It took another week for the Explorers to map out a revised action plan for investigating the "natives" that included the newfound resources, and several more days to complete the preparations. The first action was to launch several of the winged probes. The designers back on Earth had decided that if it were to be able to fly, a creature must take one of only a few forms. Oh, they might vary greatly in size, but all would need wings, whether feathered or membrane, or some sort of gasbag, like an airship. Crashlanding featured both types, though the gasbag types were apparently rather rare. Susan proclaimed herself surprised that the 'gasbags' weren't already extinct, since their young were such easy prey for winged predators. Adults, of course, were so huge that no winged creature could seriously threaten them. There were no feathered birds on Crashlanding, but a few furred and even some 'naked' flyers somewhere between birds and bats. Some were huge, and constituted a threat to both the colonists and their smaller livestock, though none were a threat to cows, carabao or bison.
