DWC Unseen Beauty: Ceratosaurus

-The thundering roar in the distance made me remember I had to go to work.

A new day at Jurassic World was beginning.-

As a young paleo artist I grew up with an immense knowledge in the paleontology field, especially on dinosaurs. Those beasts amazed me as a kid, and kept on being my work field as an adult, as I was chosen by the Patel Corp. to study and represent on paper their caged reptiles, along with other specialists from around the world. We basically had to make sure the dinosaurs weren’t a major problem for people, before the park opened. And I myself was assigned to study Ceratosaurus’ behavior, a fierce and blood thirsty beast, as most of Jurassic World’s personnel considered it. My opinion was another however. Along my intense research and study of their behavior, I could have proven they were not anything like that.

I knew for sure that they had a great memory, comparable to that of elephants. Hopefully, that was the day I would have proven it.

-I was extremely thrilled.-

I prepared my observation kit (merely binoculars, a couple of drawing pencils and a white sheet of paper) as I was approaching the Wrangler Jeep reserved for me, where Fernando, my Costa Rican driver was waiting for me. I jumped in. After a kind salute, the young man started driving along the road that led to the Ceratosaurus’ paddock. Peace was reigning in the air. Distant dinosaur calls made everything… amazingly natural and idyllic. I was surer than ever that it was being my lucky day.

We entered the paddock, and Fernando drove to the center of the area, where I was sure the dinosaur couple was standing. My thought revealed true, as he silently parked the jeep in the opening, 90feet away from the dinosaurs. I jumped down with my binoculars and sketch kit, climbed a tree to get the best view possible, and started watching:

The Ceratosaurus partners were taking a nap together at the shadow of a tree, lovely embracing their bodies in a sort of hug. They just ate, as the goat limbs they were given were nothing more than bones now. These two especially, were subjects CEM03 and CEF07, some of the first exemplars to be cloned at the park. I knew them two since they were little chicks. They tended to stay together a lot, even since they were first raised in the park’s nursery. Who would have thought that they’d eventually become partners?

They were inseparable.

Just as I started sketching the lovely couple, the female suddenly stood up. She looked right to me. She sensed me. Then looked at Fernando, and emitted a low grunt. I knew both Ceratosauruses got used to me, as a result of seeing me almost every day. My worries were towards the other boy though. He was sort of a foreign for them.

The female was shortly followed by the male. He shared a look with his life companion, then started coming towards the Jeep.

He roared.

Without saying anything, Fernando started the car, and scared drove back by other 90feet. The Ceratosaurus stopped. He was right under the tree branch I was standing on. After emitting another roar, he stood still a couple of minutes, seeming satisfied. Right after he raised his head, and looked to me. I could feel how his big, bright green eyes were piercing my own soul as he was looking at me. My heart started pumping crazy. Only a few feet separed myself from the mighty predator, and… he knew that. I didn’t know what to do… I was lost into my thoughts, waiting for anything bad I was sure could happen within seconds.

He snorted. He snorted and went back.

I was relieved and surprised. For some strange reason, he didn’t show the same level of aggression he displayed to Fernando. We both were looking in awe. I started thinking that I was right about their memory. What if they really remembered my face, and labeled me as a no threat?

I left these thoughts as I started observing the carnivore again. I couldn’t see the female though. She seemed to disappear. The male emitted a reassuring, sweet call. The female came out of the nearby bushes moments after the call… followed by…

Yet again, I and Fernando couldn’t believe our eyes… three chicks were following the female, happily squeaking. Soft, yellow balls of feathers, they contrasted with their parents nature… seemingly so aggressive, yet so docile. The parents gently rubbed their snouts, and then licked their youngs. The sight was amazing at this point. The parents regurgitated semi-digested meat right in front of the babies, that started eating with joy. I lost myself into deep thoughts about their sheer nature, as I started sketching once again…

-

That evening, I would have reported all to my boss, proving once and for all their docile instincts, their memory abilities… and the new excellent news… the first naturally raised chicks in the park.

-

That definitely was my lucky day.