The Rubyberry and the Pixilated Woodpecker

Dangers come in many forms. There are animals that are dangerous because of their might, such as the alligator, bear, and lion. There are animals that are dangerous because of their venom or sting, such as the hornet, cobra, or scorpian. There are natural hazards, such as wind and flood.

Paradise Island had none of these. It had a tree and a bird.

The tree was the rubyberry. The rubyberry was a tree looked similar to a pecan tree, but instead of nuts, the fruits of the rubyberry were red, translucent nodules filled with seeds and a sugary fluid that fermented when exposed to the sun for an extended period of time. The seeds required a week of germination at 40 C to develop. Now Paradise Island was not tropical. The rubyberry would have become extinct if it weren't for the Pixilated Woodpecker.

The Pixilated Woodpecker is about 15 cm long, and weighs about 50 grams. It main diet is insects, rubyberry sap, and rubyberry fruit. Due to the fermented fruit, the Pixilated Woodpecker spends most of its life intoxicated. The woodpecker's internal body temperature is conveniently 40 C. The woodpecker eats the fruit, the seeds stay in the woodpecker's digestive system for about a week and start to sprout. The woodpecker expels the seedlings, and new rubyberry plants take root to feed a new generation of woodpeckers, for a textbook example of symbiosis.

The woodpecker is a brood parasite, like the cuckoo and the cowbird. Natural philosphers believe that this is due to the woodpecker's courtship rituals and bohemian lifestyle. The father plays no role in raising the chicks. The mother dumps her eggs in the nest of other birds, such the Paradise Island Wren, Black-headed Gull, and the Wharf Canary.

Now brood parasites have a bad reputation. The cuckoo is well-known to lay its eggs in other bird's nest, and a newly hatched cuckoo will push out the eggs or chicks of its hosts out of a nest. A cowbird chick, on the other hand, is not as aggressive as a cuckoo's. It will not push other chicks out of the nest, but will often cause them to starve, as it is much larger and will take most of the food that its foster parents bring to the nest. A Pixilated Woodpecker chick is less harmful to its foster brothers and sisters. Little adverse impact is noticed until about the twelfth day.

At that point, at a time that the chicks should be concentrating on fledging, they start behaving in bizarre ways. Often they use rubyberry juice to dye their feathers odd colours and with strange designs. There have been some records of young birds piercing their bills, tails, and other parts of their body with pine straw. Chicks will often sulk in the corners of their nest, complaining that nobody understands them. At that point, the parent birds can usually spot the cranky young woodpecker as the ringleader, and kick it out of the nest, sometimes putting an end to the odd behaviour of its foster brothers and sisters.

But one must understand, that the woodpecker chick has not yet tasted the juice of the rubyberry. It is in his very nature to be sullen and angry. A sober Pixilated Woodpecker is a frightening animal. It will instinctively drum on any wooden surface in search of the relaxing sap, and try to snatch anything red in search of relief. But once the Woodpecker has had his fill or sap or berries, it is a perfectly docile, but somewhat unpredicatable bird.

So how could the Pixilated Woodpecker and the Rubyberry pose a problem to Haljon and his party? Take one tree with attractive, ruby-red fruit of about 16 proof, and a bird that is attracted to such fruit. Consider that said bird has a cranky and destructive disposition when sober, and uncertain judgment when drunk. Combine that with the fact that the sailing vessel was mostly wood. Combine that with Thelma's remark, while that Captain was filling casks of fresh water:

1. "What are those trees? It looks like there are rubies growing on them! Let's take a look!"

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