The Wyld Girls

Chapter 14 - Kylie

Wyld Times, Episode 55

"Madagascar is amazing!" says Kylie as she, Michelle and Bruce walk along a dense rainforest trail.

Bruce announces, "We're here at the Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar, off the African coast. This park covers a massive area – more than twice the size of Washington DC! It's packed with dense rainforest, waterfalls, rapids and-"

"Lemurs!" Kylie shrieks, running ahead of them on the track. "Bru! Shelly! Look!"

The rainforest canopy has opened up to a grassy field overlooking a rocky cliff. A dozen small creatures squat in the sunshine, their legs and arms splayed as they bask their bellies in the sun. A few heads turn curiously in the direction of the humans.

Michelle narrates. "Ranomafana is home to 12 species of lemur; we've found some ring-tailed lemurs. With their stripy tails, these tiny primates are the most recognisable of their kind."

Bruce starts to hum something that sounds suspiciously like 'Move it' while grinding against Michelle.

She slides away and says, "Lemurs are fascinating because they're one of the few mammal groups that's female-dominant. The female lemurs have feeding priority, at times even snatching food away from males. They'll also kick males out of sleeping spots and be first in line for grooming. And, if another troop of lemurs tries to take over, it's the females who lead the battles – sometimes with babies hanging on to their fur tightly."

"Who runs the world!" shouts Kylie proudly.

Bruce snorts. "Letting the women be in charge? Big mistake! They probably start arguments over who has the prettiest fur or makes the best fruit salad!"

Michelle sounds tired as she rebuts him. "Actually, the females do more peacekeeping in the troop than the males. They're in charge of the fights and disagreements."

"Probably because they're scared of the blokes."

"The females are better at one-on-one fighting than the males," says Michelle, staring at the small creatures with a measure of respect. "In this world, the female will usually win most arguments."

"Ha!" scoffs Bruce. "That's not the world the rest of us live in!"

"No, it's definitely not," says Michelle, sorrow and pain etched in her expression.

"So, as you can see," I say, panning the camera phone around our workshop, "the prototype of the sling is almost ready for testing. Simeon, can you tell us about the progress?"

My boyfriend (squee!) looks up from the bench where he's leaning over a piece of knotted netting. "Hello, everyone. As Kylie mentioned, we've settled on this design and sourced several types of fabric for the sling. We've settled on a super stretchy netting – similar to what you'd find on a trampoline or a trapeze safety net, but softer."

I follow him with the camera as he walks over to the open floor area where we have a large rectangle of the net laid out. Each corner of the net is tied into a solid knot connected to a chain. "The idea is that Doris will slide into the net, then we'll hit the button to trigger the chains to draw upward. Hey, Briggs? Can you be our test subject?"

The vet has just entered the shed where we're working. "Bugger off," he says gruffly. "I'm here for WD-40, not to play guineapig."

"Guinea seal, actually," says Simeon with an irresistible smile.

"Come on, Briggs," I say, zooming in on him. "We've got over a million subscribers and all of them want to see you trussed up like a rolled roast."

He grumbles, but caves – just like I knew he would. "Fine. I'll give you five minutes."