Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: NateSean on December 19, 2010, 11:49:24 AM
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In the fanfiction I'm writing, my main character doesn't have regular access to a zoo and a wildlife clinic full of animals. Essentially, he is limited to the animals he can actually get a hold of. Since most of the story will be taking place in or around my home town (in New England) this limits him somewhat.
Deer, cows (A fully grown and ungelded steer could be pretty deadly to humans and Taxxons), some pet animals like cats, dogs and rats. Insects, spiders and there is a Society for Creative Anachronism group that may have trained falcons or hawks.
So lets say you or your friends are given the power to morph. But you're limited to the animals you can find in your area. What are they and how could you use them in the fight against the Yeerks? (And no, the Ellemist can't hook you up.)
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I have a donkey, Miniature horse, cat, two dogs (one hairless chines crested, and one basset hound), and two goats readily available. We often have chickens, too, but not right now. There are also numerous birds, squirrels, rabbits, and other little woodland creatures that, if I could catch one, I could use. I've been considering teaching myself to build snares, just for the wilderness survival practicality. But I could also learn it to help save the world. We also have coyotes around here, and hawks and buzzards. There are some big dogs down the street, and lot's of pet stores would/will let you pet the animals. And you wouldn't get in too much trouble if you stuck your hand in there anyways, so .... snakes, lizards, large spiders, hamsters, other rodents, small birds, tiny fish, turtles..... Every year at the State Fair, they have those giant Clydesdale horses, and all kinds of cows, sheep, and they even have a petting zoo with a giraffe, giant pig, rams, a kangaroo, ostriches, and some other useful morphs. It would be hard to touch them if they weren't already coming up to the fence, but the potential is still there. Flies would be easy.. just wait for one to land on you and acquire it (then squish it while it's out! >:D)
Can you tell I've thought of this before?
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Same here.
I mean, if I were to get really bold the Franklin Zoo in Boston has some ideal predatory morphs. But I would have to be seriously willing to risk arrest and unlike the Gardens (which is basically Sea World/Six Flags), the Franklin Zoo is too small to effectively lose a security guard in.
If I were solo, I would get the most convenient and yet easiest to control animals. A rat would be better than a mouse for example, because a rat has a sense of height and self preservation. (I've had both mice and a rat for pets and I prefer the rat every time)
Regular dogs would be fine, but I would go with something like a trained police or military dog, or the kind prison guards use. Clydesdales rock. If their landspeed was fast enough then a well trained, well fed horse would be an ideal battle morph against Taxxons and humans. (Probably wouldn't last long against more than one Hork-Bajir, but a well placed kick would give the Yeerk's offspring a headache)
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There are quite a few animals, I've thought of this before. :P My dog, an occasional rat/mouse, ****roaches, flies, spiders, my turtle, chickens, goats, cows, maybe a bird if I could catch one, lizards, frogs, toads, cats...sometimes at the zoo you can go and touch the animals. You can also go and visit your neighbors and get 'em there...
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I have cute dogs at home, but there are dogs everywhere here. And cats, but they're more difficult to catch lol (But a lot of my friends have cats).
I also have my octodon degus, who are perfect to replace rats and squirrels. Except that, I think, they'd be more difficult to control than rats.
I also have small birds and small fishes... who knows, it can help to fly/swim away ^^' (and be eaten by a bigger bird/fish, I know ^^')
There also are a lot of farm animals around here. But I don't know who they could be really interesting, except to hide... There are also a lot of insects and spiders but... they're not all interesting for missions.
There also is a public zoo in Lyon, where we usually can't touch the animals but... if you're a little crazy and come when almost nobody's there, I suppose you can at least touch the elephants, maybe the lions (ok, here you needa be totally insane ^^')... There is a bird park not so far from my house too, where it may be possible to touch a few of the animals. Not easy, and you probably need to hide to do so. And around the park, there are a lot of ponds full of frogs.
In Japan, I could touch small sharks and skates. So if I can go back to Osaka in this aquarium, I could acquire them ;)
But I agree, it isn't that simple to touch animals in zoos. The best thing, I think, is to find a small animal (rat, bird, insect, spider...), morph it to enter in the animals' cages, or in the room where they sleep at night, demorph, acquire them, and go back home the same way.
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Let's see. Dogs and cats, obviously. My mother has a bird feeder, so it shouldn't be hard to get a small bird morph, or a dove. I could also get a squirrel, deer, maybe a rabbit or armadillo if I'm lucky.
I live by a lake, so I might be able to get one of those wading birds I see sometimes, and I know where an eagle nest is. Getting some fish shouldn't be too hard either.
There's also a place nearby where people keep horses, or at least one horse. It also shouldn't be too far to drive to the nearest cattle pasture.
Various insects. Flies, roaches, praying mantises. Butterflies and moths. Spiders and scorpions. Snakes as well.
Living in the country gives me a lot of options, though for battle I'm not sure I could do better than a bull or large dog.
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I've seen a raccoon and lots of opossums. Also some squirrels, lizards and a neighbor has an iguana and ferrets.
I have two cats and a dog :P
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Yeah. Lizards, ducks, turtles. A lot of things, but just not exotic stuff like Gorrillas or Tigers. No sharks or squids, ect.
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See, my problem would be that I wouldn't even care what I can find nearby. I can turn into a bird, right? I can go wherever I want!
First thing I would acquire would probably be one of my cats, just for practice. Then I would go to a pet-store to get a hamster or something small, to sneak into the zoo. Our zoo has decent security, but I think I could sneak in at least long enough to acquire a bald eagle or other bird of prey, which I would acquire so that I could travel. Then I would do some research on the internet on small (and therefore probably low-security) zoos. One thing I would look for would be reptile houses with venomous snakes, which I could acquire and then quickly morph something if they bit me so the venom wouldn't affect me. A venomous snake morph could come in handy later. And, of course, I'd then go for something like a rhino or grizzly bear (maybe giving them a teeny dose of venom to render them complacent), since my theoretical battle strategy would probably involve trying not to die long enough to kill everything trying to kill me.
Is it frightening that I have already done research on small, nearby zoos (focusing on ones with venomous snakes, rhinos, and grizzly bears), as well as the venom kill-times of several venomous snakes for exactly this reason?
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Ooh, this is fun.
Domestic animals are obvious: here that means dogs, cats, rats, a variety of fish, etc. The most "combat-worthy" is either a large dog or ferret.
Oh, and since this is Maine, you can get live lobsters easy.
Next up, invertebrates. I can catch grasshoppers, crickets, mantises, earwigs, silverfish, a ton of different kinds of beetles, flies, etc, etc, etc. Just go outside from spring to mid fall. In spring and summer, amphibians are easy: frogs, salamanders, etc.
Now, none of those are really "fighting" morphs, but you get a lot of stealth. Next up, transportation. Flight, of course. Who doesn't want to fly?
So, lawn chair + sunflower seeds + about a week = chickadee or titmouse morph.
For long-haul, mallard ducks are everywhere and semi-tame. I bet it'd be pretty easy to lay a hand on one. Careful, though, they do bite.
I wouldn't mess around with geese, and certainly not swans. *shudder*
Once we've got those, it's off to Maine Wildlife Park (http://www.state.me.us/ifw/education/wildlifepark/wildlife/index.htm) for a golden eagle, barred owl, fisher, and mountain lion.
AKA: puma. Oh heck yes, puma.
Maybe moose, too, just for the heck of it. Not a fighting animal by any stretch of the imagination--an adult can fight off coyotes and even wolves, but they present a large target and don't have very good senses. Dracon + Moose = The Way of the Dodo, I'm afraid.
You really, really, really have to think guerrilla to make the most of those morphs, but they're definitely accessible.
Get a mist net, and you can catch little brown bats, too.
Oh, and I like Dino's idea about venomous reptiles. You would have to find a zoo for sure; it's too cold for them to live in the wild.
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Yeah, swans are one of those animals that looks nice from afar, but will mess you up if you mess with them.
I'm not far enough north to find any mountain lions, unfortunately. Or even quite close enough to Florida to find any alligators.
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I'd start with my dog, of course. Easiest to acquire, and pretty easy to control. There are tons of stray dogs and cats in my neighborhood, so those would all be fairly easy. Rats, roaches and other vermin would also be easy enough. Since this is Texas if I tried hard enough I could probably find a rattler, though acquiring it may be a challenge. Horses and longhorn cattle are easy to find too, same with deer. I could probably find an alligator, but that would be a dangerous acquiring process.
Um...what else....armadillo?
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See, my problem would be that I wouldn't even care what I can find nearby. I can turn into a bird, right? I can go wherever I want!
Presumably. I think if I were to discover my family was made of controllers I'd go with that mindset.
Our zoo has decent security, but I think I could sneak in at least long enough to acquire a bald eagle or other bird of prey, which I would acquire so that I could travel.
Hopefully said bird of prey doesn't get aroused to your presence while you are in snack sized mode. ;)
Of course if you're trying to go low profile, you'll want to make sure that your transit morph is something local. A turkey buzzard found in the Franklin Zoo for example was found in Brazil and would arouse attention if someone saw it flying free in North America.
Good call with the venomous snakes though. I'd be happy with a rattler or a pit viper. Hork-Bajir seem to go down hard and heavy with a bite from one of them.
I know of petstores near my area that sell scorpions with removed poison sacs. However DNA doesn't respect surgery...
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My mom's cats, my friend's dogs and birds... flies, spiders, ants, various other insects... There's a horse barn relatively close to my friend's house where her mom spends a lot of time, so it wouldn't be completely weird for me to show up there...
Yeah, that kind of covers it, actually.
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I'd acquire a goose and go to the Philadelphia zoo, then a small bird (I actually have some quail in a pen, so that works) to get in. (Hey, I'm saving a world here, I should get a free pass). Or I could just make a day trip of it and drive there, doesn't really matter - aside from the fact I drive an SUV that destroys gas with a passion.
Once in, I'd acquire everything. The Philadelphia zoo has basically everything I'd ever need. My main risk though, are of course, getting mauled by the larger animals I'd want and zoo security. Also, getting into some of the pens - I can't always just morph, jump in, demorph and get to work. A lot of the enclosures have cameras to watch the animals, which are a big no-no. It'd be easier at night but it would still be tough.
As far as things that are closer than "day trip" status, the usual domesticated dogs and cats in the area and some small birds. There are local red-tails, but I can't exactly walk up to one and acquire it. Same for coyotes, although those can be more easily trapped than a hawk. I'd probably go to the zoo ASAP though if I got morphing powers. Honestly though, anyone within a 150+ mile radius of the Philadelphia zoo would/should go there first. It has basically everything.
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My mom's cats, my friend's dogs and birds... flies, spiders, ants, various other insects... There's a horse barn relatively close to my friend's house where her mom spends a lot of time, so it wouldn't be completely weird for me to show up there...
Yeah, that kind of covers it, actually.
Ants? Did you just say ants!? You would even attempt morphing ants after reading book 5 or 9?
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::) The title says what animals do I actually have access to. Ants are animals I have access to.
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Just being comically overdramatic there. ;D
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Whatever. ::)
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I have a dog and a rat. I'd acquire those first and then try for a bird. I'm not sure how I'd get one. I could go to a pet store. While there I'd get a scorpion and a turtle (For swimming) and a ferret. I can think of a pet store with all of those. Then I'd head to Brookfield Zoo (preferably at night and get some other morphs like a goose. I could maybe get a few other morphs but security would be hard. I'd try for a hippo (causes the most human deaths in Africa) and rhino. Maybe I could get a puma or something. Also a kangaroo. Fast and those legs can pack a punch.
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See, the beauty of geese is that I grew up in a town where there is a pond frequented by geese and ducks. They're so used to people feeding them that they'll just walk right up to you. Of course, Vermont is also a big hunting area, so Yeerks not withstanding, I wouldn't want to morph anything that is considered game.
Skunks are another common animals in most towns really. If you don't startle it right away you can actually get close enough to touch it without making it want to spray. Walk into a meeting of Yeerks and spray several high ranking controllers. They'd be out of commission for a while.
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Assorted cats and dogs, chickens, large pony, goats, ducks, frogs, crickets and grasshoppers, spiders, flies, fleas, ****roaches, rabbits if I visit some relatives...
...and as a cat I'm sure I could get access to any songbirds I'd want.
Beyond that, I'd probably just go to the Treehouse Wildlife Center in Brighton, where I've volunteered before, and see if I can get hooked up with peregrines, bald and golden eagles, pumas, bobcats, and coyotes. They have a pelican and a whole mess of deer; I might morph the pelican for kicks. :)
Combat morphs? Hmn. I figure polar bear or tiger would be most to my taste, but the nearest ones are in St. Louis zoo.
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Honestly, I think I would acquire and morph everything and anything within five feet of me :P
As for flight and battle morphs, I'd have to take a trip to a zoo downtown, which isn't very far, actually. I haven't been there in YEARS, though, so I don't know what animals they have.
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In my area...dogs, cats, foxes, dingos, kangaroos, koalas, birds, lizards, snakes...I think there's a zoo about an hour away with lions though. Oh and there's an emu farm nearby haha
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Emu farms are big in parts of the States too. Not sure how useful they'd be for battle. I'd almost prefer a fully grown Ostrich. Those things are nasty fighters and there are people who raise ostriches for meat and leather.
Speaking of birds, in my home State and very accessible is this handy little organization.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Institute_of_Natural_Science
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1: Acquire goose or duck
2: Fly to a nearbyish area with access to animals I need.
Though, there are two zoos where I live, one of which does have some touch cages and stuff, though I haven't been in a long time so I don't know what I'd be able to get my hands on.
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um... 2 dogs, various insects, and geckos. (we even have a green anole in the yard somewhere.)
maybe a squirrel if i could catch it. ::)
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I have access to quite a lot of animals, since I work at a zoo. However, none of them would really be ideal in a combat situation, as we're a small zoo and don't have larger predatory animals like big cats. I could always travel to zoos that do have them, but I still wouldn't be able to stroke a Tiger without risking serious injury, even if I could somehow sneak into the enclosures.
Including the animals I work with, domesticated animals and animals at other locations I could easily get access to:
Dog, cat, hamster, mouse, rat, chipmunk, squirrel, rabbit, guinea pig, horse, cow, sheep, pig, reindeer, goat, variety of birds (including certain birds of prey and owls), variety of small fish, frog, toad, snake (non-venomous), tarantula, scorpion, salamander, skink, green anole, snail (regular and giant), locust, stick insect, ****roach, fly, ant, caterpillar, butterfly, terrapin, praying mantis, assassin bug, lemur, giraffe, emu, wallaby, meerkat, monkey, iguana, chameleon, etc.
I might be forgetting a few. Like I said, most of the animals I work with are small. The only battle worthy animal I could get access to without serious risk would probably be a rhino. They have them at a zoo not far from here and I could probably reach out and touch one without entering the enclosure.
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I have access to quite a lot of animals, since I work at a zoo. However, none of them would really be ideal in a combat situation, as we're a small zoo and don't have larger predatory animals like big cats. I could always travel to zoos that do have them, but I still wouldn't be able to stroke a Tiger without risking serious injury, even if I could somehow sneak into the enclosures.
Including the animals I work with, domesticated animals and animals at other locations I could easily get access to:
Dog, cat, hamster, mouse, rat, chipmunk, squirrel, rabbit, guinea pig, horse, cow, sheep, pig, reindeer, goat, variety of birds (including certain birds of prey and owls), variety of small fish, frog, toad, snake (non-venomous), tarantula, scorpion, salamander, skink, green anole, snail (regular and giant), locust, stick insect, ****roach, fly, ant, caterpillar, butterfly, terrapin, praying mantis, assassin bug, lemur, giraffe, emu, wallaby, meerkat, monkey, iguana, chameleon, etc.
It's probably none of my business, but I was wondering if the Animorphs had any influence in your chosen profession. Or were you sure that you'd be working with animals at a young age?
I might be forgetting a few. Like I said, most of the animals I work with are small. The only battle worthy animal I could get access to without serious risk would probably be a rhino. They have them at a zoo not far from here and I could probably reach out and touch one without entering the enclosure.
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Dogs, cats, rats, quite a few insects...
I guess I could go sneak into the local zoo and pick up some of the more dangerous stuff. (They have a wonderful tiger exhibit there.)
I could see myself also picking up a bird of prey morph from the local park which has a center for bigger birds and the study of them! I guess I would not be so helpless now that I think about it. Hehe
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It's probably none of my business, but I was wondering if the Animorphs had any influence in your chosen profession. Or were you sure that you'd be working with animals at a young age?
It did as a matter of fact. Animorphs was the first book series I read for fun and it definitely inspired my love of reading, writing and animals. Maybe I would've ended up liking all three anyway, no way to know for sure.
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As I live in a small, over-looked town by the coast of Norway, there is obviously no zoo nearby where I live. And there aren't any wild, dangerous, useful animals here either. :(
So the morphs I could get hold of if I ever bothered, would be...
Our pets, of course. I have a dog and a bunch of freshwater aquarium fishes(wouldn't be that useful, but oh well). We used to have salamanders, but both died. :(
Then there are various insects, like flies and bedbugs and ants and bees and spiders and whatever. However, 'roaches aren't that common over here. And honestly, I can't stand touching insects. Just too gross. :-X
As for birds, there are pigeons, seagulls, house sparrows, mallards, geese, and swans. No birds of prey, those are probably further out on the sea. The only problem with acquiring most birds would be to get hold of them before they fly away. They always fly away when we approach them, you know. Maybe except for swans and those really tame pigeons. But I could be wrong, who knows.
There are lots of cats in our neighborhood, so maybe I could acquire one of them... ^-^
Too bad my mom's allergic to cats. :(
Those are the most common animals I could think of. I'm pretty sure there are rats or mice somewhere here, but those aren't common. Or maybe I'm just ignorant... ::)
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We used to have salamanders, but both died. :(
They always fly away when we approach them, you know.
Sorry to hear about your salamanders. Amphibians are not easy animals to take care of.
Seagulls have one defining characteristic that would make them fairly easy to get ahold of in the wild; They're scavengers. It takes half a loaf of bread for them to identify you as a food source and by that time they'll get too close for comfort. ;)
Also, Phoenix:
That's actually very cool. I've been to three zoos in my lifetime and I could never get bored at either one. If a maintenence position at the Franklin Zoo ever opened up I think I'd be down there in a heart beat.
And like you, Animorphs influenced me heavily to be a writer. The only other thing KA Applegate wrote that inspired me even more than the series was her response to many of her readers: Be the Best Version of Yourself.
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Visser Three: <OMG A COIN!>
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Visser Three: <OMG A COIN!>
What exactly was the point of that? :eyebrow:
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Hmmm, other than cats, dogs, and insects, we've got.... raccoons. And there's a zoo not TOO far, though the only animals I could actually get close enough to would be petting zoo goats, sheep, and rabbits, and maybe pea****s. Actually, the reptile exibit MIGHT let me hold a friendly snake or lizard. No poisonous snakes, though. They only let you hold the constrictors.
Yeah, I'd be pretty much boned. I don't think I'd even be able to get close enough to a seagul to acquire it. But I suppose, if I knew that morphing heals wounds and diseases, I might be a little braver about trying to catch something.
Oh! And ducks. We have a huge duck pond at a nearby park, and they're crazy friendly. So I'd at least have a long distance flyer.... That I could then use to fly over to Cassie's and get myself a decent fighter.
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Visser Three: <OMG A COIN!>
What exactly was the point of that? :eyebrow:
Wrong thread, maybe? :P
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Okay, so here's another question for y'all... If you were to get morphing powers, would you just go acquire animals you 'have access' to, or would you be breakin' into the zoo? I know I would.
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Probably do risk-free acquiring to start with, as having a number of morphs to use would make it much easy to sneak into other areas. I would eventually try acquiring a Tiger because I just couldn't resist, but I would be terrified of trying it.
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Well, it's not stealing if you're just acquiring DNA. And, because you're saving the work, the act of breaking and entering is justifiable.
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Okay, so here's another question for y'all... If you were to get morphing powers, would you just go acquire animals you 'have access' to, or would you be breakin' into the zoo? I know I would.
I'm an opportunist and a survivor, first and foremost. That means I'll jump on any opportunity that presents the least amount of risk. If I'm taking on the Yeerk Empire solo (remember, as far as I know, there are no other Animorphs) then running headlong into a room full of controllers in tiger morph isn't going to he my first move.
Now, at the moment, I do have access to a zoo. It's a train ride away and I know how to get ahold of transit morphs. But if my ability to last long in the war depended on secrecy and not arousing suspicion, I can't imagine a worse way to do it than to wind up having to explain to my mother why her first born was suddenly several cities away without permission.
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Dunno, you proably wouldn't get very close to wild animals, at our house we have, what, one dog (a big scaredy staffie ^^), three cats and one hamster but I guess you could sneak round peoples back yard's in those morphs and then get others and go to petting zoos and so on.
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I think my neighbours would wonder why I'm crawling in their backyard just to acquire squirrels and pets and garter snakes.
If you're an Animorph then those type of morphs aren't going to to diddly. You're GOING to have to break into a zoo and acquire some pretty big animals. How you'd do that, I don't know. All I can say is that Yeerks aren't afraid of Toy Poodles and Squirels. At least, not the everyday kind. Maybe there are some Kryptonian Squrriels running around.
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I wouldn't break into the zoo (emphasis on the one zoo) here, but if I were somewhere else, I would certainly go for it. I'd have to go on a trip to find big animals. Up north they have crocodiles..
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Well, it's not stealing if you're just acquiring DNA. And, because you're saving the work, the act of breaking and entering is justifiable.
Oh I'd have no problem breaking in. Like you said, I'm doing it to save the bloody world, so it wouldn't bother me. Sure getting caught is a concern, but if I went in morph after hours the risk would be minimal and some of the animals would be asleep.
I'd be much more concerned about the possibility of something eating me than getting caught by zoo security. I mean what's the worst they can do if they catch me? I haven't stolen or broken anything, and as soon as I'm alone I can morph something small and escape (hopefully before they get my name and fingerprints).
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Mike, what you do is read scenes from the books that involved acquiring dangerous animals before you go. :P That way you've got tips!
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Have you read #1? How is "almost get eaten by two Tigers" useful advice? :P
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They didn't get killed, did they? :P There you go!
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They almost did, and Jake's probably in better shape than me!
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Gah. You're such a fatalist. :P
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Well, it's winter here now and mot much is out. But in the summer, there're hummingbirds around a lot, which could be cool. I've got 4 dogs and a cat, plus any that the neighbors have. There're 2 zoos around here, and if you could sneak in places there's lots of good things, since the larger one has a sort of aquarium part, tropical areas, areas with birds and butterflies, large outside areas and a farm. There's also a petting zoo at the Ren Fest in the summer, and last year they had some falcons and stuff as well, and gigantic horses.
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I suppose if you had someway of getting into the area where they watch the security cameras, and if you have some means of taking out the guards without causing them too much harm, then I guess all you really have to worry about is the night patrolmen--if any-- and the actual animal you're trying to acquire. Unless the zoos are installing infared lasers and top notch defence systems.
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If I could take out security, the cameras, night patrolmen and acquire a Tiger without being detected or injured, then I wouldn't need the morphing power... I;d already be a ninja! ;D
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I'd rather be an Animorph, really :P
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lol, me too. Just saying, I wouldn't need a battle morph to beat up Yeerks if I was already a ninja. :P
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Dogs and cats, mostly. If I play my cards right, I could acquire a deer but it would involve trapping one somehow or using a tranquiler gun. I could do the same to get a bobcat. Supposedly, black panthers live in the deeper swamps; my mother saw one one night. But that would involve a lot of backpacking and an inordinate amount of luck. Same goes for the black bears that are native to this area. We have them but I've only seen signs of them on trees. I could go to the zoo in another city and try to get past all the securities to get to the large animals.
Then there are hummingbirds, other songbirds, crows, buzzards, the rare redtail (though they are getting more prolific) and I think down by the lakes we have ospreys. There are other kinds of hawks, like the Cooper's, that I could get. But that would involve trapping them and giving them a sedative because I do NOT want to mess with a pissed off raptor in full possession of his faculties. No thank you. I like my eyes.
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I'd start with my dog and my grandmas cats. My neighbor's got a variety of dogs, including a half wolf and retired police dog. The police dog was retired because it was shot in the leg, so he is about 3 or 4 years old. I could morph him and be uninjured. There are deer and elk aplenty in the mountains. My friend's family owns two horses, a race horse and one they inherited from someone in FL. I mean Cassie proved horses are useful in #1, right? Forget about breaking in a zoo and risking suspicion, i could just volunteer once at the local zoo and BAM. Lion, elephant, rhino, worlds largest rodent, and a lot of other things you'd find at the Denver zoo. Yeah, some of the animals you get to pet. I could also just stop by my sister's job and find a huge amount of avians, whether they are predators or not, since she works at some bird sanctuary. Racoons and foxes, are often captured by my backyard neighbor and set free in the middle of nowhere, so I could just ask to check them out.
I've got a ton of places for pretty useless morphs.
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For me it would be dogs and cats, my friend has a parrot.
As far as combat morphs, it wouldn't be at all hard to get an elephant. Our Renn Faire has elephant rides every year and I'm sure other places do too. Just pay for the ride, slip your hand somewhere up the saddle to get in contact with the skin, and bam! elephant! The only risk is if it would stop walking during the ride and tip off the trainer that's something's up. But they're usually so bored and docile anyway I don't think it would be a problem.
Perhaps this was never brought up in the books (I read about 20 of them as a kid and have recently dipped back into a set a found online about a year and a half back to actually read them all), but could you acquire a baby animal and use it to morph full-sized? Technically the DNA is no different. If that were the case you could probably join up helping to foster motherless baby animals. That could possibly at least get you bats, foxes, maybe a badger. Or go to the zoo when a baby animal is born and pay for one of those "Get your picture with the tiger cub" deals.
If it were me I'd go for my pets, hit every petting zoo I could find, and pull out as much of my savings as possible to pay for the baby animal, pet the dolphin, ride the various animals etc. scenarios.
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Actually they did morph baby animals in the books, they morphed baby seals in #25. Good ideas though.
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Actually they did morph baby animals in the books, they morphed baby seals in #25. Good ideas though.
I did wonder about the baby animal thing, though. I also wonder, could Tobias or Ax age their human morphs?
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Not unless they stayed in those morphs permanently.
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I think in one of the "Ask KA" things they used to have, someone asked her about why they morph the animal at the age they acquired it, and it had something to do with cells dying as you age... But I can't really remember her specific answer, and I know nothing about biology, so it could just be rubbish for all I know.
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I'll be honest with you and say that I didn't really think about the topic of morphs aging. Like, I always assumed Tobias' human morph just aged. I didn't think the animal morphs they chose would age. I did think about aging, but only in Tobias' case. I don't know why. It never really crossed my mind. But I just assumed the Ellimist made an "exception" with Tobias. I don't think any of the others comment on the fact that Tobias still looks like a thirteen/fourteen year old boy, hanging with teenagers.
So where does that leave Ax?
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Logically there's no way Tobias and Ax's human morphs aged. If morphs aged then their house fly morphs would've died of old age long before the series ended.
As for morphing a creature at the age it was when acquired, I believe that's something to do with telomeres, which shorten as you age. That's how you can tell roughly how old someone is from their DNA.
And as interesting as this discussion is, it's not the right topic for it. On a topic related note, which humans do you have access too? Humans are animals too after all. So which famous, important or powerful people might you be able to acquire if you had the morphing power?
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I live in Canada. So....
The mayor of Toronto?
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dogs,maybe cats,guppies,maybe bunnys and if i can get a bird morph,i few more things, people and if possible,plants and bugs
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Logically there's no way Tobias and Ax's human morphs aged. If morphs aged then their house fly morphs would've died of old age long before the series ended.
As for morphing a creature at the age it was when acquired, I believe that's something to do with telomeres, which shorten as you age. That's how you can tell roughly how old someone is from their DNA.
And as interesting as this discussion is, it's not the right topic for it. On a topic related note, which humans do you have access too? Humans are animals too after all. So which famous, important or powerful people might you be able to acquire if you had the morphing power?
How much would a front row ticket to a concert go for? A lot female singer do like to stick their hands down into the audience... I'd definitely go out of my way for some meet and greets, and there are always famous people at comic-con, if I shelled out $50 for an autograph, I'm sure they'd shake my hand.
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Cats, dogs, deer, bugs, toads.
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I'm sure the toad could handle Visser Three.
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Maybe not a toad, but a poison arrow frog would give it a damn good try! :P
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Maybe not a toad, but a poison arrow frog would give it a damn good try! :P
you really wanna risk aquiring one though?
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You'd just have to morph real fast to make sure it doesn't make you croak (yes, bad pun intended...). It would actually be kinda interesting....
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Porcupines would run the same risk (although not as dangerous as the dart frog) but I wouldn't mind trying to acquire one. Wild lions stear clear of porcupines and there are plenty of them in the New England area.
Phoenix: Thanks for adding that. People.
I would never morph anyone famous, or anyone who is in the public eye for any reason. Because as soon as that person starts doing anything crazy it would draw too much attention. And if I planned to do anything illegal or amoral (for whatever reason) with that morph, I wouldn't morph into someone who lived in the same area.
Probably acquire some non-descript people in the next state, or a few states away, so that their alibi is air tight no matter what I wind up doing.
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I forgot raccoons!
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Porcupines would run the same risk (although not as dangerous as the dart frog) but I wouldn't mind trying to acquire one. Wild lions stear clear of porcupines and there are plenty of them in the New England area.
Phoenix: Thanks for adding that. People.
I would never morph anyone famous, or anyone who is in the public eye for any reason. Because as soon as that person starts doing anything crazy it would draw too much attention. And if I planned to do anything illegal or amoral (for whatever reason) with that morph, I wouldn't morph into someone who lived in the same area.
Probably acquire some non-descript people in the next state, or a few states away, so that their alibi is air tight no matter what I wind up doing.
who said anything about going out in public?
mirror/camera.... lol
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I live in Georgia and in my area my neighborhood is really close to fields and a forest. So I would say a lot of small birds like Mockingbirds, Robins, woodpeckers... There are a lot of outdoor cats in the neighborhood... I have two dogs (a bischon frise and a pekingese) but there are bigger dogs next door. Lots of squirrels because they like to eat out of my parents' grape vine.
Now at the high school I graduated from has a small farm that has pigs, steers, goats, and a few horses.
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^^If Visser Three ever started a Yeerk Vineyard, then I'm sure your squirrel morph would come in handy.
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I was watching the news this morning. Now I didn't know this, but apparently Great Whites have been seen in the Cape Cod area quite a few times over the last ten years or so. It happens so often that there's a whole souvenier market surrounding the phenomenon.
Basically they chase seals into colder waters and soon the beaches are closed.
Cape Cod is a busride away from where I am. Now I'm not saying it would be easy, but if you want firepower under the water, you can't do much better than a nice big great white.
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Or, one can just "mysteriously" beach itself right around the time you're heading over there to morph one; just like in that one Animorphs book. :P
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I personally have immediate access to 3 German Shepherds, 2 cats, a couple parrots, and a rather large pot bellied pig.
As for wild animals there are several coyotes in the area along with snakes, moles, squirrels, Pigeons, alligators, and rats.
Fairly nearby there is a rescue for exotic animals that has, among other things, Lions, Tigers, and bears (oh my!). Along the same lines there is an spca that has a llama, some horses, a donkey, 2 cows, a bull, chameleons, and a lot of goats. Obviously the spca has easier access to the animals.
There's also an aquarium nearby with several dolphins, including one who's the subject of a movie that's coming out this year. Also a touch tank with sea turtles, stingrays, and sea urchins. Beyond that there are a couple species of sharks and eels, but these are obviously harder to access.
In the same area is a sea bird sanctuary that is always looking for volunteers, It has, among other things, Pelicans, Seagulls, owls, osprey, and occasionally a hawk or 2.
If I get really ambitious there is a nearby amusement park that has Rhinos, elephants, hyenas, camels, giraffes, meerkats (sadly without lasers), a huge variety of both venomous and constrictor snakes, Orangutans, Gorillas, Chimps, more lions and tigers, a kamodo dragon, a wide variety of birds, Kangaroos, Wallabies, Flamingos, pea****s, and a lot more. The only problem with this is that everything but the birds and the critters from Oz are near impossible to access unless I have morphed some sort of bird to get in in the first place. Even then a lot of the ones that would be of use are kept in an area that is mostly flatland where what little cover there is consists of animal houses which generally house more then one of any given animal, which means acquiring any of them would be extremely dangerous. There are, however, tours available that give you the chance to feed and touch a few of the animals, they are expensive but that still makes the animals viable options.
On another note there are several celebrities who own homes near where I live, so on occasion I have oppertunities to meet tham and ask for something simple like a picture. While I understand why the animorphs refuse to morph other sentient beings, I don't necessarily think that I would limit myself in such a way. This obviously gives me the advantage of getting into places that normal people can't.
The biggest issue I'd have as an animorph in my area is the Scientology stronghold in downtown Clearwater. It would not be a stretch at all to assume that the Yeerks would infiltrate the organization seeing as it is already powerful in the area and most of it's members are people who have literally signed their lives away. This means that the yeerks have access to legions of people who would follow them with or without being controllers. Of course this also gives me an obvious place to look for the yeerk pool seeing as building underground in Florida, especially in this area, is basically impossible.
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So, you're saying that beloved film actor John Travolta is a Controller?
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Well probably, though he's not one of the drones so he'd probably be the host of a Visser or sub-Visser, and even then I have a feeling the yeerk in question would at the very least be a human sympathizer, and at best part of the ypm. Though I suspect they'd leave Tom Cruz would be more of a puppet, with or without a yeerk. I'm basically just saying it would be a smart move for them to take control of Scientology, especially if this area was their base of operations. On the same note they would do well to try and infiltrate Anonymous.
In fact this is giving me an idea for an rp...
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What about Jehovah's Witnesses?
Not that I'm trying to be disrespectful.
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I'm basically just saying it would be a smart move for them to take control of Scientology, especially if this area was their base of operations.
I think the Sharing is pretty much the Animorphs equivalent of Scientology. It uses a cult mentality to lure people in and make them want to become voluntary controllers.
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What about Jehovah's Witnesses?
Not a cult.
I think I have pretty much the worst area for morphs, except that my family loves animals.
2 cats, male and female. Two Leopard Geckos, 1 anole, a tree frog, 3 fire-bellied toads, a guinea pig, and 3 goldfish(Good luck catching one.)
Otherwise, we have small birds everywhere, squirrels...and that's about it. We don't live close to the ocean, and we don't live close to a forest. It's pretty depressing...
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No zoos nearby Scinlao?
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Sadly, no. Nowhere close at all....
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You could always fly somewhere relatively close by in bird morph.
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Good point...I think southwick is a few miles away...I think... ^-^
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That's where being an opportunist comes in handy. Like with the sharks in Cape Cod. If the opportunity presented itself I would definitely jump on the chance to acquire such a useful morph.
Birds get pretty comfy with people, espcially pigeons and seagulls. Pigeons would be useful transit morphs and seagulls are predatory in nature and therefore easier to control.
You don't want to be something that has terrible range, or screams "snack sized" to larger predator animals. I once saw a hawk chase a smaller bird into the vestibule of a store I worked at. The bird slammed straight into a vending machine and broke it's neck. The hawk was fine. Best case scenario, you might have a chance to morph out and acquire the better morph but in all likely hood you'd be lunchmeat or worse.
Squirrels get into everything and they can go places humans can't. Not sure what their eye-sight is like but once you asserted yourself there are a lot of great uses for the morph.
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Squirrels have good vision and I wouldn't have much trouble getting hold of one, as I see half a dozen of them every time I go to work. I might have to lure it into a self-closing cage with some food or morph something that could catch it first though.
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Squirrels were all over the place in a house my brothers and I grew up in. One got so used to us feeding it that we had it conditioned to come right into the house.
People would hear it scratching at the door and think it was our cat.
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You kept a squirrel and a cat in the same house? :eyebrow:
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No, the squirrel stayed outside. But once or twice we got it to come right into the kitchen for a few peanuts. After that it would regularly come to the front door of the house and scratch at it to get more food.
So visitors who didn't know any better would think it was a cat.
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That's really cool. The best I've managed is getting a Robin to stalk me at work. Wild Robins are surprisingly easy to tame apparently, he even lands on people's hands to take food. Sadly this has led to him having boundary issues, such as flying indoors when I'm trying to work. :facepalm:
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Maybe not a toad, but a poison arrow frog would give it a damn good try! :P
you really wanna risk aquiring one though?
can't you just give it a needle and get some blood to acquire instead of touching it?won't that work?is the blood poisonous too?
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I don't think so, although I wouldn't recommend drinking it or anything. :P
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You could acquire an employee who has regular access to the animals. I'm just making an assumtion here, but maybe the animals would respond differently to the person who is regularly supplying it with food. You'd have to demorph to acquire it though, that's the only hole in my theory.
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Actually a lot animals get to know people by their smell which doesn't just come from sweating but also what shampoo they use, what other animals they come into contact with, the detergent you use, ect. So the animal might spot you as a fake, but the fact that you look like and have the base smell of that person could let you get close enough to give them a tranq or something before they catch it and give you time to demorph, acquire it, and leave.
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Well, you got me there.
I don't know about you guys, but whenever I read the series, I always wish I can morph, but at the same time I realize how freaking imposible it would be to develop technology to allow someone to morph.
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Good point Jax, but morphing part of the zoo staff might get you access to the tranquillisers needed to sedate the more dangerous animals.
I don't know about you guys, but whenever I read the series, I always wish I can morph, but at the same time I realize how freaking imposible it would be to develop technology to allow someone to morph.
*sigh* Don't we all...
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Nanites capable of accessing z-space.
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See, my problem would be that I wouldn't even care what I can find nearby. I can turn into a bird, right? I can go wherever I want!
First thing I would acquire would probably be one of my cats, just for practice. Then I would go to a pet-store to get a hamster or something small, to sneak into the zoo. Our zoo has decent security, but I think I could sneak in at least long enough to acquire a bald eagle or other bird of prey, which I would acquire so that I could travel. Then I would do some research on the internet on small (and therefore probably low-security) zoos. One thing I would look for would be reptile houses with venomous snakes, which I could acquire and then quickly morph something if they bit me so the venom wouldn't affect me. A venomous snake morph could come in handy later. And, of course, I'd then go for something like a rhino or grizzly bear (maybe giving them a teeny dose of venom to render them complacent), since my theoretical battle strategy would probably involve trying not to die long enough to kill everything trying to kill me.
Is it frightening that I have already done research on small, nearby zoos (focusing on ones with venomous snakes, rhinos, and grizzly bears), as well as the venom kill-times of several venomous snakes for exactly this reason?
The Yeerks should do research on zoos also for the purpose of trying to catch the "Andalite Bandits" red-tailed trying to acquire morphs!
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Without taking a trip to the nearest zoo, I still have a pretty good selection. I live in a rural area, so I've got dogs, cats, horses, bulls, birds, bugs, rodents, reptiles, frogs, fish, and probably some other stuff within a short fifteen minute drive from my house.
My battle morphs would probably be a large dog or bull. Not too shabby for a guy without a zoo in town.