his hands and feet, wrapping kelp around his wrist. As Western Gorillas are typically "attracted to bais, that is, swampy forest clearings, where they consume sodium‐rich plants" (Grueter et al. 2018) this coastal ecosystem provides an opportunity to ingest sodium-rich seaweed. In the distance, the Brown Hyena scatters several dozen grey plovers, shorebirds with one of the longest migrations between Australia and the Arctic Circle. After days away from his family and meals of poo (ew), termites, and seaweed, Gorilla is feeling pretty salty and looks to the lush rainforest for a leafy meal to replenish hydration. Brown Hyena wasn't really working for a dinner most fowl, prowling happens typically at night. However, with several hours until sundown, Brown Hyena is keen to find a sleeping spot, when the beckoning of a rotting carcass drifts from the forest from across a freshwater creek flowing from the forest through the beach to the ocean. Gorilla has also approached the forest edge; low sloping beach trees limit visibility until the Brown Hyena and Gorilla are suddenly 10 feet apart on the same side of the creek! Although spotted hyenas aren't a danger to Great Apes, poachers often hunt with dogs and outside his home range, Gorilla goes anti-predator defensive to this odd shaggy Brown Hyena. Gorilla stands tall and pig-grunts aggressively! Brown Hyena lifts hair to seem bigger, but side slink skitters slightly deeper into the forest to put more distance between itself and Gorilla. However, the Brown Hyena doesn't want to quit the scene, as the enticing carcass smell is coming from just up across the creek. Brown Hyena looks for the best route to cross the creek - the water seems shallow, but the mud banks of the creek have an odd slippery-seeming smoothness to them. Gorilla is focused on the Brown Hyena, assessing if there's a threat from the mammalian carnivore. Brown Hyena begins crossing the creek, his wide front paws splaying as he sinks partially into mud, looking sideways at the primate, hyena moves away from Gorilla. Sluphmp! Sluphmp! Brown Hyena's smaller back paws, with less surface area, sink his back end deeper into the mud, slowing down hyena's departure. Gorilla, impatient with the slow locomotion of the Brown Hyena, gets ready for contact escalation of inter-specific deterrence. All of a sudden, Gorilla is screaming! Gorilla is screaming in fear at the 25-foot saltwater crocodile across the creek! Annoyed at the screaming Gorilla, the crocodile moves from his resting place to a nearby billabong, planning to submerge for a couple hours while digesting the large cow whose carcass the croc had mostly consumed. Meanwhile, Brown Hyena, terrified of Gorilla screams, scrambles backs out of the mud and dives into the forest! Gorilla frightens Brown Hyena! Winner: luckycordel, 62 pointsRunner-up: Hashhog, 57 pointsRhy: 45 pointsThird place: jacob5089, 38 points607: 37 points Tiny Terrors division leader: Hashhog, 13/27 pointsDouble Trouble division leader: Hashhog, 24/27 pointsCats-ish vs. Dogs-ish division leader: luckycordel, 26/27 points (wow!)AnthropoSCENE division leaders: Hashhog and luckycordel, 9/27 points Special prize:Out of all 65 contestants, my absolute favorite was the Gopher Tortoise. Although it lost in the semifinals to the Gorilla, the Gopher Tortoise survived four rounds because Feral Pigeon was hit by a truck, Florida Panther got distracted by a rabbit and ran away, Common Cuttlefish got a bit too frisky for its own good, and Trumpeter Swan flew into some power lines. Therefore, the participant(s) who had the Gopher Tortoise going the farthest will be getting my head. Special prize winners: luckycordel and 607, 1 round each Thanks for participating in March Mammal Madness! Tune in next year, when I may or may not decide to do this again. Also, if there's enough interest, I'll post the spreadsheet that I have with everyone's results. Thanks for playing!
Thank you for hosting! It was super fun and such a great discovery (particularly as someone who loves sports but can't stand basketball). If you don't host next year, I'll definitely sub in.
Prizes have been sent out, with the exception of the heads. I changed my name recently, so I don't have a supply of Sprhyngtime heads just yet. I should be sending those out in the next day or two.
Thanks Rhy! I really enjoyed all the stories. My favorite battle was the Short Tailed Bat getting slung it into the air. Hope to see this next year!
Okay okay, cool, thanks for hosting and all, but... Poroper Nouns?!? Hm, the rest of the website doesn't look much better, to be honest. At least I don't see any more typos. Well, I suppose I shouldn't complain—it got the answer right.
