CHAPTER 308
George was elated. "Oh my God!" he laughed with delight. "Diego, look at it!"
The creature stood in the middle of the cage on two legs that looked like they belonged to an emu, and the body that balanced on them was fluffy and feathery. The tail swished, and a scaly head with big eyes blinked at George.
"Calabasa, what is?" Diego crunched his face at the odd looking creature.
George stared at the baby animal. Its head was reminiscent of an alligator, with dark speckled scales, but the build of the skull was not slender at all. It was stout and blunt. The large eyes seemed friendly and harmless enough, though George did note the sharp carnivore teeth protruding down over its lower jaw from the top rim of its mouth. The baby's white down ruffled, and two tiny arms poked out from the fluff on its breast. Each hand had two sharp clawed fingers.
George was hardly knowledgable on dinosaurs, but he had no trouble realizing that the small two fingered hands and the sharp teeth probably meant the creature he was looking at would be the most valuable of them all.
His heart leapt, and he pulled his fingers through his hair, making it stand up straight. George turned to Diego with an enormous grin. "I'm freakin' out here, man! We have to catch it."
"Excuse me, Calabasa?"
"We have to catch it."
Diego looked at the baby dinosaur, and it looked back at him. He saw the sharp claws on its feet, and the dangerous looking teeth. The animal did have the cute air of an infant, but it didn't look entirely safe to handle.
"No, Calabasa. We wait for Dr. Levine."
"Nonsense!" He shoved Diego aside. "There's a leash thingy on the wall right out here."
George bounced out of the cage, and when he came back he had a long, slender, metal pole in his hands that had a snare on one end.
The baby dinosaur looked at him and trilled. Its mouth opened in a wide yawn, displaying all its sharp teeth, then it snapped shut with a clap.
"You sure about this, Calabasa? Maybe too peligroso?"
Baselton gripped the pole in his hands. "Yeah, I got this."
George advanced towards the baby dinosaur, and the animal became nervous. Its tail stopped swishing, and its head tucked low. The dinosaur's arms disappeared within the fluff of its breast, and it crouched on its haunches.
"Easy, Calabasa." Diego clung near the door to the enclosure.
George slowed his movements. "Ok… Alright…"
He raised the pole in his hands and moved the wire loop of the snare toward the baby dinosaur's snout. The creature leaned away and crinkled its face. George moved the loop closer, and the baby hissed. He stopped and waited, letting the dinosaur calm down. After thirty seconds went by the baby began sniffing the snare. George's face tightened with determination. Adjusting his grip on the pole he bent his knees, planted his feet, and then moved to capture the young dinosaur.
"Gotcha!"