# Station Ecosystems [Matz05, Unapproved]

(Republished with Matz05's permission.)

Discord posts prompted by Possum/Raccoon/Ferret PR and discussion of mechanics for rats and mice. Instructed to save this to HackMD by Stanbery Trask. All posts may be cut/edited to fit this format, see originals for more details/discussion.

## Link to Discord post
https://discord.com/channels/310555209753690112/311537926376783886/944816512747843624

## Initial post

I really like the idea of (at least larger, older stations) developing a sort of minimalist ecology aboard with all these awesome Maintenance tunnel ~~vermin~~ *cute fuzzy animal friends.* I guess we need some kind of fungi or plants that grow wild (something less invasive than Space Kudzu) to form the base of the ecosystem, and the obligatory fleas/diseases (probably pending Virology) to punish the station for leaving it unchecked, and suddenly all these life-forms become a complete mechanic, tied in with the Chef (“shh, it’s rat kebabs”), Janitor, Botany (“MY CABBAGES!”"), Genetics (“Behold! I’ve perfected— the MAN-RAT!”), Virology, maybe Cargo (preventing invasive species spreading either way when ships are docked, trying to profit off of animal products, etc.) and possibly even leading to their own roles (Station Ecologist? Ratcatcher?) someday on the largest stations.
*“What happened to Dave?” “He went in the abandoned section, got bit by a raccoon, and caught something. Wound up turning purple. Doctor took him away, haven’t seen him since.”*

## Follow-up points
I don’t know of any spacecraft that’s ever been confirmed to have rats, but I know that well before the station’s demise, Mir had a thriving ecosystem of mutant moulds and bacteria in the strange, high-radiation environment, and there’s basically no place that docks surface boats for long without eventually ending up with rats on them.

Seems to me like, with the apparently pretty casual space travel of SS13/SS14, many tenacious, adaptable species such as dandelions and rats are going to end up unexpectedly spreading eventually. Particularly given the precedent set by the Kudzu.

## Mir and ISS fungus/dust mite/microorganism ecosystems

Apparently they counted 140 species of microbes on Mir near the end, getting higher as the station got older?
Apparently most obvious contact with life-forms on Mir was foul-smelling moulds “found growing behind panels and inside air-conditioning equipment”.
ISS has had mould problems too, apparently, but I guess they’re better at keeping the air dry so condensation doesn’t form.
Useful source: this old NASA educational page: https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/11may_locad3/

## Notice of shipment rejection:
Quartermaster’s rejection reason: “Package manifest incorrect”
Notes: “Instead of thirty (30) sheets of plasma glass as indicated, crate contained one (1) rabid raccoon. Crate returned to sender.”