Snack Time, Brats (pup hunt)

*Cascade* · 04-23-2015, 10:30 AM

Cascade noted with approval that all of the pack's pups - except Seraphim and Falx, who were both still ill, and the third Armada girl who probably didn't have the strength yet to hunt - had showed at the training, including the Destruction pups... though the sullen expressions several of the pups showed didn't bode well. Her half-smile didn't falter even as Caesar stomped in, or Vana flounced up, or Esti arrived with Valen's youngest in tow to glare at her - Cascade just offered her a blandly unconcerned raised eyebrow in return, and smiled - or when Colette crept in - sometimes she seemed to behave as though Cascade regularly beat them, which was almost more annoying than Vana's dramatics - or when Shakespeare thundered in like a brewing storm cloud, or at Sabre's arrogant entrance onto the scene. "All right!" she began cheerfully, "It's nice to meet you, Az, I'm glad you could make it. You can never start too early learning to hunt, it will teach you many skills you can use later when you start learning self-defense as well as helping you with creative thinking and learning how to use those big paws of yours." She passed her eyes over the group, mostly consisting of older pups, and grinned. "The rest of you are a little late for learning to use your paws but maybe we can teach you how to work together to increase the effectiveness of your hunt. I'm sure you older pups have been trying out hunting rodents, and some of you have maybe even been off bunny-chasing. That's good, the more practice you get the better at your age. But I'm sure it wasn't easy, and it probably used up a lot of energy." Here she turned serious, fixing them all with a look. "That extra energy you're using up could be the difference between life and death if you're out on your own. No hunter, no matter how good they are, always gets their prey, and if you're using up too much energy on your attempts, you're going to run out of strength before you get a meal. You need to work smarter, not harder, if you're going to survive. Likewise, if you're using up more energy in a hunt, you're using up more pack resources that could be going toward those who are too weak or small or too unskilled to hunt for themselves. Conserving energy is key, and to that end we're going to work on our stalking, choosing the best prey, and working together in a manner that will increase your efficiency and likelihood of making a clean kill. Ok! We'll start with stalking."

She stood, her grin returning. "What is the most important thing when stalking? Control, control, control! You need to know where your feet and tail are at all times and you need to be in absolute control over what they are doing. Your tail's out wagging along behind you because you're happy and hunting is fun? Well, it's also hitting grass and bushes and sticks and alerting every animal near you that you're coming. You can keep your tail out for balance, but keep it still. Keep your body low -" she bent her joints, keeping them loose and fluid, to demonstrate - "And keep your head low too. Sure you probably want to crane your head to see over stuff, but it is much, much easier to lose your balance or misstep with your head up in the clouds. Keep it level with your spine or a bit lower. When you walk you need to be absolutely aware of what you're stepping on before you put your weight on your paws. Otherwise..." She stepped down on a twig, the resulting crack making her point for her. "Sticks will crack if you step on them, but you also need to be careful about fallen leaves and dead grasses that will crackle or rustle if you are careless, or loose rocks or gravel that will clatter or make you lose your balance. Mud and clay will squelch and get slippery. You want to set your toes down slowly and gently, feeling what is beneath your foot, and then slowly rock your weight onto that paw once you're sure. Once you get really good you'll be able to speed up, but it is better to be slow and sneak up on your prey than to risk scaring them away and need to waste energy chasing them down." She demonstrated, slowing down to exaggerate each motion the way she wanted them to work on doing it, then sat back. "All right, I want all of you to give it a go."

OOC: I know a couple people are on absence so we're going to be waiting on them, but try to get in as quickly as possible. I don't want to waste a lot of time on this round, I want to move on to something more fun. :)

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