Field Report 17:05 hours Tuesday

To: Sub-Commander Lupus

    Ma am,
    As requested I have been to the Atlas Haven area doing a life form scan of the area. After having been hunting in the area often, I must say that I honestly did not expect to find the rumors of a perviously unknown life form to be true. However as requested I have spent the last 2 days doing the scan of all life forms that I have found.

    After making camp for the first night I was beginning to wonder if you were in fact placing a little to much weight in the rumors of the colonist. However as i saw it the worse i was getting out of this assiment was a free camping trip. During the night i heard a wildlife call that i had never heard in this area. I went out to see what it was been being as it was dark and i had the scan apart for cleaning i didn't find or see anything.

    The next morning as i was seeing out to head to the south eastern area of Atlas i came across tracks that i had never seen before. I followed them for 6 or 8 clicks when i came up on a fairly large herd. In the herd were Daikibas, Snabbles, and Plowcows (excos)
as well as chippies. I watched for a while trying to understand the complex interaction of the herd. Snabbles of course feeding on the bugs and small rodents that the Daikibas and Plow Cows kicks up as well as acting as the sentries for the herd. the chippies acting much like the birds on old earth cleaning the ticks and such off of the herd as well as sharing in the sentry duty. I spent a good part of the afternoon just watching the behavior of the herd. I did however notice on thing that i hadn't seen in a herd before. The herd was grazing very close to the hunting area of known predators but did not seem to be showing the normal level of concern that they would have.

    Puzzled as to what was causing this behavior i made my way around the herd to the east and that Ma am was when i saw it.
I ha...