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Below are some attempts at conceiving of what plant life and other foreign life would be encountered in the Wilderness. First we start with real organisms, and then we move to the speculative realm.
Below are some attempts at imagining what sort of plant life and other foreign organisms would be encountered in the Wilderness. First we start with real life forms found on Earth, and then we move to the speculative realm.
{{TOCfloat}}
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==Strange life forms==
==Strange life forms==
{{Pullquote|On and on it goes. It seems the more you learn, the less and less and less and less and less you know.|Apollo Sunshine, "The Egg"}}
{{Pullquote|On and on it goes. It seems the more you learn, the less and less and less and less and less you know.|2=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlG0aMXLOjU Apollo Sunshine, "The Egg"]}}


===Plants===
===Plants===
Let's look at real plants to get some inspiration. It seems that peering into nature closely only demonstrates how incapable we are of imagining anything stranger or more alien than the actual life that exists on this planet -- plants that hear, plants that eat meat, plants that don't need soil.... Here's some stand-out examples.
Let's look at real plants to get some inspiration. It seems that peering into nature closely only demonstrates how incapable we are of imagining anything stranger or more alien than the actual life that exists on this planet — plants that hear, plants that eat meat, plants that don't need soil.... Here's some stand-out examples.


====Sensitive plants====
====Sensitive plants====
*[[wp:Mimosa_pudica|Mimosa pudica]] is known by countless names in countless languages because people the world over so enjoy touching it. No, seriously. It's usually referred to in English as touch-me-not, and in most other languages a variant of the word "shy" is used in its name. You can see why in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLTcVNyOhUc this video].
*[[wp:Mimosa_pudica|Mimosa pudica]] is known by countless names in countless languages because people the world over so enjoy touching it. No, seriously. It's usually referred to in English as touch-me-not, and in most other languages a variant of the word "shy" is used in its name. You can see why in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLTcVNyOhUc this video].
**The perfect orderliness of the folding leaves such as at 2:24 seems to belie our ideas about "organics" being "sloppier" than mechanical devices. Although it's been years since I played Myst III, watching this video reminded me of the stairs that can be seen at 1:09 in the game's trailer above.
**The perfect orderliness of the folding leaves such as at 2:24 seems to belie our ideas about "organics" being "sloppier" than mechanical devices. Although it's been years since I played Myst III, watching this video reminded me of the stairs that can be seen at 1:09 in the game's trailer (see "Fictional plants" below).
**It seems to be a nearly universal reaction to become irritated at seeing someone messing with the touch-me-not, as you can see from all the comments on touch-me-not videos. One YouTube commenter wryly explains, "Funny how people willingly pick, cut, step on, or otherwise harm plants, but as soon as the plant is capable of noticeable movement, suddenly they decide it has feelings and anyone who bothers it is a bastard." Hmm.
**It seems to be a nearly universal reaction to become irritated at seeing someone messing with the touch-me-not, as you can see from all the comments on touch-me-not videos. One YouTube commenter wryly explains, "Funny how people willingly pick, cut, step on, or otherwise harm plants, but as soon as the plant is capable of noticeable movement, suddenly they decide it has feelings and anyone who bothers it is a bastard." Hmm.


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*Myst III: Exile. After two games set in mostly lifeless worlds, Myst III (under new developers) moved in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl-u0tD0_Xk a more organic direction]. Notice that some puzzles involve divining the workings of plants and the minds of animals. Of course Oni is pretty much on the other side of the action/thinking spectrum from a game like Myst, but there's still food for thought here.
*Myst III: Exile. After two games set in mostly lifeless worlds, Myst III (under new developers) moved in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl-u0tD0_Xk a more organic direction]. Notice that some puzzles involve divining the workings of plants and the minds of animals. Of course Oni is pretty much on the other side of the action/thinking spectrum from a game like Myst, but there's still food for thought here.


*Plants with Eyes. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc_Y1IXVSig Just watch it]. As far as I can tell, this was produced for a television show as a sort of throw-away tease segment, but it really stands on its own as a bizarre and super-realistic visualization of the very kind of stuff we might encounter in plants from another world, or plants that were more active than ours. Apparently they started with live-action footage of real plants, and then dressed them up with CG, but the results are surprisingly effective. Then again, some of our real-life plants are pretty impressive too, as seen above.
*Plants with Eyes. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc_Y1IXVSig Just watch it]. As far as I can tell, this was produced for a television show. Apparently they started with live-action footage of real plants, and then dressed them up with CG, but the results are surprisingly effective.


===Fungi===
===Fungi===
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*Squirrels can scare away snakes with their tail flagging; they also [https://www.futurity.org/robo-squirrel-flags-snakes-with-infrared-tail/ heat up their tail] as they face rattlesnakes, giving off infrared light that the snake can see. The flagging may help them evade attacks, or just be for sensory confusion. Remarkably, squirrels’ tails do not heat up when facing snakes that don’t see heat.
*Squirrels can scare away snakes with their tail flagging; they also [https://www.futurity.org/robo-squirrel-flags-snakes-with-infrared-tail/ heat up their tail] as they face rattlesnakes, giving off infrared light that the snake can see. The flagging may help them evade attacks, or just be for sensory confusion. Remarkably, squirrels’ tails do not heat up when facing snakes that don’t see heat.


*Mammals can live socially like bees -- see the [[wp:Naked_mole-rat|naked mole rat]], a very unusual mammal.
*Mammals can live socially like bees — see the [[wp:Naked_mole-rat|naked mole rat]], a very unusual mammal.


====Other land animals====
====Other land animals====
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