I think the key word in this strip is “maintain”, it seems like this colony doesn’t want to expand, or grow, or anything. The ones in charge think things are just fine as-is, and don’t want to change the status quo.
IIRC the neck and belly of a bear aren’t quite as thick as their back and sides. And she’s facing him head on, so she might have gotten in a solid hit.
Expulsion would run the risk of him possibly leading someone back to Endtown. Either he leads people from another colony that’s starving back to Endtown, or he leads some topsiders there, in the rats’ eyes, prob best to nip that possibility in the bud.
They were working on hydroponics and some kind of fungus growth to grow their own food a while back. It was when they had to take out that rocket that was going to launch the satellite, IIRC, at that point they were 1.5-2 years away from it becoming viable, but I dunno how much time has passed in-universe since then. They could potentially have plenty of food viability without ever needing to go above ground once those systems up and running.
I think the main thing people are asking is when we’ve seen evidence that there’s mirrors in the storeroom. You’re making a positive claim, you need to cite evidence for that. And if the next strip we see Foxworthy staring down an aisle and he doesn’t have a reflection, you’re going to look rather silly.
Wuh oh, Wally’s remembering those drawings on the wall back in Eden.