During a threadfall, the people holed themselves up in their Holds, and the Dragons flamed the Thread from the sky. But we see many instances of riders and dragons and other people getting injured from Thread. But what about the wild animals? What about all the animals on the Southern continent - the grubs keep the Thread from damaging the plants, but the animals remain unprotected. And when F'lar introduces the grubs to the Northern continent, no one mentions that concern. They are all worried about the trees, but what about the animals that live in the trees and below them?
4
-
3As I recall correctly, some of them indeed die from it. Specifically, I remember a line in the books about a deer that had been scored by thread.– FuzzyBootsCommented Jan 16, 2018 at 18:07
-
3pern.wikia.com/wiki/Fauna_of_Pern might have more info. Basically, there are no large native mammalian species and the smaller ones have learned to take shelter.– FuzzyBootsCommented Jan 16, 2018 at 18:10
-
@FuzzyBoots can you make that an answer so I can accept it?– chamaCommented Jan 16, 2018 at 19:02
-
@FuzzyBoots -- I think you are referring to a scene in Dragondrums when Piemur first came to the southern continent and was managing alone.– BasyaCommented Nov 11, 2018 at 8:59
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
Poorly
As noted in the Wikia entry for the Fauna of Pern, the first explorers found no evidence of large mammalian life as anything but ancient fossils. The majority of land and air-based species are lizards, insects, and avians, which had adapted to the environment, finding shelter from the thread by virtue of small size, ability to burrow, or lairing within rock surfaces. The sea life, on the other hand, was able to survive by staying below the surface of the water while Thread fell, with the books noting that fish would consume the thread after its death.
Domesticated species introduced by the colonists survived because they could be kept under cover by means of technology, albeit sometimes just the primitive technology of strong roofs.
One area they do not address is the survival of the Felines, although only the Southern species are noted to have survived to the modern day, while the Mrreows disappeared some time after Ninth Pass. It is possible that, between being enhanced with mentasynth and the increased ground cover from surviving vegetation due to the grubs, that they were able to find more shelter from the falling thread.
answered Jan 16, 2018 at 19:17
-
3The felines also had the advantage of living on the continent with the grubs.– user57650Commented Jan 16, 2018 at 22:13
-
-
1The felines likely take advantage of caves and outcroppings, the same way Sean and Sorka survived their first Fall in Dragonsdawn, and Menolly her Fall in Dragonsong. Commented Jan 17, 2018 at 4:05
-
In Dragondrums, when Piemur is wandering alone on the Southern Continent, there is a vivid description of animals taking shelter from thread (or, in some cases, failing to).– BasyaCommented Nov 11, 2018 at 8:59