Secrets: The Truth is Slowly Revealed - 33. Chapter 33 S1

Chapter 33 – It’s a Small World

In the morning, the shaman wanted me to transition into a rabbit next. The others all did it at the same time, but I didn’t have to watch them to know what to do. I’d hunted rabbits with Devin’s dad before, and I’d also seen them in the fields around my house, so I was quite familiar with their appearance and behavior. Once the shaman had evaluated my effort, he warned me that rabbits had to be aware of the same predators as the raccoons, as well as weasels, dogs, cats, foxes, rats, and snakes. I could hardly believe it, but I’d just moved even lower on the food chain. After absorbing this fantastic news, the shaman informed me of a few other things I needed to know.

“Rabbits in the wild will graze at dusk and dawn and they prefer to eat green foliage and grains, rather than root vegetables. In addition to those items, rabbits will also eat their poop.”

“Ewww, gross,” I said reflexively.

“It may sound disgusting to you, but there is a good reason why they do this. They do not eat all of their poop, just a special kind that is often referred to as night feces. The rabbits do this because that poop contains vital nutrients they need, such as vitamins and proteins. Rabbits will also eat tree bark, weeds, shrubs, and tree seedlings when their preferred food source is scarce, such as in the winter or during droughts.”

“I’m not looking forward to eating any of those things either, but they sound better than eating poop.”

“There are a few more facts you need to know about rabbits before I allow you to go outside. A rabbit’s eyes are located on the sides of its head and this gives the rabbit nearly 360 degrees of vision, which allows it to watch for predators. They also use their nose to sniff out signs of predators approaching, as well as using their ears to listen for clues. Unlike human ears that are attached to the sides of our head, a rabbit’s ears extend above its head and can rotate up to 180 degrees, and this allows the rabbit to pinpoint the location of any sound. This is very important when it is listening for predators,”

I hurriedly transitioned back so I could ask the shaman a question. “Will it be difficult for me to learn how to use a rabbit’s ears and eyes effectively?”

“It may seem strange to you at first, but you’ll adjust to it quickly,” Devin responded after he’d transitioned back as well. “I know I did.”

“Rabbits also groom themselves like cats, but they are not able to vomit up fur balls. Their teeth never stop growing either, so they need things to chew on, including the food they eat, that will wear their teeth down. If they do not do this then they would not be able to close their mouths after a while. Rabbits are also social animals and prefer company, and that is why you will find them living in groups.”

Now that he’d given me all of this information, Devin and I quickly transitioned into rabbits again and then I followed the rest of them outside for a brief romp to see what it’s like being a rabbit. We raced around for a short time and I got a chance to experience how fast a rabbit can hop. They can also walk, but they prefer to hop since it is much faster.

At one point, I saw that Devin was getting ready to attack me, so I leaped high into the air and off to one side to avoid him, and then I hopped away after landing on the ground. That experience left me astounded by how high I was able to jump, but I guess it’s normal for a rabbit.

Shortly after that happened, Gramps or Pops, I wasn’t sure which of them it was, suddenly transitioned into a large bird and flew off. I first became aware of what he was doing when I heard the flapping of the wings as it took off, and then I watched to see why he had done that. It didn’t take long before I saw what he was concerned about, since he chased off another bird that was circling high overhead. I guess the other bird had noticed us and whoever it was didn’t want to take the chance that the other bird was going to swoop down and attempt to grab one of us.

When he returned, I wanted to ask him about why he had done that, but he merely transitioned into a rabbit again. I suspected he must have looked around before he landed to make certain that no one else was around first, before he transitioned again.

During the entire time I was outside, I kept a close watch on my surroundings for any sign of danger, including when either Gramps or Pops had flown off to chase the other bird away. I did this for two reasons, the first of which was that I didn’t want to get eaten, but I also didn’t want Pops to chew me out for not being observant. When we finally returned to the hohrahn I was eager to ask about what one of them had done, but the shaman told us there was one more thing he wanted us to do before we transitioned back into our human form.

“I’m going to give each of you a carrot to nibble on, because I want Michael to see what it is like to eat as a rabbit. I will also warn you that rabbits cannot live on carrots alone, because if it eats too many it will end up with an upset stomach. I merely want you to be aware of this, in case you choose to become a rabbit for an extended period of time.”

‘I would never have guessed that eating too many carrots wouldn’t sit well with a rabbit, especially after watching all of those Bugs Bunny cartoons when I was younger,’ I thought.

Even though he’d just told us this, I was glad he’d chosen carrots for us to eat now, instead of leafy greens, seeds, weeds, or tree bark. I already liked carrots, although it would have been better if there was some dip to go with it.

After we finally transitioned back into our human forms again, I was unable to wait any longer before asking my question.

“Which one of you transitioned into a bird and chased that other bird away?”

“I did that,” Pops confirmed. “I saw the shadow of the hawk circling above and when I looked up it seemed to be getting ready to dive down so it could snatch one of us for its next meal. I transitioned into a golden eagle and flew up to scare it off, because if you didn’t know it, a golden eagle is one of the hawk’s predators. I’m glad you noticed when I did it.”

“I only noticed after you’d already transitioned into the eagle. I didn’t notice the hawk before then,” I admitted, hoping he wouldn’t berate me about this failure.

“I was lucky to have noticed it. I believe the hawk became aware of our presence when it saw you leap into the air to get way from Devin. You two have to be careful about bringing attention to yourselves after you’ve transition into another animal.”

“Yeah, I know, so I’m glad you noticed the hawk, because if it had attacked, that would have been really scary.”

“Yes, it would have, and we wouldn’t have had much time to react at that point.”

I merely nodded, but I was also pleased that Pops hadn’t made a big deal about what Devin and I had done. I believe we both got the message that we can’t do those sorts of things, especially after we transition into smaller, and more defenseless, animals.

“When I first noticed the shadow,” Pops continued, “it was very small, so I thought it was merely a smaller bird flying overhead, but I looked up anyway to make sure.

“And I’m glad you did, but now I have another question,” I said, while hoping to move this discussion on to something else, “and it doesn’t have anything to do with me being a rabbit. I was just wondering what baby rabbits and male and female rabbits are called.”

“Young rabbits are referred to as kits or kittens,” the shaman replied, “and female rabbits are called does and males are called bucks.”

“That’s strange. The young rabbits are called the same thing as young cats, but adult rabbits are called the same things as deer.”

“It may seem strange to you, but those are the terms that have been handed down to us and what most people use.”

The shaman then wanted to talk about my impressions about being a rabbit, and after thinking about it for a few seconds I answered him.

“It was kind of fun, except having to watch out for so many predators, and I didn’t realize how high a rabbit could jump. When I saw Devin was going to attack me, I jumped to get away from him, but I was surprised by how high I actually went.”

“Yes, rabbits can jump quite high,” the shaman responded, and then Pops continued.

“Rabbits can jump over 3 feet (0.9 m) vertically, and some have been reported to have jumped as high as 4 feet (1.2 m). In addition to that, rabbits can also jump up to 10 feet (2.7 m) horizontally.”

“I guess that’s why your Easter Bunny is able to get around to so many houses in such a short time,” the shaman added and then chuckled.

“Yes, I suppose it is,” I replied. “But that’s really high and far when compared to their size. I don’t know what the ratio is, but I’ll bet some athletes would like to be able to jump as high or as far as well, if they were able to achieve the same jumping ratio to their size.”

“Yes, I’m sure that is very true.”

As soon as we finished this discussion, the shaman suggested we go to sleep, and that’s when I realized I’d been a rabbit for the entire day. The shaman also suggested we sleep as rabbits, since he thought it would give me a better impression of what it was like to be a rabbit. I and the others didn’t have a problem with this, and it’s exactly what we did.

Before I fell asleep, I wondered what the shaman had planned for tomorrow. Would he choose a different animal for me to transition into, or would this complete my training? Somehow I didn’t think I was done yet, but I’ll have to wait and see what the shaman has in store for me next.

The following morning, the shaman told the others that he wanted them to show me what it was like to transition into an opossum. I was intrigued by this prospect, seeing I was unfamiliar with the animal and anticipated it was going to be an interesting experience. Oh, I’d heard about opossums before and had seen photos of them. I’d even seen a couple of them at a distance, but never up close, so this is going to be my chance to learn about them before I attempted to transition into one.

Only Gramps and Devin transitioned into opossums at first, because Pops thought I might have questions that the shaman wouldn’t be able to answer. This was due to the fact that I often asked technical questions about the animals I was unfamiliar with and he thought he’d have the best chance of answering those questions for me. He was correct, because as soon as I saw the opossums up close, I asked my first question.

“Is the opossum related to rats and other rodents?”

“No,” Pops replied. “An opossum may look similar to a rodent, due to its elongated snout and hairless tail, but it’s actually a marsupial. It means the opossum is more closely related to the kangaroo, wallaby, wombat, and Tasmanian devil.”

“Wow, I would never have guessed that. Does it mean they have pouches to carry their young?”

“Some marsupials do, although not all of them, but the opossum is one that has a fur-lined pouch on its belly. One thing they have in common with other marsupials is that its young are born prematurely and in an incomplete state about a month after it is conceived. When they’re born they are blind, hairless, and their hind limbs are only partially developed. Their fore limbs, though, are developed enough that the newborns are able to use them to crawl to their mother’s pouch and locate her nipples. They remain there as they continue to develop, which will take a couple of months, and during that time they will also grow ears and hair.”

“How long do they remain with their mother?”

“They will stay in her pouch for approximately two and a half months, and then they will make their way onto her back, but they will return to the pouch when they are hungry. The young are weaned by the time they’re three to four months old and the mother will provide food for them until they are large enough to walk or waddle on their own. They will remain close to her for both protection and food until they are capable of surviving on their own, which happens when they’re around five or six months old.”

“Are opossums aggressive and vicious, because they look like they might be mean?”

“When confronted, the opossum might hiss and open its mouth and show its teeth, but this is merely a bluff to scare away the threat. If they are really scared and they can’t bluff the threat into leaving, it will play dead, rather than confront the aggressor. This is an involuntary response on its part and its body will go limp, its front feet form into balls, and drool may even run out of its mouth. In some cases, it might even appear that rigor mortis has begun to set in.”

“But if the opossum plays dead when being attacked by a predator, doesn’t that mean the predator will just kill and eat it?”

“That’s a possibility, but it doesn’t necessarily happen. Occasionally the predator will merely play with it and bat it around for awhile, and when the opossum doesn’t respond, the predator might just leave. However, that’s not always the case and the opossum faces other risks from playing dead.”

“Like what?”

“If it does this on a road it may get run over by a car before it comes to again. Some people who have come across an opossum that’s playing dead have actually thought it was dead and buried it before it came to.”

“Damn, I would never have thought about those things happening. How big do opossums get?”

“Most usually grow to be about the size of a house cat or small dog.”

“How many babies does the opossum have at one time?”

“The female can give birth to up to twenty young at a time, and the babies are called joeys, the same as kangaroos.”

“Where do opossums live?”

“They don’t put much effort into their housing, but they prefer dark, secure, and secluded places. They may select a hollow in a tree or a log, or the abandoned burrow of another animal. They might even occupy the voids under a house or other buildings, such as under a porch, a deck, or an outbuilding that is built on stilts to raise it above the ground.”

“Ok, that’s cool, but what do they eat?”

“You’re probably not going to like this, but they’re scavengers and will eat just about anything, including dead animals that they didn’t kill. They’ll also eat insects, rodents, and birds, as well as larger animals that they discover as roadkill or whatever is left over from the kill of another predator. They don’t merely eat the flesh and organs and will consume the skeletons of those animals as well. The opossums do this because they require large amounts of calcium, which they get from devouring the bones.”

“Damn, they must have really strong jaws and teeth to be able to eat the bones.”

“Yes, they do, and they’ll also feed on frogs, eggs, plants, fruit, and grains, and that’s not all. Opossums will even kill snakes and they’re immune to rattlesnake and pit viper venom.”

“Yeah, the shaman told me about the opossum is immune to the venom of most poisonous snakes found in the U.S., so he might call upon the spirit of an opossum to help him heal someone who’s been bitten by one of those snakes.”

“Yes, and that’s what he did to save my life when I was younger.”

“That’s right!” Devin chimed in. “Pops told me the shaman did that after he found Pops lying unconscious in the desert.”

“And lastly, the opossum will also eat pet food and the waste from human food. For that reason, it is best if you don’t feed your pets outdoors or carelessly dispose of any food that is left over from your meals.”

“Damn, I hope we don’t have to eat any of that stuff, except for the fruit. Are opossums nocturnal?”

“Yes, they are active at night and sleep during the day.”

“That part doesn’t sound so bad, but do opossums hibernate during the winter?”

“No, but they slow down and aren’t as active when it gets colder. They might even line their nests with such things as leaves, dried grass, shredded paper, or other soft materials as insulation. That, along with their fat reserves, helps to keep them warm during the colder months.”

“Do opossums really hang by their tails when they sleep?”

“No! Even though their tails are prehensile, which means they can grasp onto things with them, such as a tree limb or a branch, their tails aren’t capable of supporting their body weight and won’t allow them to hang from them. They only use their tails for balance and to stabilize their movement when they’re up in a tree.”

“Are they good climbers then?”

“Yes, they are and they spend much of their time aloft. They have sharp claws that will dig into the bark of trees and help them climb, and in addition to that, their back paws are like hands with muscular opposable thumbs that also help them climb. They can even use their thumbs to hang on to things.”

“Is there anything else I should know about them?”

“There is a fun fact that you might enjoy. The opossums have been around since the time of the dinosaurs.”

“Wow, not many animals can say that.”

“There are still a few around, because marsupials, as a group, found a way to survive the great extinction period when the dinosaurs were dying out.”

“That’s really interesting, but I think I should start studying the others now so I’ll be able to transition into an opossum as well.”

“Then I’ll transition with them,” Pops stated, “but before I do I’ll ask Devin to transition into a joey so he can show you how it rides on its mother’s back, but he’ll have to use me as a surrogate.”

After Pops and Devin demonstrated that for me, Devin transitioned into an adult opossum again and I used my eyes and hands to see what their fur and other body parts were like. After I’d done this for a while, I transitioned into an opossum for the first time. The shaman then checked me over and advised me as to the corrections I needed to make, since I hadn’t gotten everything quite right on my initial try. After I corrected each of my errors and the shaman agreed that I was ready, I followed the others outside and we went for a brief romp, but we never wandered very far away from the hohrahn.

After I got used to being in an opossum’s body, Pops led us over to a juniper tree that wasn’t very far away so I could practice climbing. After I watched Gramps and Devin do it first, I felt I was ready to give it a try. Learning how to use the claws on my fore limbs was fairly easy, but it took me a lot longer to become accustomed to using the thumbs on my hind paws and the tail to help in the process. After a few attempts, I started to do better, and then I chased Devin up the tree and across a couple of the branches to prove I was capable of doing it as well as he could.

When we returned to the hohrahn a short time later, we transitioned into our human forms again, and then we all agreed we were hungry. We decided to go out to eat, because we knew the shaman didn’t have enough for all of us to eat and no one wanted to go looking for food as an opossum. Once again, the shaman advised us that he preferred to stay behind and prepare the food that had been delivered for his use, while the rest of us went to get something more to our liking.

When we returned from eating supper, the shaman asked me to transition into an opossum again, so I got undressed and did as he asked. I was afraid he wanted me to do this because I had done something wrong earlier, but he explained that he just wanted me to get used to going out at dusk and after dark as an opossum. The others quickly undressed and transitioned as well, and then we went outside to run around for a while.

We’d been doing this for nearly an hour when Gramps and Pops suddenly transitioned into their human forms, jumped up, and began shouting and waving their arms as they moved closer to Devin and me. That’s when I noticed a Great Horned Owl had been bearing down on us, but the commotion that Gramps and Pops were making had startled the owl and caused it to fly away.

Hearing the ruckus outside prompted the shaman to rush out of the hohrahn, only to find Gramps and Pops standing naked in the fading light.

“Come inside quickly,” he ordered, and we all returned to the hohrahn, including Devin and me, but we did it as opossums. “What was that racket about?”

“We were scaring off a Great Horned Owl,” Gramps replied. “It was heading for either Devin or Mac, but it was difficult to tell which one, since they were so close together.”

“How did you know it was there?” Devin asked. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“I just happened to catch movement out of the corner of my eye and guessed what it was,” Pops answered.

“I think we both saw it at about the same time,” Gramps stated.

“Damn, that was close,” Devin and I agreed, “and I didn’t notice or hear a thing until it would have been too late,” I added.

“This time I’m not sure if you could have done anything different,” Pops said reassuringly. “Great Horned Owls don’t make any noise while in flight, at least not any sounds that humans can detect, and we were just lucky to see it coming.”

“Yeah, thanks!”

We didn’t go outside again after that for a couple of reasons. First of all, we’d already had one good scare as opossums, and we were also starting to get tired. Opossums may be active at night, but we’d been up for most of the day while the opossums would have been sleeping, so now we needed to get some rest. The shaman suggested that I sleep as an opossum tonight, and once I agreed, the others decided to do it with me.

When we woke up several hours later, we transitioned into our human bodies and got dressed, and then we ate the breakfast the shaman had prepared for us. Once again, he added the rest of the food from the other meals we hadn’t eaten with him so it wouldn’t go to waste, and then we all ate together. As soon as we finished, the shaman explained that today he was going to have the others show me how to transition into animals that I was more familiar with, starting with a squirrel.

“So, I’m just going to transition into a dumb old squirrel?”

“No, and even though there are multiple species of squirrels, we’re only going to focus on three of them,” Gramps responded. “My dad and I talked it over with the haatali and agreed that we’ll start with the gray squirrel, and then we’ll transition into a red squirrel, followed by a fox squirrel.”

“Does the fox squirrel actually look like a small fox?”

“Not exactly, but it got its name because it has yellowish-red fur that some people describe as orange, but no matter how you describe the color, the fur on a fox squirrel resembles the fur on a fox.”

“Then what makes it different from a red squirrel?”

“That would include a couple of things. First of all, the red squirrel is more reddish in color and they aren’t the same size as a fox squirrel. A fox squirrel is the largest squirrel in North America, while the red squirrel is one of the smallest.”

“Ok, I think I see what you mean, as long as they all eat nuts and not some weird crap like the raccoons and opossums.”

“Nuts are one source of food that squirrels eat, but they’ll also eat seeds, tree flowers, tree buds, and a variety of fruits and vegetables. In addition to that, they may snack on mushrooms and fungi once in a while, and they’ll also eat meat. They’ve been known to eat insects, young birds, small rodents, amphibians, and even snakes.”

“It didn’t sound too bad until you got to the part where you started talking about them eating meat. Do they hibernate?”

“No, they’ll merely store up food in their nest in the tree so they’ll be able to survive during the winter.”

“So, they’re just inactive and stay in their nests?”

“For the most part,” Pops answered, “and if you don’t have any more questions, the three of us will transition into gray squirrels for you. When we do, you’ll notice there might be some black, white, or even brown fur mixed in with the gray. They’ll also have a whitish belly and bushy tails that help them maintain their balance while scurrying around in trees, and it may take you a little while to get used to using the tail for balance.”

“Don’t forget to tell him that some gray squirrels may be completely black as well,” Devin added.

“Yes, that is true, and some fox squirrels may also be mostly black. It’s believed this happens due to a faulty pigment gene.”

Now that they’d filled me in about everything, the others transitioned into gray squirrels and I checked them over before I followed suit. I must have done fairly well, because the shaman didn’t ask me to correct anything that I’d done, although he did give me a warning.

“I am certain you must have seen plenty of gray squirrels before, so you should know how big they are supposed to be,” he cautioned. “In that case, please be careful about your size as a gray squirrel.

Once I had everything down, I was told that we were going to transition into a red squirrel next.

“As was mentioned earlier,” Pops began, “red squirrels are smaller than gray squirrels, but they’re only about half the size of the gray squirrel. Its fur will range from red to a reddish-gray in color, and they’ll also have white or cream color fur on their belly and around their eyes. They’ll also have ear tufts, something the gray squirrel doesn’t have, and their tails won’t be as long or as bushy as that of a gray squirrel. In addition to those things, they may also have a black stripe on their sides during the summer, but the main thing for you to remember is that they’re half the size of the gray squirrel.”

After I watched the others transition into red squirrels, I looked them over quickly before I did the same. After doing this a few times, the only comment the shaman made was for me to watch my size, and once I had that down, we moved on to the fox squirrel.

“This should be more to your liking, Mac, because as I said earlier, the fox squirrel is the largest squirrel in North America,” Pops stated. “Their fur may vary from a yellowish-red to a pale gray or black, but the fox squirrel is most commonly a reddish brown in color. It will also have white feet, a rusty colored belly, and ear tufts, similar to those on the red squirrel. They may also have a black outline on their tails, sharp claws, and a muscular body.”

“It sounds like they’re the Incredible Hulk of the squirrel population,” I quipped.

“In a way, they are, with some limitations,” he responded, and then he explained what those limitations were.

After watching Gramps, Pops, and Devin transition into fox squirrels and noting the differences in their appearance, I made my first attempt. This time I received nothing but praise from the shaman.

“That is very good, grasshopper. Even though you are the length of a normal house cat, you remembered that they are not very heavy and merely weigh the equivalent of three bananas, at most.”

Now that I had this down, we went outside for a while so I could explore these new bodies, but we were also planning on transitioning into gray and red squirrels while we were out there as well. We’d be able to do this because the squirrels were all small enough and looked similar so no one else would notice what we were doing, if there was anyone else around. The problem was, we were only thinking about other humans.

After running around as fox squirrels for a while, we transitioned into gray squirrels next, and it wasn’t long after we did this that we became aware we weren’t alone. A small pack of coyotes had spotted us and decided we would make a nice snack, so as soon as we became aware of their presence we had a decision to make.

We were fairly close to a juniper tree at the time, so Devin and I decided to make a run for it and scampered up the tree to get out of the coyotes’ reach. A couple of the coyotes raced in our direction and came close to catching us before we reached the tree, while the other coyotes surrounded Gramps and Pops. Once we were safely in the tree, we quickly looked around to see how Gramps and Pops were making out.

It didn’t take long for us to spot them, because they had transitioned into wolves and were now busy marking the area with their urine. I figured they must have a reason for doing this, because the coyotes soon took off, so I made a mental note to ask them about it later. As soon as it was safe, Gramps and Pops transitioned into squirrels again, and then Devin and I climbed down the tree to join them.

I thought we’d probably head back to the hohrahn after this scare, but that didn’t happen. Instead, we noticed that Gramps and Pops were transitioning into red squirrels now, and this left both Devin and me confused. We merely stared at them for a few seconds, but then we realized they were waiting for us to do the same thing. After getting the message, we transitioned into red squirrels as well, and then we had a chance to run around for a while longer before we followed Gramps and Pops back to the hohrahn.

As soon as we were safely inside, we transitioned into our human forms again so we could discuss what had happened. After informing the shaman about our experience, the shaman made a comment.

“I am glad that Devin and Michael were able to avoid the coyotes before Jacob and Isaac chased the coyotes away.”

“Yeah, we probably should have transitioned into a larger predator as well, but when we saw the coyotes we got scared and raced for the tree.”

“Yes, the fight or flight instinct is very strong, but sometimes you have to resist the flight instinct and transition into something larger so you can fight off the threat.”

“Yeah, I realize that now.”

“Then just consider this a valuable learning experience.”

“I still have a question for Gramps and Pops, though. Why did you transition into wolves instead of bears, and why were you marking the area with your urine, instead of chasing the coyotes away?”

“First of all, if someone happened to see us transition, we hoped they might think the wolves were just larger coyotes or dogs. We sprayed our urine around because coyotes are often scared off by the urine of a predator. They not only dislike the smell, but they were probably afraid there were more wolves around and we were doing it to attract them to our location. I suspect they must have realized that wolves don’t hunt alone and usually move around in a group, like they do, but unlike wolves, coyotes do it as a family unit and not as a pack.”

“Ah, I see.”

“And I am grateful they chose something less obvious than a bear when they transitioned,” the shaman added, “in case someone else was nearby.”

“Yeah, because that wasn’t as noticeable,” I agreed, “but now I have a question. I still don’t understand how one minute we’re able to transition into animals that are much larger than us and weight hundreds of pounds (kg) more than we do, and then the next minute we’re transitioning into another animal that is smaller and weighs only a few ounces (g).”

“Jacob and I have discussed this before as well, and we really don’t have a good answer for how we do it. It goes completely against the laws of the conservation of matter and the idea that matter can’t be created or destroyed and can merely change in form. We’ve both done it many times, though, so maybe the haatali can answer your question.”

“Yes, I can help to explain this for you,” the shaman responded, “but we should get some sleep first and then I will explain it to you in the morning.