A note on the Rules of the Woods:
The Rules vary somewhat by location, type of creature, and time. They are altered by the language and context in which they are taught. The lower birds have rules not had among the upper predator, and vice versa. Nevertheless, all creatures of the woods (and the jungles, the deserts, the tundra, etc.) have some version of the Rules. They are taught by the wise, and illustrated in Story Circles.
The list that follows are the Rules taught by the upper predators of woods, such as those from Singer’s Peace. With the exception of the first and last rules, they are not taught in any particular order.
—The Rules of the Woods—
The First Rule of the Woods: Humans carry the curse. Don’t touch their skin, their food, or their dens.
Every creature knows three human words: fence, car, and gun. Why? Because fences mark the borders that creatures should never cross, cars are the monsters that crush those who do, and guns are the power that all creatures fear.
Predators of the woods are servants of the Old Predator, and prey are servants of the Young Gatherer. Predators must kill to eat, but they must not kill creatures they cannot eat.
Predators of the woods hunt alone, except with their mates.
Creature that live in human dens (“pets”) carry the curse and cannot be trusted by creatures of the woods.
Childhood is a time of play and learning. But when a creature comes of age, they must find a new territory of their own.
Each predator must claim territory of their own, and must challenge another like predator for territory if they want to claim it. However, a predator may establish a truce with different predators in the name of building community.
A territory may have at least one Watcher: great birds whose responsibility it is to not only keep a territory safe for all creatures, but also to teach children and to share stories from distant territories. Watchers are to be respected.
With very few exceptions, leave fungus alone.
The Last Rule of the Woods is had only between mothers and their children at the special time of their departure into the wide world.