GETTING THE DIRT

Sunday, March 8. 2009

Dad has always been an outcast among his own kind, which has always been a burden for him. (When his career relied on other rabbits hiring him, he went nowhere; he only found success in self-employment and in starting his own business.) His election to the school board hinged on the votes of other species, and as for his being appointed to the Rabbit Council...That was due to their wanting Coney at their meetings to protect them.
What I’m saying is that Dad’s success has always come in spite of how other rabbits felt about him personally. The events of this week may have finally changed that, or maybe it will be the first step in changing that. What happened is that because Dad isn’t as insular as other rabbits, he produced a business deal that will benefit everybody.
It was because of Hare Link that he came to discover that Beaver Construction needed fill dirt which, as I mentioned last week, is something that rabbits continually produce from tunneling. He approached the executives of that company (which are all raccoons; beavers themselves are too focused on the engineering side to care about management) and negotiated the deal. Suddenly, Dad’s experience with other species is seen as an asset, not a betrayal.
This week's question: Here we have currencies common to each nation, and also currencies that each species use among themselves. It's complicated. Do humans have a simpler system?

Posted by Lindesfarne at 13:24 | Comments (21) | Trackbacks (0)

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Sigh...question, Lindesfarne, question.
Lindy, you have told us what it is like being an insectivore, what is it like being prey? Here, even porcupines are eaten by animals like fishers, and hedgehog quills are not as formidable as theirs are. How does it feel to know that there is a good chance that some large predator will kill and consume you, instead of your dying of old age and being buried in a cemetary?

#1 Thomas Mazanec (Link) on 2009-03-08 13:31 (Reply)

You stay in tune with your senses, using what's given to you as a constant defense. Fear those sick days. And, consider a good offense to be a life training requirement.

Otherwise, live life as well as you can. Try not to worry about the danger of those snapping jaws or the grill of that speeding car. Just live to...well...live.

#1.1 jup-reindeer on 2009-03-13 01:40 (Reply)

Congrats on your father's deal, Lindesfarne.

Over here, humans also have a currency for most every nation. But international trade relies on the U.S. Dollar the most. When a relative of mine went south of the border, he found his money was more welcome than what the locals used. Zimbabwe's inflation has been so bad, they recently started paying their teachers with American currency.

Western Europe has recently developed a common currency, the "Euro." It got some extra attention last year when the burst of the housing bubble and the rising price of oil resulted in it gaining value compared to the U.S. Dollar. Some forgein countries whom see America as a rival prefer conducting trade in Euros, but most prefer the Dollar.

And as for Rudy's prank on the bear that made the Sunday comic over here, I'd make a comment, but you wanted to limit the political talk.

#2 Bixyl Shuftan (Link) on 2009-03-08 13:55 (Reply)

BTW, it turned out that the snow did cancel class on Monday. We got about five inches, which quickly melted when temperatures climbed into the 70s F just days later.
To answer some of last week's queries about property lines; tree roots do naturally overlap and the line is place equidistant from the trunks. For non-tree dwellings the lines are simply fixed in place.

#3 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2009-03-08 13:57 (Reply)

What's it like being prey? First, I'm now indebted to Rudy for once saving me from a pack of cougars.
In practical terms, we simply rely on our own protective abilities. (My quills are very effective again most individual predators.)
While I was briefly in the human world I observed a car crash, which got me thinking. I ran some numbers, and found the odds of dying in the car crash were equal to being eaten by predators in my world. Yet, most humans don't live in fear of cars; they just drive safely....I hope!

#4 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2009-03-08 14:10 (Reply)

Lindesfarne, bit of an OT question, because I'm curious to know this: what animals are Penn & Teller and John Stossel over in your world?

Also, regarding Rudy's prank, I would've messed with the bear by posting a sign that read "Support President Ron Paul." But that's just me.

#5 Jim on 2009-03-08 14:37 (Reply)

That one wouldn't work. Hibernators start late enough that the bear would know Ron Paul had been out of the running.

#5.1 Classic Steve (Link) on 2009-03-09 13:10 (Reply)

I meant what was YOUR question for the week...

#6 Thomas Mazanec (Link) on 2009-03-08 14:48 (Reply)

Penn & Teller are both ravens, befitting the Tricksters that they are.
Tricksters come in many forms, though, including a wolf/fox hybrid. Yes, I'm looking at you, Rudy.

#7 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2009-03-08 16:00 (Reply)

Cool, thanks for letting me know.

... I always suspected Rudy's playfulness and prank-like behavior had a specific cause. Soon tales will be told around the tribe fire of the trickster born of wolf and fox who wore the bone around his neck.

#7.1 Jim on 2009-03-08 23:01 (Reply)

I'm very glad that your father was able to get that deal done. Maybe, just maybe, this could lead to better species relations... Or it could just mean rabbits could take advantage of the deal and cause more trouble. Eh, keep up your hopes.

You see, here in the human side, we have a ton of different currencies for different countries, and it gets really, really complicated at times. The values of different dollars can literally be 1000x lower compared to to some of the more common currency, such as the US Dollar. I think there are only few areas that use a common currency, namely in Europe, where most use the "Euro".

Now, about the different species money, how does that really work? I would think it would get really overly complicated and convoluted trying to equate the currencies of all the various species. Is it a pride issue, or what?

#8 Brett R. on 2009-03-08 17:17 (Reply)

Yes, it's exactly a pride issue. Species currency is only using in transactions within the species, and it's rarely transferrable to other currencies. Someone from outside the species would probably consider it as barter.

#9 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2009-03-08 17:28 (Reply)

Ahhh, I figured as much. What are a few of the species that do this? I would think many preds would do this, but I would think the rabbits would too. Is this a worldwide issue or mainly in specific habitats?

#9.1 Brett R. on 2009-03-09 14:35 (Reply)

"pride issue"?

Heh! Coincidentally, that's the name (colloquial, anyways) of currency for us lions!

#9.2 Ken D. Lion on 2009-03-09 18:11 (Reply)

Gasp! I actually didn't know that Rudy was a wolf/fox. That's kinda awesome, but I though Rudy was cool anyways.

Glad to hear your father got the deal in. God..I wish I knew what I was on that side. Ah, I'm probably better off not knowing. Now back to watching MythBusters.

OH, who are Adam Savage and Jami Heinenmen (*might have misspelled that) from MythBusters over there? I always thought they would be of some kind of curious or kinda tricky species.

#10 Kylen on 2009-03-08 21:39 (Reply)

Rudy's biological father was a fox who was killed in an auto accident. If you check back strips, there are several where his ghost appears.

#10.1 Mortar on 2009-03-09 22:33 (Reply)

You have MythBusters on YOUR side, too? Way cool! It's been a while since I've been able to watch, but Adam and Jamie are both cats over here, IIRC.

#10.2 Terri the Tiger on 2009-03-10 09:46 (Reply)

Ah, now I see your question. Sorry. Actually, I collect money from different nations (it's called "notaphily"). The nations are geographical areas that issue the money, and there are fluctuating but "discoverable" rates between them. Some are stable...the British pound was long $2.80 American IIRC. Others are not...an American dollar is worth thousands of millions of Zimbabwe dollars and it is rising by the day. But we don't have "species" money, so I guess ours is simpler.
I wonder what I am over there. I've always had a "thing" for mongooses, and have paid to be portrayed as one in cameoes in a minor furry web strip on this side. Just maybe...

#11 Thomas Mazanec (Link) on 2009-03-09 00:56 (Reply)

Been a while since I posted...

Everyone else is pretty much right on the money (sorry for that pun...). Every major country has their own currency. The Japanese Yen, the Brittish Pound, the Indian Rupee... The two main forms of currency, as also mentioned before, are the American Dollar and the European Euro.

Although everything gets broken down farther than that. Dollars are made of 100 cents, in quarters (25 cents), dimes (10 cents), nickles (5 cents), and pennies (1 cent apiece). British pounds are made of shillings and pence and so on and so forth... it goes like that. So... it sounds simpler than your currency system at the get-go, but when you look at it in detail, it's probably about the same.

Also, I must add that it makes my days a little brighter when I notice that you're still taking my advice and asking questions even now. Has asking us about our world helped you understand our world and our species any better?

#12 Dr3w on 2009-03-09 09:51 (Reply)

I'm afraid Dr3w may have been in hibernation a little too long........ (oh, wait, he's another human, isn't he?)

The British currency no longer includes Shillings (or Crowns, Half-crowns, Florins, Guineas &c.): it was 'decimalised' about forty years ago. I remember, because my family took a trip there around 1970, and there was still some confusion over the 'New Pence'........

#12.1 LA/wts on 2009-03-09 22:31 (Reply)

So, Lindesfarne, those of us on the other size have seen you have coins like ours, at least quarters with the image of George Washington. That must be the national currency you speak of. Now, in days past, humans relied on bartering, and still do in some less developed parts of the world. That's the closest thing I can think of to your species currency, but it's not tied to any group in particular.

#13 Greg (Link) on 2009-03-11 01:50 (Reply)

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