Critter of the Week: Ornitholestes

Meet Opie. He’s a happy little fella who loves to curl up in your lap, so it’s a good thing he’s about the size of a big dog!

Opie_update.jpg

Yes, Opie seems to think he’s a big lapdog, and he loves it when you stroke his feathers.  Where is he off to now?  It looks like he’s going to show you his favorite toy…Opie carries Teddy around everywhere.  He’s gone through quite a few “surgeries” to poke the stuffing back in after Opie nibbled on him. Continue reading

Critter of the Week: Camarasaurus

Meet Bella. She’s big, she’s loud, and she’s really happy to see you! She’s happy to see anyone really, except Alfred, but can you blame her? There’s about a-bazillion years of conflict going on there…

bella

There she is! She is the most accommodating of Pete’s very large camarasaurus herd- voted least likely to accidentally trample the equipment. They can be an excitable bunch, and don’t always pay attention to what they’re bumping into. Continue reading

Critter of the Week?

Oh no!  Dippy’s caught a cold!  Crocs almost never get sick, but chickens will certainly get a sneeze or two every now and then.

Most of the time Dippy does very well, but his head is down, his tail is all droopy, and he’s been spending an awful lot of time just standing around doing nothing. He won’t even play with his big yellow ball! So Pete is taking a look at him to see what’s the matter. It might be that he just ate something he shouldn’t have, so he has a giant stomach ache.

Hopefully he’ll be up to his usual antics before too long.  In the mean time, here are a few other critter profiles for the back of the book. 🙂

Allosaurus boxApatosaurus boxArchaeopteryx boxBrachiosaurus box

Critter of the Week: Pliosaurus

Meet Tigger. This big guy is always ready to flash a big, toothy smile, especially at mealtime.

 

Tigger plio

Look at that giant, toothy grin.  He’s sure happy to see you!  He’s looking for a treat or two (or ten), so that’s what this stinky bucket of slimy deliciousness is for.  Tigger has a huge appetite, and he’ll eat anything that fits in that giant mouth of his.  Even dinosaurs if one of them decides to go for a swim.  (you heard right, dinos can swim, we have tracks to prove it) Continue reading

Critter of the Week Dilophosaurus

Meet Picasso.  This quiet softie loves spending time with his special person.  Snuggling under the tree to hear a good story?  That sounds like a lovely way to spend a warm afternoon. 🙂

picasso_update

Picasso looks very happy to see you, and he wonders very much if you like his red crest.  He’s very proud of it, you see, and he’s been strutting around the field like a very large rooster. Continue reading

Critter of the Week: Ornitholestes

Meet Opie. He’s a happy little fella who loves to curl up in your lap, so it’s a good thing he’s about the size of a big dog!

Opie.jpg

Yes, Opie seems to think he’s a big lapdog, and he loves it when you stroke his feathers.  Where is he off to now?  It looks like he’s going to show you his favorite toy…Opie carries Teddy around everywhere.  He’s gone through quite a few “surgeries” to poke the stuffing back in after Opie nibbled on him. Continue reading

Critter of the Week: Camarasaurus

Meet Bella. She’s big, she’s loud, and she’s really happy to see you! She’s happy to see anyone really, except Alfred, but can you blame her? There’s about a-bazillion years of conflict going on there…

bella

There she is! She is the most accommodating of Pete’s very large camarasaurus herd- voted least likely to accidentally trample the equipment. They can be an excitable bunch, and don’t always pay attention to what they’re bumping into. Continue reading

Critter of the Week: Ceratosaurus

Meet Bowser. Those horns may look intimidating, and his toothy grin can be downright fearsome.  But you know what they say about books and their covers… 😉

bowser

There we go, he smells it!  See these nice big strips of jerky?  He’ll love it.  I brought some for you too if you want to give him a special treat.

See him cock his head off to the side a little?  Bowser can see a little bit in front of his nose, but he has trouble seeing very much past those bony ridges in front of his eyes.  He still has better binocular vision than his cousin Alfred though!

Here you go, just take a strip of jerky with these tongs, and we’ll get to see the size of Bowser’s chompers.  Bowser’s teeth are some of the longest for a dinosaur his size.

Yep, hold the tongs just like that, so we keep our fingers out of the way.  There we go!  Good boy Bowser!  Listen to him grunt. 😀

Oh he wants more.  Ok big guy!  Wow, look at the size of those teeth!  Personally, I’m glad he usually keeps his mouth shut…

ceratosaurus74583s
The teeth on this mount may be extra long, because teeth tend to slip out of the socket when there’s no soft tissue to hold them in, but they’re still super long!  This is a younger individual, so the horns aren’t as big as Bowser’s.  Photo courtesy and copyright of Dr. John Meck.  Obtained from qilong.wordpress.com

 

Bowser always reminds me of a pit bull.  Kinda short (compared to Alfred), thick muscle, big head…he’s the pit bull of Jurassic predators.  He’s buff, he’s tough, and he’ll stop at nothing to protect his special person.

He has an unfortunate reputation for being aggressive and nasty, but animals are only as bad as their owners train them to be.

Give them a good home and healthy training- you’ll have a loyal friend that is sweet and adoring.

Well, I’m not sure how adoring Bowser can be…he’s not exactly the sharpest tack.  But Pete’s trained him well, and he never shows his teeth except when he’s chomping down on a meal.

That’s a good boy Bowser, here’s another piece of jerky for ya. 🙂

 

Making progress… Continue reading