There is something missing from our world: the amazing animals that time has left behind.
But what if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?
We're going back in time on a safari with a difference as wildlife adventurer Nigel Marvin plunges into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction.
His plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.
Today, Nigel travels to one of Europe's islands during the Late Cretaceous to get a dinosaur that would do a lot of harm if he's not careful, while Bob gets a surprise from the Daxiatitan and Suzanne hopes to get the prehistoric elephant ancestors to get along.
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary.
Welcome to Prehistoric Park!
Chapter 3: Burning Raptor
Nigel is looking through his books to find an animal that would be an excellent addition to the Park's ever expanding territory.
Everything is surprisingly calm at the Park. With the newest residents adapting to their new homes, Nigel starts the search for a new animal that lived on an island that neighbored the prehistoric land of minis.
Nigel opens a book and smirks. He believes he found the next dinosaur to bring back to the Park. The pages show an artists' depiction of a raptor.
"This," Nigel said as he pointed at the picture, "Is a raptor from Cretaceous France. Called Pyroraptor, the first fossils were discovered after a forest fire that occurred in the area. That's how it got its name, which means 'fire thief.'"
Nigel got up and went to tell Bob about his plans on bringing a new raptor to the Park.
Meanwhile, Suzanne is keeping a close eye on the elephant herd's newest member.
Suzanne is at Mammoth Mount, watching over the two misfits of the herd. Martha is now shown as the alpha's child's nanny, often playing with the baby elephant when the other herd members are busy. However, Darwin is mostly seen alone.
"I don't know what wrong." Suzanne said, "I don't know if he's a loner or if he's lonely. I haven't seen him interact with any of the herd members. On occasion, he'll stay next to the alpha's side, but that's it. If I don't get him to properly interact with the herd, he might die."
Darwin is an African Mammoth brought back from Africa 3 million years ago after his mother died. Nigel was able to introduce him to local elephant herd, hoping they will get along. The thankfully did, but no another problem has risen. Darwin isn't old enough to eat solid food and is losing too much weight since he refuses to be close to the herd. If Suzanne doesn't do something, he might not survive any longer.
She looks at Martha playing with the herd's baby, causing her to smirk.
"Maybe if I get the misfits to interact with one another, maybe he'll be able to interact with the rest of herd with ease." Suzanne explained.
While Suzanne's idea is being put into play, Nigel begins his exploration to Cretaceous France to get what could be one of his most dangerous animals.
As Nigel get's into the jeep, Bob come up and drops off some last-minute essentials.
"You almost forgot those." Bob said over the roaring engine, "Think you can get something that won't snap at each other? Those Homotherium are still trying to kill each other."
"No promises, Bob." Nigel said as he drove through the time portal.
Bob sighed, "Knowing him, he might bring along-"
*SQUAWK*
His thoughts were interrupted by a small chirping sound. He turns around to see what was making the noise. He sees an animal that looked surprisingly like the Daxiatitan. The creature, however, had a small neck, large eyes, and stubby legs. The similarity was still uncanny.
"What the…" was all Bob could manage before the animal turned tail and ran, surprisingly fast.
"Hold it!" Bob yelled as he chased it, "Don't let it get away!"
As Bob chases this new animal, Nigel begins his plan to capture this intelligent and elusive predator.
Nigel is driving through a semi-mountainous region. It looked like the Rocky Mountains, but there are fewer conifers and other plants in modern America.
"During the Late Cretaceous," Nigel said as he drove through a pathway, "Europe was mostly a chain of islands. One of the most famous of these islands was the Hațeg Island, an island which contained mini-dinosaurs, such as the Magyarosaurus. Here, the dinosaurs are smaller than those on the mainland, but definitely bigger than those on Hațeg."
When Nigel sees an empty plain, he stops the jeep to set up camp and, hopefully, find the Pyroraptor.
Back at the Park, Suzanne's plan is put into action.
Suzanne and her assistant are leading Martha away from the herd and toward Darwin, who is looking rather thin.
Suzanne said, "That's it, girl. That's it."
Suzanne is hoping that Martha's fatty mammoth milk will be able to help Darwin gain weight faster. If the plan works, Darwin may even see Martha as his other mother.
Suzanne turns to the camera, while she is still leading Martha, and says, "Darwin cannot eat solid foods. He's still too young. I'd say he would need to be weaned in about a year. Normally, we'd get a bottle of elephant milk and give it to him, but he doesn't have enough weight in him and could start losing tissues. We need to get something in his system fast or he'll never make it."
When the vets reached their destination, Darwin looked at Martha and ran into the bushes, obviously scared.
"That's why he's avoiding everyone, he's shy!" Suzanne said as she let Martha go. The mammoth walked up into the bushes and started eating. The baby mammoth stood where he was, paralyzed with fear.
Suzanne sighs. "This is gonna take longer than I thought."
Back in Cretaceous France, Nigel continues his search for the elusive raptor. Little does he know, he will get more than he bargained for.
Nigel is walking through a rather dense alpine forest, hoping for signs of the residential dinosaurs. After a while, he finds what appears to be a game trail. A HUGE game trail.
"This trail is huge." Nigel said.
"There must be multiple titans moving through here. I've only seen trails for big animals like this in Prehistoric China with the Daxiatitan, but not as big. Maybe the Pyroraptor will…"
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Before Nigel could finish, he hears a loud booming noise interrupts him. The sound comes from behind him, so he turns to see what's causing the noise. When he does, he gets a major case of déjà vu as he runs out of the trail and into the semi-dense forest. He turns to get a good view of the animals that nearly trampled him.
The animals were a group of sauropods. Titanosaurs, to be precise. The herd was composed of over 15 animals of various sizes, about seven adults and two youngsters were dark-grey with several spikes on the back while the heads were orange and had a tannish underbelly. The remaining five adults and one youngster were brown with a black and white stripe pattern on the tip of the tails and had a red stripe on the head going down to the mouth.
"I know what these are." Nigel said, "Those are Ampelosaurus and Hypselosaurus, the resident sauropods of France. They may be small compared to other more famous Titanosaurs from the mainland, only growing as big as the Tyrannosaurus which, while defiantly bigger than a human, are completely small compared to, say for example, the Argentinosaurus. This was due to the environment being smaller and having limited area to move around. The dinosaurs had to shrink in size in order to survive."
When Nigel finished, the last of the herd were gone and started to head towards a river on the other side of the valley.
"Normally," Nigel said, "I'd go chase them and get them to Prehistoric Park. However, Bob made me promise to never bring any more sauropods, no matter how small they may be. *sigh* Shame. They'd all make lovely additions. But if I follow this side of the ravine, I might find a nest site. There might be some animals there that could be preyed upon by the Pyroraptor."
When Nigel is sure the Titanosaurs have left, he continued to trek to where the Titanosaurs left in order to find the Pyroraptor.
Back at the Park, Suzanne is having difficulty getting the mammoths to get along.
Suzanne is watching over the mammoths. Martha was still eating from the bushes as Darwin was hiding behind the trees and shrubs not so far away.
Suzanne sighs, "He's been standing there for a while and Martha barely even knows he even exists. *sigh* If he doesn't interact with her, we would have to bottle-feed him. But not only would he still be separate from the herd, he would never be fully accepted by the herd. And for a child his age, that's not an option."
As Martha continues eating, Darwin tries to get out of there. However, he accidentally steps on a fallen stick, cracking under his weight. This caught Martha's attention. She stopped eating and saw Darwin standing behind the tree.
Darwin, paralyzed with fear, just stood there, waiting for Martha to make a move. Martha, now curious, reaches her trunk out to Darwin. His response was to back up, but bumped into another tree. Martha recoils her trunk for a minute, surprised by Darwin's reaction.
After a few moments, Martha elongates her trunk again, causing Darwin to flinch. Martha continues to come closer with her trunk before she stops, waiting for a proper response.
Suzanne, who was watching over the mammoths, says, "Now this is exactly what I want from Martha. All I need now is Darwin to return her greeting."
Darwin, after a few moments, slowly but surely, extended his trunk until it was just a foot away from hers. He reaches out but recoils for a minute before his trunk touches Marta's.
"So far so good." Suzanne says.
Most elephants used their trunks and tusks to socialize with members of the herd. Calves use their trunks to play as well. Seeing Martha and Darwin interacting like this is a positive sign.
After several minutes, Darwin walks closer to Martha and wraps his trunk around her trunk.
"Yes." Suzanne says, "I think Darwin has finally gotten over his-"
*SQUAWK*
Suzanne is interrupted by a squawk-like chirp. She turns to see what made the noise and couldn't believe her eyes: a small version of the Park's Daxiatitan.
"Well, hello there."
She slowly and gently picks up the young animal. "Where did you come from?"
"SUZANNE!"
Suzanne looks up to see Bob running towards her, red as a turnip and panting like a dog.
"Bob! What's wrong?" Suzanne asks, not sure what's going on.
"It's the Daxiatitan!" Bob said, "Apparently, a couple of the females didn't finish laying their eggs before Nigel picked them up. Now we have babies all over the place."
"What?!" Suzanne half yelled, "But if any get into the carnivore enclosures…"
They both left to help the other Park keepers gather the Park's latest arrivals.
Meanwhile, Nigel finds what he was hoping for: the nesting site of the Titanosaurs. Unfortunately, he is only finding scraps of all varieties.
Nigel is at the site, looking around at the nests. So far, all he's finding are egg shells. He does, however, notice something not so far away: a carcass. A Titanosaur carcass at that. The Titanosaur carcass was rotting and had exposed ribs. Its organs were missing and the scales were beginning to rot off.
"That must be a young Ampelosaurus that didn't survive an attack by a predator, most likely a Tarascosaurus." Nigel said.
"Hopefully, they left with the Titanosaurs for bigger prey. This would leave the scavengers to finish the scraps. And, while raptors are mostly seen as being predatory, even the most powerful of predators can stoop to scavenging if it's necessary. Maybe a few hungry-"
Nigel is interrupted by rustling from the bushes behind the carcass. Nigel, cautious, tried to hide behind the Titanosaur carcass. After a few moments, he finally sees what was making the noise: a quadruped with heavy, brown armor on the back of a green dinosaur.
"That's a nodosaur." Nigel said as he walked out from behind the carcass to get a closer look.
Nodosaurs are said to be related to the Ankylosaurs due to their heavy armor and bulky appearance. The only thing that separated them was that the Nodosaurs had no club tail.
"This specific nodosaur is a Struthiosaurus. There is very little known about this beautiful dinosaur, but if it behaves like other nodosaur, it may lie down onto the ground and lay there until the threat passes."
As if on cue, the Struthiosaurus, after sniffing the air for a moment, lied on the ground and remained immobile. Nigel, upon seeing this, looked around to see why the Struthiosaurus ducked.
"Odd. I don't see any-"
*ROOOOOOAAAAAR*
Nigel was, once again interrupted by multiple roars and the trampling sounds of a…
"STAMPEDE!"
Nigel quickly ran for cover as a herd of human-sized dinosaurs ran as if their lives depended on it. These dinosaurs were running on their hind legs and into the other side of the nesting site. These dinosaurs were a bluish green with yellow stripes on their bodies.
"I think I know these dinosaurs!" Nigel said, yelling over the stampede, "I'm positive that those dinosaurs are Rhabdodon, a small Iguanodont! They can also be found on the island of the micros! It's obvious they're all running from some predator!"
After several minutes, the herd started to show signs of the end, as the numbers started to decrease. However, one was falling behind the herd and roared before turning its head, still running. All of a sudden, four small, feathered dinosaurs appeared. They were running fast and catching up to the straggling herbivore.
Three of them were a tannish color with a white stripe on the sides, as well as a whit under belly. The face, back, and tail feathers had a reddish brown color while the scales on the nose, hands, and feet were a blackish blue. One was similar in color, but had yellow stripes on the tail feathers and had brown spots all over it, including the white stripe.
One thing that caught Nigel's attention was the feet: They had the sickle-claws seen only in raptors.
One of the raptors gained up to the Rhabdodon and jumped onto the side, starting to claw at it. The remaining pack members, however, caught the smell of the Titanosaur carcass. When the raptor on the Iguanodont saw that the hunt was abandoned, it jumped off the injured dinosaur and ran to the pack.
It seems this pack of raptors is curious about Nigel's discovery: the Titanosaur carcass. This may be his only chance to get the raptors.
Nigel set up the time portal, gathers what little meat is in the carcass, and goes in front of the portal.
"HEY! Over here!" Nigel yells to get their attention.
Nigel's plan seems to be working as the raptors start to run in Nigel's direction. Nigel, with the flesh still in his hands, runs through the portal and drops the meat before climbing up the stairs to the platform. By the time Nigel reaches the platform, the raptors have already entered the portal and started eating the remains.
"YES! It worked!" Nigel yelled, excited that he finally got raptors.
After getting the raptors into their new pen, Nigel checks on Suzanne's plan with the mammoths. And he is pleased with the results.
Nigel is driving to Mammoth Mount to check Suzanne's progress. When he reached it, he saw her brushing Martha's side while she was eating some hay. On Martha's other side, Darwin was seen drinking on her milk.
In terms of progress: Complete success.
"Well," Nigel said, "It's nice to know that the mammoths are getting along well."
Suzanne stopped brushing and turned to him, saying, "Yeah. It took a while, but it worked like a charm. It also looks like Darwin finally overcame his stage fright."
"Good." Nigel said before heading back to the jeep.
"Wait. Bob wants to talk to you." Suzanne said.
Nigel nodded before leaving Mammoth Mount.
What Suzanne didn't tell Nigel is that Bob needs all the help he can get.
When Nigel reached Bob's workshop, he couldn't believe his eyes: Bob and half the keepers were chasing baby Daxiatitan left and right. Bob, noticing Nigel, gave up his chase to explain to Nigel what's happening.
"Nigel, it's the Daxiatitan! Some of the females laid eggs when you picked them up!"
Nigel asked, "Did they start breeding so soon?"
"No. A few of the females weren't done when you got them."
Nigel thought over the situation for a minute before nodding and helping the keepers gather the babies.
Throughout the entire day, every available keeper in the Park searched and captured all the baby Daxiatitan and place them into a small holding pen until a new enclosure for them can be built. The next day, and after hours of research, Nigel discovers something hadn't expected: the raptors he caught are not Pyroraptor.
Nigel is walking on the outside of the raptor's enclosure. The pack was eating a large chunk of meat that was thrown in the enclosure. Nigel had a look of disbelief on his face, but he wouldn't say he was disappointed.
"After doing some research," Nigel said, "I was able to identify these raptors. At first, I thought they were Pyroraptor, but I realized they were barely smaller then what the Pyroraptor was. I thought they were young adults, but after doing more studying, I realized they were Variraptor, another raptor from Cretaceous France."
Nigel saw that the Variraptors had finished eating and started to sleep close together.
"The Variraptor was actually the first raptor found in Europe, as well as a possible relative of the Deinonychus. So, while they aren't the main target, they, like all the animals we save, are welcome to the Park."
Nigel then leaves to the time portal to get his primary target.
Although Nigel is proud that he caught the first of Europe's raptors, he will not be completely happy unless he gets the Pyroraptor.
Nigel activates the time portal. He gets his things ready and enters the portal. The last thing he expects is a…
*SREEEEEECH*
Nigel gets an earful of pain from a screech. He covers his ears and recoils in pain before looking up to see what made the noise.
The creature looked like an ostrich, even having two toes on each foot. The creature was as big as Nigel. It was covered in whitish yellow feathers while its legs and face were black. The wings had black claws sticking out. It also had an orange bill.
Nigel looked around and saw some heads pop up out of the bushes, looking around to see what made the sentry sound the alarm.
"I think that these are Gargantuavis." Nigel said.
"The Gargantuavis is a giant bird from Cretaceous France, as well as one of the earliest relatives of the ratites, the order that consist of giant flightless birds, from the kiwi to the ostrich. These animals are said to have filled in the niche those birds filled in."
All the Gargantuavis were staring right at Nigel, causing him to back up a little bit due the unnecessary attention he was getting. When he was out of sight, the giant birds continued what they were doing before being interrupted.
"It's apparent they don't want me here." Nigel said, "I think we'll continue the search somewhere else."
Before Nigel could leave, however, something gets the Gargantuavis' attention, causing Nigel to stop, cautious about why they're looking around.
Rustling could be heard on the other side of the flock, which causes the giant birds to look at that approximate location and get more anxious.
After a couple seconds, the Gargantuavis have enough and start running for their lives. One, however, was falling behind.
All of a sudden, three silhouettes jump from the bushes and land on the sides of the giant bird. They started clawing at it with their giant foot claws and…
Wait, foot claws?
Nigel notices the way the creatures were attacking and instantly thought…
"Raptors!"
The attack kept going for a minute before the Gargantuavis falls to the ground, dead. With the onslaught over, Nigel got a good look at the predators.
They were indeed raptors, but not Variraptors. Two of these raptors' feathers were light brown with brown spots and 'mask,' as well as a white collar. One had a similar color scheme, but had a redder tint to the brown feathers and had a red collar instead of white. The scales and snout were a light peachy color and had black claws that were redden by the bird's blood.
"There's no mistaken this time." Nigel said, "Those have got to be the Pyroraptors I was looking for."
Many scientists believe that all raptors behaved like wolves, hunting in packs and they may have mated for life. The Pyroraptor is no exception.
Before the Pyroraptors could start eating, they were interrupted by several uninvited guests: a pack of seven rival Pyroraptors!
The larger pack start screeching and charging at the pack that killed the Gargantuavis. The smaller pack, knowing that they're outnumbered, turned and ran from the surrendered kill. The pack that chased away the smaller pack started eating the kill while the smaller pack starts on a new hunt.
They immediately get the scent of new prey: Nigel.
Nigel, seeing the danger, tried to set up the time portal, but realized the raptors were going too fast for him to do it in time, so he did the only logical thing to do: run.
He runs as fast as he could to escape the raptors.
Nigel runs into a trail that is beside the mountains. He runs through the trail, looking over his shoulder every now and again to see if he's being followed. He stops when he notices that the raptors weren't following. He looks around to find the raptors. In the bushes not too far away, he sees three barely visible creatures. He knew they were the Pyroraptors.
Nigel, seeing an open window of opportunity, sets up the time portal, not keeping his eyes off the area the raptors were. When he activates the portal, the Pyroraptors make their move and charge.
Nigel runs through the portal and quickly climbs the ladder. One of the raptors, which ran through the portal, jumped and snapped at Nigel's foot, barely missing.
When Nigel got the platform, he looks down and sees all three Pyroraptors jumping and snapping at the ladder he climbed up.
"YES! Now we got the target animal!" Nigel yells happily.
After the raptors settle down and get some food in their system, they are placed in a new enclosure to live in.
Nigel is looking in the Pyroraptor enclosure. One of the females was still eating some meat that was thrown in the enclosure while the male was grooming the other female.
"It looks like we might get a new breeding program with the raptors." Nigel said.
"Those two over there must be the alphas of the pack. They may start breeding soon enough. I'm not sure about the other female, though. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Nigel walks away and starts planning on the next animal to get for the Park.
Next time, Nigel goes 5 million years ago in Asia to get the biggest shark ever to have existed…
*Shot of Nigel in a boat chumming the water when a giant shark with a smaller shark in its mouth jumped out of the water*
While Suzanne help Matilda go through a hard ordeal with the Park's resident mother…
*Shot of Suzanne working on a sedated and heavily injured Matilda. If seen closely, a stub where an arm was could be seen*
And Bob plays Cupid with the Homotherium.
*Shot of Bob opening a gate that allows the male Homotherium into the female's side*
But for now, all is as it should be at Prehistoric Park.
Finally, I'm finished with this chapter. I am sorry for the long wait. I just didn't have the motivation to write in a while. But hey, it's done and over, so I hope you enjoyed the suspense and mystery in this chapter. This chapter, Nigel caught:
4 Variraptor (One Male and three Females)
3 Pyroraptor (One Male and two Female)
Again, I don't own Prehistoric Park or the characters it has. That honor still belongs to the Impossible Pictures Productions.
So, do you like, dislike, or so-so? Again, I apologize for the long wait. By the way, please stop with the suggestions. I have all the chapters planned out and I don't need them. They are appreciated, but not necessary, so I'm sorry to decline the current and further ideas.