There is something missing from our world. The amazing creatures that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back?

What if extinction didn't have to be forever?

We are going on a safari with a difference as wildlife adventurer Nigel Marven plunges into pre-history 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.

On his Fifth mission, Nigel goes back 300 million years back to Scotland in order to rescue the biggest bugs ever!

Welcome to the ultimate wildlife refuge!

Welcome to Prehistoric Park!

Chapter 5- The Bug House


The roar of a large reptile, the squawk of a terror bird, the flop of the water in the Barbell aquarium, the trumpet of a mammalian Martha. Those are the sounds of some of the formerly extinct creatures that call the park home. But the park is missing two classes of animals.

"Amphibians and Invertebrates. Those are the classes of animals we have yet to rescue. I have an idea to rescue both on one mission.".

Nigel was looking at a map. Large landmasses were squished together, almost forming the massive supercontinent, Pangea. In the corner was the timeline that was on all of Nigel's maps and above it was the number 359-299 MYA. Up on the top left was the word Carboniferous.

"The Carboniferous was a pretty swampy place with Amphibians and Invertebrates ruling the land. It has huge bugs; they were able to grow huge due to the substantial amounts of oxygen in the air. Come over here I'll show you some pictures." Nigel tells the cameraman.

On Nigel's desk sat pictures and drawing of many extinct animals. On one side was a group of invertebrates and on the other, amphibians. Nigel led the camera to the left to show comparisons.

One had a dragonfly sizing up to a seagull. Another had a scorpion standing as tall as a 4-year-old. The last had a picture of a centipede longer than the tallest basketball player is tall.

"That's not a big centipede, it's a big millipede." Nigel assumably corrected.

Then he led the camera to the Amphibian side. One of the two pictures was of a creature that looked like a mix between a fish and a crocodile. It had short stubby legs with 5 toes. The other had a creature that resembled a salamander but had a much thicker head. "These five creatures are going to be my targets this time."

Nigel plans on going 300,000 million years back in time to Scotland where it was swampy and there was a much higher risk of fires.

Nigel and his team had already finished packing but were interrupted by a call from Bob.

"Nigel, Bob here, the crazy Triceratops has just finished laying the last of her eggs, over!" Nigel raced to Ceratopsid Creek to see a crowd of employees crowding around, trying to get a good look at the first baby dinosaurs in 65 million years.

Once everyone caught wind of their boss' arrival they all parted to allow easy passage to the fence. He watched in awe as the new mother situated herself next to her eggs. Underneath her layer of ferns were 6 yolk yellow eggs. They each were situated in their own section of the nest which consisted of ferns and reeds.

Then another Triceratops, a male, came and switched places with the female.

"This is amazing, I would never have believed that both the parents would take care of the eggs!" exclaimed Nigel. Deep in his stomach, he felt proud. Proud of the new parents, proud of him, and proud of his team. Next to him, Suzanne, Bob, and Jim watched in amazement as the male spun an egg around to fit the others. He stretched his arms and gave them a big hug. Katrina, Ted, and Newt came up behind them and added their bodies to the current pile.

After the moment past, Bob, Suzanne, and all the other employees not on Nigel's adventure team left to finish their chores. Nigel and his team got all their stuff together and walked to the portal passing by the Santa Cruz Formation where the Phorusrhacos pair are expecting two baby chicks any day.

They passed through the portal and found themselves thigh-deep in salty ocean water. In front of them was a small mangrove patch. They made their way towards a clump of dry land. Along the way, they passed many tiny fish and corals, but there was one creature that caught Nigel's eye.

Nigel leaned down and came up with a creature that resembled a big, fat worm. It had leathery skin and no limbs.

"This is a sea cucumber; they are still around today but I wouldn't mind having him in the park. I mean they are really cool creatures, very little change over so many years. I'm not going to send him through yet and they don't move far so I'll just set him by the shore." Nigel confirmed.

Once they reached the shore, Nigel placed the sea cucumber down and continued to explore their little piece of heaven. Their boots and socks were soaked but their spirits were high. All around them, giant dragonflies zoomed past.

"Wow, it's about the breeding season it seems, so the males will be buzzing all over the place looking for a mate so watch your head," Nigel warned.

And to prove Nigel right, a 3-foot dragonfly rammed Katrina, knocking her over and rendering the kamikaze dragonfly unconscious.

"Are you okay?" Newt asked as he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'll live. I hope I can say the same for the dragonfly.".

The dragonfly looked just like an enlarged modern-day dragonfly. Its body was completely blue with orange eye bulbs.

"Actually, the correct name for these guys is Magenuera, and they're one of my mission creatures." Nigel corrected.

He took the unconscious Magenuera and placed it in a portable net which would keep it safe. As they walked on, they were stopped by two more Magenuera lying on the ground. Sadly, both had creatures tearing their exoskeleton to get to the gooey insides.

The four lizards, 2 on each carcass, were a little smaller than the Magenuera with red crests over their eyes while everything else was green. Their rough skin helped them blend in with the leaves of the huge tree-like ferns called Lepidodendron.

"These guys are called Petrolacosaurus, they will eventually become other reptiles which will evolve into dinosaurs!" Nigel whispered. He quickly got another net and net gun and then fired. Three of the four were instantly captured but the bulkier one, a male scurried off.

Back in the park, Bob is finishing up setting the portal coordinates to open into the newly built Bug House.

It was split between three areas. One for the bugs that Nigel will rescue, it was thick with vegetation and fallen logs. The second one, the biggest, was all swamp except a little island in the middle of the pen. The glass roof allowed mangrove trees to grow and allow cover to any rescued amphibians. The last one was the same as the invertebrate section except modern bugs were flying around for any reptiles that Nigel could catch.

"Well the portal is going to open up in this makeshift holding pen and then we'll place them in the correct section.". Bob explained.

But what he refused to admit is the trouble it took to build the house.

The memory of the camera slides back to the past.

It was a sunny day and Bob and his team were laying out the first few levels of cement when a Borealosaurus came and trampled the little progress they made. Then a laugh came from the radio earpiece. The security team witnessed the whole thing from a camera in a tree not too far away. So, Bob took a break and refilled the herd's rock pit.

Then another, a few days later, the building was almost done, the glass was still to be added and a few more layers of cement were left. While the team was trying to add the glass the Phorusrhacos came and ran into the machine that had the glass in its hook, the machine was lifted off its tracks and the glass shattered against the cement wall which led to two members being sent to the infirmary and a portion of the wall broke along with the machine. But eventually, everything was quiet long enough for Bob to finish the building.

Back in prehistoric Scotland, Nigel and the team are setting up camp on whatever dry land they could find.

As night came, the Petrolacosaurus became much more active and were so jumpy that Nigel had to send them through the portal, so they wouldn't keel over when someone snapped a stick while walking. But before he returned to his hammock, he noticed something moving on a tree.

He grabbed a flashlight, a cage, and a camera to record any findings. Nigel flicked the flashlight on to reveal a scorpion climbing a tree. It was about 2 feet long and the stinger was the size of Nigel's clenched fist. Its body was bluish-grey with its pinchers being red along with a red streak along its back.

"This is Pulmonoscorpius, it was a carnivore, possibly a high class one. It most likely fed on reptiles like Petrolacosaurus and small tetrapods along with any fallen Invertebrates." Nigel slowly opened the pet carrier as not to spook the arthropod.

He dropped his flashlight and, like a heron hunting a fish, grabbed the scorpion by the tail. The Pulmonoscorpius snapped its pinchers, trying to injure its attacker. Nigel was about to put the scorpion in the carrier but stopped.

"This is the most dangerous part cause if I let go, then, the stinger is free, and scorpions are very fast." Nigel has had bad experiences with scorpions. When he was 15, he was stung by an Emperor Scorpion and had to have surgery to get the stinger out. But eventually, Nigel worked up the nerve and dropped the Arachnid in the carrier, barely missing the stinger.

"Alright two species down three to go," concludes Nigel. Thinking it was safe once again, he went to bed but what he didn't see was the impending doom that is a storm.

Due to the considerable amounts of oxygen, fires were started with much more ease.

The next morning, after breakfast, everyone packed up and headed to a bigger island. To get there they swung from tree to tree, like monkeys, passing flying Magenuera and swimming fish. They were about to reach the island when Nigel suddenly dropped down. Water splashed around and around for a few minutes. Katrina, Newt, and Jim waited on the shore, ready to help. Nigel suddenly came up with an amphibian as big as him. It looked like a huge salamander.

Its body was that of a snake's with tiny legs to prove otherwise. Its head was huge and bulky. Its jaws snapped shut to free itself from the attacker. It was clear that Nigel was struggling to keep it in his arms. Newt and Jim helped get the creature to the shore where it would be slower. It's brown scales allowed for only the trained eye to behold this creature while in the bracken waters.

"This is Crassigyrinus, one of our mission creatures. It has this big head to grab and shake its prey. This is just like a modern-day salamander; it lives most of its life in the water." Newt said as Nigel and Jim led the amphibian through the portal.

Back at the Park, Nigel and Jim had just left and Bob was monitoring the new arrivals.

As he passed the amphibian section of the house, a splash meant the Crassigyrinus had submerged itself again. The confirmed male had taken a claim over a complex tangle of roots and logs just off the island. Bob then opened the door to the reptile section and spooked one of the Petrolacosaurus which fled into some thick cover.

"I really love this section, it's just so peaceful." just as Bob said that claim, the radio turned on.

"Bob, the male terror bird is loose, and it's in Nigel's Bungalow!" All Bob said in response was a long sigh and he walked off. This would be the fifth time a terror bird has escaped its pen.

In the Carboniferous, Nigel and the team are now working around the clock to gather up the last of the inhabitants of the mangrove forest. Already they had collected the sea cucumber, a large flock of Magenuera, and two more Pulmonoscorpius. The only creatures that Nigel has yet to capture are two rarer species called Arthropleura and Kirktonecta. But Nigel needs to hurry, the large storm is approaching and with the mass amounts of oxygen in the air, the risk of fires is too great.

Nigel had left the team to search the last island and, thankfully, it's the smallest. Nigel was in the middle of climbing over a fallen tree when he heard a hiss. He looked around and saw a pair of eyes sticking out of the water. But they weren't pointed at him, they were pointed at something on the shore. The vegetation shook then split to reveal a large Invertebrate, the Arthropleura. The creature whose eyes were sticking out of the water, another Crassigyrinus, suddenly jumped out at the millipede. The giant millipede suddenly stood up to 10 feet tall and sprayed a toxic liquid at the assailant.

The amphibian quickly retreated straight towards Nigel, who had opened the portal. After peace returned it was interrupted yet again by a sudden blast of light. Then, intense heat was felt to the left of Nigel and the Arthropleura. A fire had started!

In Prehistoric Park, Suzanne is checking on the new Triceratops mother.

While Suzanne ate a granola bar she watched as the mother Triceratops went off to eat some newly placed enriched hay while the male was guarding the nest. While she was still a little wobbly on her feet, she was eating and drinking well and have shown no signs of sickness.

"My biggest worry for a new mother like her is that she'll crush the eggs," Suzanne explained. The biggest reason that eggs of new mothers don't survive is that the mother will crush them to keep them warm.

In the Carboniferous, the fire scared the Arthropleura the wrong way and Nigel was forced to run as fast as he could.

While the Arthropleura was big, it was also fast. He just barely grabbed the Arthropleura, which again stood up but instead of spitting, it lunged straight at Nigel. Nigel rolled out of the way and grabbed the portal sticks down in the same time it took the Arthropleura to loop around and prepare for another attack. But as it lunged again, Nigel turned he portal on, rescuing the Arhropleura.

By the time Nigel reached the camp, it was getting dark, and everyone was preparing to go to sleep but Newt and Katrina had made some discoveries. "Hey Nigel, look what I caught!". Newt held up a small salamander that had the same color as Crassigyrinas but had yellow spots. Beside him, 4 more slithered around in the mud.

Not too far away, Katrina shouted that there was some fish trapped in a little puddle. "Yes, that's great but we need to get everything out of here, there's a fire!" He frantically replied. Behind him, the island that Nigel was originally at was all but destroyed and the islands next to it were in flames. Any creatures able to escape headed to other islands while creatures too slow were burned to a crisp.

Everyone, hearing the news, were quick to get all the creatures through the portal. Katrina and Ted were scooping up the fish in the puddle then placing them in containers on the back of the jeep while Newt and Jim were loading the bugs and amphibians.

By the time, the tents were down, and the creatures were secured, the fire had reached the outer rim of the island.

"Everyone get in!" Nigel yelled. Once everyone was in Nigel hit the pedal, but they didn't move. The tires have sunk half a foot into the mud and were stuck.

Already they could feel the heat from the fire, whose seams have reached over the tallest Lepidodendron.

"Nigel?" said Newt with a quizzical look. "Hold on I have an idea." He then got out of the car and opened the portal.

"His plan is to ditch us?" asked Katrina.

"Hold on!" yelled Jim. He knew Nigel, he wouldn't ditch anyone. But as the minutes passed and the distance between them and the fire quickly closed Jim became anxious.

Finally, Nigel came back with a grappling hook. Once it was secured and the grill of the jeep, Nigel tugged on the rope and then a big tug came, almost knocking them over. Thankfully, the jeep started moving and was quickly out of harm's way. Once the blue glow of the portal split, it was revealed that one of the Borealosaurus had been herded into the holding pens and was being lured by Bob with some smooth stones.

Once all the creatures were safe in their exhibits, Nigel did his regular inspection.

He started out in the Bug House. As he walked around the Invertebrate section, two Magenuera passed by overhead and a Pulmonoscorpius scurried under a log. Somewhere under the thick vegetation was the Arthropleura. Nigel then passed into the Amphibian section where the Crassigyrinus, Kirktonecta, and the newly identified fish, Dumfregia were peacefully swimming in their swampy home. Nigel yelled when he was startled by a sunning Kirktonecta. He then walked into the Petrolacosaurus exhibit, embarrassed when his earpiece flared to life with laughter from the security team.

Eventually, he made his way to the Modern Mash building where Fred the sea cucumber was digesting a dead seaweed plant.

Eventually, everyone had the time to enjoy the new additions, but Bob is having some trouble with one specific individual.

"Ah Bob, you're a mom!" exclaimed Suzanne when Bob entered their monthly meeting with a baby Triceratops.

"Be quiet," Bob said with a huff.

"What happened?" Nigel asked.

"Well, I was feeding the Torosaurus and Triceratops and while I was walking by this one hatched and suddenly decided that I'm its mom," Bob yelled.

Once the meeting ended Bob went to catch the Ferry that led to Isla Muerta where the employees sleep. But Bob will soon realize that he won't get much sleep.

The little chirps of the baby Triceratops have attracted the attention of the Thescelosaurus group who keep scratching at his door.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH" could be heard all over the island and startled the Thescelosaurus. Bob sure does hate his job sometimes.

Next time on Prehistoric Park

Nigel goes back 73 million years to Texas to rescue the biggest Alligator ever

Nigel nearly misses an aquatic assailant

But faces some feathery danger

Small raptors are chased off by Nigel

And could Prehistoric Park lose everything?

A large shadow looms over the Ceratopsid fence.

Creatures rescued:

17 Magenuera: 9 females 8 males

3 Pulmonoscorpius 1 male 2 females

1 Arthropleura male

1 Sea Cucumber male

2 Crassigyrinus 1 male 1 female

5 Kirktonecta 2 males 3 females

22 Dumfregia unknown gender


Hey guys, Cowpie here, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Prehistoric Park. Not much to say here just the usual

If you guys have any comments, complaints, or ideas feel free to share them in the comments!

Have a wonderful day!