by David Pratt
He decided to leave his giant neighbour to her dinner, wasting no time here. He had a new homeland to explore and he had to get himself back in good breeding condition. So much to do!
The sun was beginning to set over the Cretaceous skies. The dayshift was soon giving way to the nightshift and the background noises of the forest were starting to change. Bladefoot was currently giving himself a dust bath, rolling around in a patch of dirt to get rid of the lice and ticks that plagued his coat of feathers. He sieved through his feathers with his teeth, gnawing his arms and legs to chew out any of the unwanted hitchhikers. He needed to keep the parasites in check if he was to impress a female. ‘I need a female. I want a female.’ He kept dwelling on that.
The forest around him would provide his future family with everything they needed: food, water, security. He heard the mating calls of the female T.Rex in the background. He got up and drank from a nearby stream. Every time he saw water he would be reminded of that traumatic experience on the raging river. But this stream was quiet and peaceful. He lapped up the cool clear water, not having to worry about water predators for the moment.
Once his thirst had been quenched he took the time to explore his new territory. It took him a few hours to cross his entire homeland, marking his new boundaries with urine as he did so. To the east were open fern prairies, an alternate hunting ground if Bladefoot needed it. Bladefoot didn’t really want to venture out in the open again as he felt far too exposed. The vast majority of his territory was covered in forest, with fern gullies, canyons, gorges and rivers.
Making his way north, he climbed a rock formation to reach the top of a waterfall. ‘I'll make my mating calls from the high ground!’ Bladefoot thought that this was a good place to perform a mating call. The sound would echo for miles and would be picked up by any female Troodons. Bladefoot arched his head back and gave out a high pitched whistling mating call. The noise resonated in the valley below. Bladefoot kept trying, screaming his cry time and time again. But for the moment he heard no answer, just the echo of his cries bouncing off the valley walls. He listened briefly then belted his screeches from the top of his lungs, but still there was nothing out there. For Bladefoot it was like fishing in the dark, trying to catch a mammal with his eyes closed. What he was trying to do seemed like a mounting task. To Bladefoot it felt impossible.
Forcing the thoughts of food to the back of his mind, he stayed on the waterfall screaming his mating cry. He knew that the female T.Rex didn’t hunt by night so he had nothing to fear from her. If anything, his mating calls attracted attention of a different kind………..
The mating calls of Bladefoot had been heard, but not by his intended target. In a neighbouring territory, Cutter had picked up the sounds of Bladefoot. He recognised the voice. ‘It’s that bottom feeder Bladefoot. So he survived his times in the wild.’ Cutter thought. Cutter too had left his parents and crossed the fern prairies to find his own territory.
Although he’d seen some new, strange dinosaurs he’d missed the Torosaurus stampede. If anything he’d watched it from a safe distance, feeling inspired and in awe of the Nanotyrannus. Cutter had watched Bladefoot being caught up in the Torosaurus stampede and when Bladefoot was swept away in the river Cutter thought his long time rival was dead for sure. But to hear him now brought about a sense of annoyance in Cutter. ‘Kane taught his son well.’ Cutter concluded.
What Cutter could’ve done was take care of Bladefoot back at that other river and made off before Bladefoot’s family could’ve done anything about it, but even then he knew that would’ve been easier said than done. Gaining his home stretch was far easier. Cutter wondered what became of Bladefoot’s brother Preston. ‘He could end up being future competition.’ Cutter was worried. However the chances of Preston showing up here were remote, but then again Bladefoot had done it.
Cutter decided that it was best to set up his own territorial boundaries, to re-enforce the fact that this was his land, should Bladefoot get any ideas. Cutter would have to be vigilante against Bladefoot now more than ever. Although Cutter too wanted a female he didn’t give out any mating calls just yet, not to reveal his position. ‘Bladefoot is a fool by drawing needless attention to himself like that.’ Cutter almost laughed at Bladefoot’s apparent stupidity.
Also, Cutter had heard the female T.Rex. Up until then he hadn’t known a T.Rex was in the area, which would complicate things even more. Cutter didn’t feel too troubled as his main concern now was Bladefoot. He contemplated trying to take his rival’s land, but then he realised that having two large territories would be too big for him to defend alone. If he could get a female and have support behind him, then he could challenge Bladefoot for his land. To do that, he would have to snag any females coming into Bladefoot’s territory. Judging by the lack of answering calls, there couldn’t be any females in the area. Cutter rushed off of to mark his territory, deciding that the best course of action now was to monitor Bladefoot.
Chapter 6
The next morning, the dawn chorus was joined by the mating calls of Thunder Blade. Her long howls carried through the air. She was starting to get old, but was confident she could lay another clutch of eggs and raise more chicks. The year before this one, her mate had been killed by the brow horns of a Triceratops. Now she had to find a new male. Not just any male, but one who had the potential to have strong genes. Thunder Blade felt happy if males wanted to fight over her.
She hadn’t slept well the night before because the mating calls of a Troodon had kept her awake. She hadn’t noticed that young male Troodon before but it didn’t concern her, as long as he didn’t try to raid her future nest. She looked around her territory. All she could see was the Quetzalcoatlus named Sky Rider flying overhead. Not much else. Just the usual morning sounds in the background. She tried once again. ‘MALES COME UNTO ME!’ That was what he mating call meant. She did have a good hunting territory of several tens of square kilometres. Females held the big territories while the males were more like vagabonds, until they paired with a female for life.
Thunder Blade knew that she needed a strong male to help her bring down the horned dinosaurs and larger hadrosaurs that were her daily food. She also noticed a new type of dinosaur, the long necked Alamosaurus, become more numerous in her territory recently. She had tried to take down some of the youngsters but knew she had to have backup to bring down an adult. She was trying to coincide her breeding cycle with the Edmontosaurus (Edmontosaurus is not to be confused with Edmontonia) that were migrating down from Alaska to their breeding grounds in a land known as Wyoming. However Thunder Blade knew that finding a male would take some time.
She truly was the Tyrant Lizard Queen of her domain. If she wanted something, she would take it, when her subjects tried to fight back, she would kill them. The other animals that shared her land were ruled by fear of Thunder Blade.
Further south, a male T.Rex named Stan had heard the mating call of the big female up north. He’d picked up her scent for some time and now the sound of her mating calls opened up a bounty of opportunity for him. But love was no easy task for such big aggressive predators. Stan knew what he had to do. Stan himself was a young male T.Rex, wandering North America for about a year ever since leaving his parents back in a distant land called Montana.
He too knew about the migration of the Edmontosaurus. He himself had stolen a dead one, freshly killed by a pack of raptors, leaving only the tail behind for the pack hunters when he crossed through Wyoming. Had he known about the females true intentions he would’ve saved the kill for her, but he knew most of it would’ve rotted before he could present it too her, but the migration presented new chances. This was perfect timing as far as he was concerned. Without hesitation, he made his way to the migration route.
The lowland swamps were foggy today because of the heat and humidity. Life in the swamps was as normal. Turtles sunned themselves in the morning light, Sky Rider the Quetzalcoatlus soared high in the sky, water birds grazed aquatic plants and
crocodilians snapped up fish in the water.
The noises of the swamp were joined by an annual chorus: the honking noises of the Edmontosaurus. At forty three feet long, Edmontosaurus was one of the larger species of hadrosaur. A whole mega herd of them walked through the marshes, bellowing and calling to one another to keep in constant communication. Highly adaptable, they could feed on a wide range of plants and certainly had the dentition to do so with a battery of at least 1000 teeth that were replaceable. They walked on all fours but could run on their hind legs. The tail was long and thick, the main defence of the animal, asides its large size. A flexible neck helped an Edmontosaurus keep watch while it fed, seeing as it was the staple diet of T.Rexes. But Edmontosaurus’ were equipped with sharp senses so they were not easy to ambush.
The herd members always scanned the horizon, looking out for any danger as they marched. They knew the trees could easily conceal a T.Rex. They knew better than to wander too close to the deeper parts of the swamp as well. A Deinosuchus could easily drag one to a watery grave. Like the Torosaurus, the Edmontosaurus have migrated further south to escape a dark, polar winter. Although the perils of the weather may be behind them, they faced a familiar hazard today.
Stan stalked the herd from a thicket of trees in the centre of the swamp. He had to hurry to get there early to avoid the Edmontosaurus spotting him before he could set up his ambush. Peering out from his cover, he surveyed the herd, using his brown scales as camouflage. He was not a long distance runner: T.Rexes hunted by ambush. However Stan, like the rest of his species, had a secret weapon. His teeth were serrated and he had colonies of bacteria in his mouth. A decent sized bite from a T.Rex would lead to bacterial infection and septicaemia, if the prey wasn’t brought down immediately by shock and blood loss. Even if Stan wasn’t successful of killing his prey with the first bite, he could track it using his superb sense of smell.
He continued to watch the herd, looking to pick off any of the sick ones. Edmontosaurus were not easy prey because they were just as big as he was and a blow from that muscular tail could cripple him. Stan certainly didn’t want to take on a fully grown healthy male. He lowered his head, waiting for the right moment to strike. Whatever happened, he wouldn’t risk injuring himself, especially when a chance to mate was at stake.
Suddenly, the right sized Edmontosaurus walked past his tree cover. If there was ever a chance this was it. Flexing his legs, he sprang from cover on the unsuspecting Edmontosaurus. Before it could react, the male T.Rex sank its teeth into the top of the tail. Stan was close, but not enough it would seem. The Edmontosaurus cried out in pain, alerting the rest of the herd. Stan tried to hold onto his struggling prey but the Edmontosaurus broke loose and ran for it. The wound was painful but it would heal over.
Stan turned on the other Edmontosaurus’, pushing them into more hurried reactions. The swamps echoed with the warning calls of the Edmontosaurus’, nearly deafening Stan. Several large males turned and reared on their hind legs to try and intimidate him. Stan moved quickly amongst the herd, hoping to isolate a sick/wounded Edmontosaurus. But most of the herd were running off now and Stan had no choice but to break off his attack. He roared in frustration, not because he’d failed to bring one down but because he was no closer to attracting in that female whose territory he was now sharing. Stan knew that the female may have heard the commotion, which inspired him to try again elsewhere.
Later that day, Stan had been more successful in his quest. During the midday heat he had managed to bring down a Parasaurolophus. This unlucky individual had strayed from the herd and paid the price for it, much to Stan’s luck. As soon as the female smelt the blood, Stan could engage in courtship feeding. The Parasaurolophus was large, good for Stan as a large kill would make a female T.Rex stay around longer for Stan to mate with her. Stan knew a future mate would be impressed by his hunting skills. Stan hadn’t had to risk too much. Normally, male T.Rexes would risk ceratopsians or fully grown Edmontosaurus, but Stan had played it well. Stan now began to call out to the female. He knew he was definitely in her hunting territory now.
Stan had to wait for thirty minutes for Thunder Blade to turn up, but Stan could bide his time. Thunder Blade stared deeply at Stan and then moved towards the dead Parasaurolophus. Stan backed away as Thunder Blade began to dig into the carcass, ripping away flesh, skin, sinew and bone. While Thunder Blade fed, Stan approached from behind, lowering his head. But then Thunder Blade spun around and growled at him. ‘I WILL NOT ACCEPT YOU YET!’ She told him. ‘I WANT MORE FOOD.’ She turned back towards the dead Parasaurolophus. Stan stayed close by while Thunder Blade continued to eat her fill.
Once again the sun set over the skies. Thunder Blade rested with Stan still following her. She raised her head, showing more interest in the male. ‘I AM THANKFUL FOR THE PREY YOU PROVIDED ME. YOU SEEM LIKE A GOOD MALE FOR ME. COME HERE.’ She signalled to him with some rumbling calls. Stan wasted no time and approached her from behind as she began to raise her tail. The coupling itself was brief but would be the first of many. ‘YOU ARE MY NEW MALE NOW.’ Thunder Blade bellowed. Stan roared too, warning away any rival males. Thunder Blade wouldn’t accept anyone else as Stan would be a good father and provider. The T.Rexes continued to mate into the evening. Thunder Blade barely cared that the new male Troodon in her territory was approaching what was left of the dead Parasaurolophus. ‘MEET MY NEW NEIGHBOUR.’ She rumbled to Stan. Stan watched the male Troodon. As the Troodon began to take small pieces of the carcass Thunder Blade roared to scare him away, just for fun, not that she saw him as a threat. ‘SCARING SMALLER PREDATORS AMUSES ME.’ She turned back to Stan. ‘IF THAT PESKY TROODON RAIDS OUR FUTURE NEST I’LL FEED HIM TO YOU.’ She promised her new mate. Stan salivated because he never tasted Troodon before, not even a dead one. He couldn’t imagine there’d be much meat but it would make a tasty snack nonetheless. Now his future was secure so Stan felt happy.
Thunder Blade knew she could make great use of this young male. There was a dark secret to Thunder Blade though. When her previous male had been killed by the Triceratops she hadn’t mourned him, she simply allowed the Triceratops herd to escape and then ate him. Male T.Rex meat was a rare delicacy for her. She hoped that more males would turn up so she could eat them to. The thought of that sweet meat made her salivate. Maybe Stan would taste great if the opportunity came…..
Chapter 7
It was a clear night sky. The moon and the stars could be seen shining in the black air. The animals of the night however were completely oblivious to the shooting stars that shot through the Earth’s atmosphere. No dinosaur had ever studied astronomy. The shooting stars to the creatures were just strange lights, but they had become more frequent over the past several months. They were actually small meteors and comets burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere, signalling an oncoming cosmic storm…….
In the dead of night, a Didelphodon sniffed the air. Making its way through the scrub, it picked up the smell of a Parasaurolophus nest. The nest stank of death and decay and no other nests were around it. Checking that the coast was clear, the Didelphodon approached the nest. When it reached it, the Didelphodon began to dig out the eggs under the cloak of rotting vegetation that the parent Parasaurolophus had used to incubate them.
As the Didelphodon broke into the eggs to eat the yolk and dead embryos, the reason why this nest was abandoned soon became clear. In North America, there had been a lot of volcanic activity in recent years. The consequent acid rain affected the local environment by dissolving the nutrients needed to form good eggs. But despite the changes, life in North America showed no signs of slowing down. If anything the Parasaurolophus were breeding again elsewhere in Alberta.
The smell of the nest blinded the Didelphodon’s senses to danger. Before the marsupial could react, Bladefoot pounced! Pinning the struggling mammal down with his sickle like toe claws he broke the Didelphodon’s neck with a twist of his own jaws. Once Bladefoot was sure that his prey was dead he began to feed. Earlier t
hat evening, he’d tried to scavenge off a dead Parasaurolophus before being warded away by the female T.Rex. Before he’d ran off Bladefoot noticed that there was now a male T.Rex with her. ‘That means that there will be a family of T.Rexes very soon.’ Bladefoot was concerned. Bladefoot could however avoid the T.Rexes by hunting at night. He’d slept for most of the day and felt well rested. Once Bladefoot had finished picking the bones from the Didelphodon, he began to turn towards the Parasaurolophus nest for the second course. This was truly a lucky night for him as he’d never come across such a bounty of food before. As he smashed into the dead eggs, he picked up another scent from behind him. ‘That’s familiar.’ He thought, then realised what it was. He turned around and there standing right in his territory was a female Troodon!
This is how it felt to be Bladefoot right now: he felt excited and nervous at the same time. For a moment he just stood there, not knowing what to do next. The female just stared back at him. Obviously Bladefoot’s mating calls had been more effective than he’d previously thought. Jumping down from the nest, he began to display to the female with a courtship dance, swaying his body from side to side making low pitch hissing noises. He ruffled up his plumage, showing his true intentions. ‘I am Bladefoot, the ruler of this territory.’ He displayed.
