The Animals of Mystica

Animals of Second Life part 1

By Fresh Catteneo

I love animals and as a child one of my favourite pass times was to go to the zoo and watch the animals in their cages. I found the monkeys the most interesting and could sit and watch them for hours . If there was no one to take me to the zoo then I would watch them on T.V on the National Geographic channel. SL is teaming with wildlife and it seems that almost all species of animals on earth have their virtual three dimensional representatives in SL (not to mention magical and mythical creatures). So I decided I might start a series of articles about SL's animals and try to document all the animals I will encounter in my journeys. Sounds like a big project but I think it will be fun, especially when all my friends will join in to help me (hint...hint....) Readers are also invited to send me pictures and descriptions of animals they meet or observe.

Yesterday my friend and co-worker SLFN reporter Marose Mizser invited me for brunch on a tower at a Sim called Mystica. It's a place dedicated to studying healing and the magical arts. The scenery is like taken straight out of a fairy tail book - black crows, giant mushrooms, colorful butterflies, dangerous black spiders, sky high castles etc.. It's a meeting point for witches, wizards and fairies.



We sat on the porch of this incredible tower and chatted away when suddenly an amazing blueish-green humming bird approached me to say hello. It was then that the idea popped into my head that all these marvelous animals have to be seriously documented.

Except for a black cat and a praying mantis, all animals I encountered at Mystica were winged. Well, it's not surprising since it's a Sim that specializes in witches and fairies that can also fly.
This yellowish- brown butterfly was found near a bush on the ground where hundreds of butterflies similar to him kept flying out in all directions. There is a good tutorial at Nathalia Zelmanov's blog on how to make these butterfly effects. (Here)


A butterfly is an insect of the order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera, butterflies are notable for their unusual life cycle with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal stage, and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar and colourful winged adult form. Most species are day-flying so they regularly attract attention. The diverse patterns formed by their brightly coloured wings and their erratic yet graceful flight have made butterfly watching a popular hobby. (Wikipedia). Here is another species of butterflies that were flying on the porch at the high tower:


This American eagle flew around at a high altitude searching probably for rats or mice or other small animals he could snatch on the ground. By the way, it might seem difficult to take pictures of these animals that are in motion. But actually it's very easy. I was surprised to find that once you zoom in on a moving object, the camera locks on it and follows it like a shadow, so you can snap away all you want. Also there will be no smudging of the picture like in RL when you shoot a moving object.

Black cat

Praying mantis

Wasp

Elven Rider

Ladybug

Scorpion

Bee

On one of the walls at Mystica I saw a sign with a message. I think it is important so I will post it here:

Help Stop the Drilling in Another Wildlife Refuge

The Baca National Wildlife Refuge
Is not just another Refuge to be violated

There is only enough gas there to satisfy Americans lust for energy for 2 1/2 weeks.
The refuge is home to elk and bison as well as a host of rare and endangered plants and smaller animals.

Big Oil is raping our lands. Stop them now.

Click here for Second Life Animals Part 2

A Fairy in a Castle in The Heavens

By Fresh Catteneo

Not all avatars know, but the SL skies are almost as inhabited and full of life as on the ground. Once you start flying upwards towards the heavens, you will begin to see buildings and structures floating in the air. The castle in the picture belongs to Bietje Merlin and her boyfriend Jack, who built it all by himself. Bietje rents land in Forest Sangha, and that allows her to build structures in the space above that land. Here's what Wikipedia says about it: "The most basic method of moving around is by foot (also running and jumping). To travel more rapidly, avatars can also fly up to about 170 m above the terrain (meaning 270 m if ground level is 100 m, 180 m if ground level is set to 10 m) without requiring any special equipment, but with scripted attachments there is currently no limit to how high an avatar can fly (although once past several million meters, the rendering of the avatar mesh starts to be affected)." Well, I had to use an attachment called a "feather" that Jack gave me in order to be able to float around and take pictures of the castle. Without it I would freefall immediatly. When I arrived at the castle, I found Bietje standing on the porch.


Bietje and Jack are good friends of mine. I thought I might pay them a visit and see how they are doing. Jack was away on vacation but Bietje was at home, flying around the castle dressed as a green fairy. She gave me a little tour of the castle. This is the ground floor.


What caught my attention was the beautiful picture of Bietje and Jack that hung on the wall. Bietje said Jack painted it.


Then we pressed a button and were teleported upstairs to the second floor, to the bedroom and porch. The walls were decorated with a foggy light brown texture, and had two oriental shaped windows.


Then Bietje told me to touch the walls and when I did they disappeared and turned into semi-transparent curtains. Nice! Gives you a really floaty feeling....

We went outside and sat on the porch looking at the sunset. Bietje started telling me about some adventures she and her friend Cat had at a Gorean Sim. What is a Gorean Sim you ask ? Well, that's a whole different story and I might tell you about it some day... Anyway, she and Cat dressed up as witches and went to annoy some Gorean people. Apparently they succeeded and were almost kicked out of the Sim for disobeying the rules. It happens that most Gorean men are fierce warriors and the women are their slaves... (except the Panther girls).


Bietje and Cat did finally succeed to escape from that horrid place but as a result Bietje got stuck to a broom and can't get rid of it. So whenever she tries to move, she is compelled to ride it. What a punishement...


Click here to teleport to Bietje's castle.