Giant naga speed

Hiya.

I had been checking up on the commonly accepted theory as far as predator speed goes. I've noticed that many people expect giant nagas to be something you can outrun, if you really want to, and I assumed on Survival Lessons that was the case- that nagas had both a strike speed and a "tactical" speed. The strike speed was not worth measuring, but the tactical speed had to be around what a human could manage- so that a chase followed if a human decided to run, where their initial distance, small differences in speed, and the human's endurance (as the naga would consider this its usual speed, and simply couldn't move faster) would be factors deciding the endgame.

As it turns out, I should've been more attentive.

I was contradicting the primary canon here- in the first manga we saw that Crisis HAD the ability to move faster than usual, and in the second manga we saw her in overland movement. Thus, I should've assumed Crisis was capable of at least three major speeds- strike, run, and generic. Moreover, the running speed can be involved in hunting- Crisis had to maintain that speed for at least a minute.

We'll set aside the fact that Crisis is more active than other nagas and focus for now in the simple fact that it is possible, shall we?

If I should change the information represented in Survival Lessons to reflect the fact (a fact that would annoy me greatly, but it'd be just a little pain compared to letting people read something that was relays incorrect information- and that fiction WAS meant to relay information) that nagas are both willing and able to use a faster gait to pursue prey, then so be it.


Until then, I'd submit this alternative for evaluation.

Let's assume nagas have a slow, normal gait- which is somewhat stealthy and maximum in maneauverability. Rarely does this speed exceed 5 km/h.

They can, slowly, acellerate beyond this first speed to the second speed- the fastest speed they can reach comfortably and maintain for a long amount of time. This speed is serviceable in its maneauverability, and they can stop easily, but it's not stealthy, and so it's their usual speed when they're just covering ground; when they encounter predators at this speed, as they know their stealth is zero, they attempt to escape for the trees. This gait starts at 5 km/h, and acellerates very slowly, depending on the individual, to an average of 13 km/h (though some individuals can reach 25 km/h or more).

Last, for short periods of time, they can burst into a "running" speed, in which they sacrifice all maneauverability for sheer speed, finding it difficult to stop or change direction without something to grab on to and swing around. Running is also tiring- duh. Their running speed can exceed 50 km/h- but it's rarely used for hunting anything that isn't a new arrival. Anyone who isn't a straggler knows better than to run parallel, and they take turns away from the creature's trajectory to force the naga to tire itself out. In any case, high speed is only for desperate times, such as when the naga needs to run away from something.

If coiled, a naga can strike at a speed even faster than their running speed, but their reach is minimal.


Does this seem about fair?

The problem with nagas, and giants in particular, is just that, they are about a hundred times larger than we are, so they can cover ground faster than we do with a single step. That may be the principal reason why calculating a giant naga's speed is difficult. Also, this seems a little too rigid to have solid numbers for different speeds.