Thorn Valley Nation's friends and allies

Okay... wierd topic, but you can probably see where and why I'm going with this, I just wanted to hear some of your thoughts while I'm working on a fan fic. (well, frankly, I havn't worked on it at all in a long time, I'm preoccupied with other stuff, but I hope to work on it one day.

I`ve been around and working for 30 years in military aircraft and have seen how Air power makes a force to be reckon with, It made the Battleship inert in WW2, To the Rats advantage fowls of the air in any maner of service, is useful :)

I voted crows/birds, but I think any of them could be interesting alliances. The main thing would be figuring out justification--how would it benefit any of them to ally with the rats instead of ignoring or eating them? You could also make the argument that it might be easier for the rats to relate to other rodents, and thus are able to get them on their side.

As for being aloof or hostile to 'lower creatures,' while it's still a possibility (especially for a movie fan-fic, with some of Jenner's followers or something), I think it would be difficult for them to avoid forming a working relationship with the animals. Remember, unless they've got some /really/ good security, or resort to things such as poisons or whatnot (now /that/ would be an interesting moral quandary), they'll have to deal with animals stealing from their crops and possibly threats from predators. I'd think that making the situation as mutually beneficial as possible would make the most sense.

Thanks for your helpful thoughts and insights, guys, here's my personal thoughts on what sort of alliance/friendship/use the rats could have with other native animals.

I think one of the coolest animals the rats could be friends/allies with would be bears. According to one mention in the novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, the area is home to bears, most likely black bears, as grizzlies are extinct from most of the contiguous 48 states where the book most likely takes place. Bears could both be a havoc and a potential help. Black bears are said to be about as intelligent as a 3-year old human, you've also got to admire their incredible power and strength, every other animal respects and fears them, even alligators,
and despite what you may think, bears are actually rather docile and not nearly as outwardly aggressive and ferocious as myths portray them, for more info see:

http://www.bear.org/SlideShows/SS_Home.html

Bears might wreak havoc on the rat's crops and food stores and be a potential threat/danger to the rats themselves, but I'm sure the rats civilizatin's ingenious ingenuity would find a way to ward off nuisances. As for a threat of harming/killing the rats, 70% of their diet is plant matter, and the rest is pretty much mainly carrion, the rat's own fear of them would be the biggest problem, the bears would most likely be only curious as to what the heck is going on and approach the rats for a closer look. It is possible that the rats could make close friends with any particular black bear frequenting the area near their civilization, especially if they willingly give the bear food.

...for close friendship and assistance, it would be more likely, say, if a bear cub was somehow orphaned or found wanering alone, the rats could adopt it and raise it by providing food/shelter/love/protection from adult male bears. It would be alot of trouble, but as the bear matured he could offer great assistance to the rats. He would be a great help in a wide range of areas including:

-protection from other predators
-a watchful eye of all that's going on in the surrounding woods
-ward off trespassing people
-power through brute strength, bodyguard protection (ride the bear to explore environment safely and efficiently)
-assist with hard manual labor impossible for even teams of rats to carry out
-military tank (ride on bear's back, command him to crush, kill, destroy, bwa ha ha)

the bear would benefit from free food, shelter, rewarding friendship, and maybe even protection from hunters.

I have to admit that I'M not sure as to how to vote on this one because some valid points were made for each case and I did not feel it would be right to limit myself to just one. However I do think that Simon makes an excellent point about the advantages of cooperation with other animals especially when it comes to keeping their crops safe from others that would steal them for their own. I tend to think that after a fashion, the rats would form if not friendships, mutually benefincial alliances with other creatures but such a process would not be easy. In fact it could take may years because there is always the threat of being discovered and the rats of NIMH would have to be justifiably cautious with anyone they happen to encounter in their new surroundings. The thought of capture and being sent back to the NIMH labs weighs heavily on their minds and affects the way that they conduct themselves when they meet a stranger for the first time. Is this stranger really my friend, or does he/she mean to do me harm?; is a question that's on every rats mind....
:D Peace

Yeah, I agree the concept of a rat airforce is pretty cool, but one thing you may have to take into consideration is that it is probably not at all feasable for rats to ride on the backs of birds. Rats arleady get pretty large, and the genetically altered superintelligent NIMH rats are even larger than normal. Probably about size of rabbits. Perhaps if they were to become friends with an eagle or large hawk or something, but those are all raptors that would sooner see the rats as food, so the chances of that seem rather low.

I don't think the nimh rats would have allies, though I would believe that they would feel a kinship to unaltered rats and mice. Can't say I much care for the last choice on the voting poll. I don't believe that humans as a whole are hostile to animals. We are animals as well. Though I do believe a fair number of humans are hostile while a fair number of them are simply ignorant or insensative. Also, I've seen a great many that care.

Anyway, I feel that the rats of nimh would have to do the same things that humans have been doing since the dawn of sentiant time. Domestication. The rats would have to domesticate the animals (such as birds and what not . . ) that they plan on associated with in a simbiotic type relationship such as work or transporation. Maybe even food or what ever purpose.

I can't really say how they would go about it or if it would be better then human methods though I think it would be better as they can study man's mistakes and successes.

Well, that's my 2 cents.