DWC: Unseen Beauty - Pachey Herd

well, this one majorly confused me. But no one picked the Pachey herd after all so i figured why not? I guess if Paden wants he can enter it in, if not i don't care. This seemed like it would be pretty neat to write.

So without further adue, i present DWC: Pacheycephalosaurus

The day started as any other would. I pulled my 2004 Subaru Forrester into the  empty parking lot of Jurassic World. As usual, i was one of the first to arrive. The large brass gates stood imposing, the palm fronds swinging over the Skeletal Tyrannosaurus that was infamous as our company's logo. I stood under it for a minute before walking around to the Employee entrance. 

Taking out my I.D. card, i couldn't help but smirk at the italicized green letters that spelt out " Jay Adams - Head Pacheycephalosaur Specialist" Why patel had picked such a font was beyond me. I swiped my identification card under the scanner, the usual beep and hissing of the automatic doors a sound i had become all to accustomed to in my four years in the park.

Walking into the pavillion, i was taken aback by the parks inescapable beauty. The gardeners truly did a remarkable job, placing an array of palm fronds and shrubs eloquently around the paths and benches. The slight humidity coupled with the morning cool always reminded me of the deep south.

"Morning Jay" came the booming voice of the resident groundskeeper.

"morning Tom" i muttered. "How're my plant munchers doing this morning?"

"Fine i guess, i just got done cleaning out the Pachey enclosure. Fiesty things. Especially the smaller one. Something's wrong with him, his head is a really weird red and purple color. I'd go there first thing if i were you."

'Oh, Fantastic' was my only thought. I knew it wasn't a real cause for concern in terms of the Pacheycephalosaurs health, but problems were abound if it was what i thought it was.

"Thanks man, i'll go check it out right now" i said as i hurried off.

The "Pachey Arena" as Patel had dubbed it was near the center of the park, about a twenty or so minute walk. Time was of the essence though, especially with these guys. Not too long ago, the big male had gotten loose and completely smashed the side of a maintenance truck. Maintenance crew was fine, but they weren't too happy "my prehistoric mountain goats" had about totalled their truck.

"Prehistoric mountain goats" was a pretty good description, actually. Before i started working here Patel had sent me to Nublar, along with the other head keepers and animal specialists. I had located a large herd, some where around forty strong. It was mostly comprised of females, juveniles, and sub-adults. There was only one big strong male, and he was the alpha. He kept the younger males in check and fought off predators/roaming males looking for a herd of their own. The Pacheycephalosaurs generally lived in the interior of the island, occupying flowering meadows that always had a large river flowing through the center. They were not tree grazing animals, so the low lying shrubs and other ground based foliage suited them nicely. They didn't really compete with other herbivores persay, but peacfully coexisted. I had seen a couple males displaying the behavior and coloration Tom had mentioned, and i made the realization that it was the equivelant of musth in African elephant males reaching maturity.

When i arrived, the animal in question - a male of about three years; on the onset of maturity - was jousting with the rock wall by their watering hole. He would back away, turn around, and then turn on a dime and run full on into the rocks. The impacting sound made me wince. He would take a few dazed steps to either side, but seemed just fine. Not unnatural for an animal his age. At the onset of maturity, Pacheycephalosaurs joust with practically everything - living or not. On Nublar, they are known to kill other animals on a regular basis during this equivalent of modern day mammalian musth. I had hoped our scientists would breed out mainly females, but when i had seen this little guy when he was just a youngster, i knew this would occur eventually.

I looked feverently for the remainder of the herd, before my eyes caught their dull green and brown coloration in the western sector of their enclosure. The big male was the one i had the most worry about. He was the alpha male, a big one at the age of seventeen. His dome sported a fiery orange and red coloration, a sign of the species showing dominance. He was now eyeing the young male. The two females, on an older female at the age of nineteen and the youngster our scientists had just hatched out. She was about six months old, and was now resting at the feet of her surrogate mother.

These herbivores weren't related by any means, Patel had them bred at different times and introduced singualarily, with the exception of the adults who had been reared on Nublar. The young ones were  introduced, for Wu figured they would be accepted being so vunerable and young. He had been correct, but  the young male was always figured to be a future issue. Today, we were seeing the apex of that issue.

I swiped my identification card and walked in cautiously. These guys were unpredicatable and dangerous. Being this early in the morning, very little staff was here. If something went wrong, that would be my problem.

I whistled at the young male. He snapped his head around and now faced me, his large brown eyes filled with curiosity.

"It's alright big guy" i said as i snapped a young palm frond. "Come here, it's alright"

I felt dumb as i waved the broken vegitation around in circles, but it was doing the trick. He came hesitantly, but within two minutes he was standing only feet away from me. He snorted and tried to grab the palm frond, but i snapped it away at the last second. I held it away from my body to the right, for their beaks could deliver quite the bite for a plant muncher. Unfortunately i had experience with that. The adult male had grabbed a hold of me when he was first brought here, his bite produced a hairline fracture that resulted in me taking two weeks off. Foolish of me for sure, but i had just started and didn't fully know what these animals were capable of.

As i held the Frond, i looked over the young animal. His coloration had become a little brighter, and his skull was indeed the weird purple/red color Tom had been talking about. Unfortunately, these were the signs of Pacheycephalosaur reaching maturity. Why unfortunately you may ask? 

Males often participate in jousting matches, slamming their skulls into each other repeatedly. Usually it's just a show of dominance, and neither party is injured. Occasionally, and more often the case with young males, they are often seriously injured or even killed by a larger male they are challenging. Needless to say, it doesn't end well for the unexperienced youth.

I started backing away, towards the entrance to the enclosure. I threw the front as far as i could, and the Pachey went charging after it. Leaving the enclosure, i could only shake me head. I secured the door and went over to a viewing vent. All i could do was look over the young buck and confirm what i already guessed was up, and now there was little i could do about it until the vet techs got here. I watched as the other three Pacheycephalosaurs began making their way to the watering hole. The big male led, while the female walked slightly behind him and to the side, sandwiching the youngster in between them. The youngster squeaked excitedly as they neared the waters edge, darting in between her parents' legs and sometimes doing running jumps. The youngest always had the most entertaining ways of doing things.

My heart dropped into my stomach as i watched the young buck approach the watering hole as well. He swung his head back and forth and snorted like swine on a farm. He stamped the ground and bellowed at the big male. To my horror, the Alpha accepted the challenge, walking over and facing the inexperienced male. He bellowed, his making the younger animals' look weak in comparison. He stamped his feet in response; mock charging and thrusting his domed skull forward and upwards.

Fortunately enough, this scared the youngster enough that he backed away. He walked back to the rock wall. He began to nibble on the low lying shrubs, his back to the rest of the herd. For the moment, this was a relief. In the near future though, something would have to be done. What that was, i had no idea at the moment. I turned and walked to the faculty center, all this had occured and i hadn't even had my morning coffee yet.