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Draco oxyauri is the scientific name I've given this nocturnal dragon due to it's keen hearing. However I just call them Banshee Dragons, and for two reasons. I first discovered this species within the Banshee Forest that grows near my hometown, and for it's unusual screeching ability. They use sound for nearly everything. If it becomes too difficult to see in the dark of the night, it will use echolocation to find it's way and hunt. It communicates using a number of different calls, many in different frequencies. But when a member of it's colony, a youngster, or when itself is threatened, it will emit an loud and potentate scream that can deafen, give enemies painful headaches, or even kill it's attacker.
Banshees are all shades of grey, from nearly murky black to strikingly cloud white. Large ears, eyes, and oddly shaped muzzles similar to a number of different species of bats, cause this dragon to look bizarre, even with it's duo pair of wings. It's wings have working claws on them which they use to climb nearly any surface wile their back legs have powerful, double jointed ankles that can help them hang upside down Their long tails are also strong, and generally. Luckily these dragons are only the size of a large dire wolf, they are however very strong and lengthy. The eggs of this dragon are always a dusty granite color.
Banshee dragons seem to live in colonies or small packs. Females, mothers, daughters, sisters and grand daughters as well as any of their young, all stick together and live in the same caves. Males branch off and live with each other in small, territorial packs who's territories overlap with those of many matriarchal colonies. Loners, orphans that have grown up by themselves, as well as individuals who split off from an overgrown group live the vagabond life until they find their own territory to claim, join an small colony or pack, or take over another's territory. The fights that break out between colonies, mass numbers combined with their dangerous scream ability, can result in a brutal, bloody battle. Most, thankfully, end up only as a show of strength rather than an actual fight.
Wisp, my Banshee dragon ally, has given me a lot of insight with this species. Not only in dietary behavior (this is an omnivore) but also in the courting behavior (at least how a male attempts to attract a female. Wisp likes to help me with this project and is constantly giving me surprising insights that only another dragon seems to find.) Apparently, this dragon species loves to eat fruit, be it fresh or slightly rotten and full of bugs (which is a double treat for them) or a bowl of freshly caught earthworms, Beatles, spiders, and other assorted insects and arachnids. Otherwise, small amounts of meat will do.
Now to the more, embarrassing part of describing a dragon to the fullest. As Wisp tells me in very vivid and detailed description, and I can't believe I'm listening to this and I swear she is blushing (which dragon's physically cannot but you get the idea.), she informs me on the courting behavior of her species. Banshee dragons are fully mature around two to three human years, an average age for any species of dragon to mature. It is around this age that the males leave their mothers and join their brothers in the search for new territories with colonies near by. The females stick with mom and grandma for a year to four until the migration,where colonies move from their summer hunting grounds to winter hibernation zones. Females with young stick with the elders and roost together in the great cave, while females bearing eggs will search for a hollow log, tree, abandoned house or den, and make a nest within that spot and hibernate at the opening. This prevents the winter chill from harming the eggs as the female's body heat blocks the cold wind and warms the space up. I've had my share of a toasty winter night with Wisp curled in my bed heating up the room like a furnace.
However, in the fall during and before the migration, male Banshee Dragons will fly about preforming a chorus of sounds within the Banshee's hearing range in order to attract a female. Once the male has attracted a female, he will groom her while chattering the same song. He will then offer her a fresh kill. If the female sees him as a suitable mate, she will dine with him, if not then you'd just given her a free meal. Afterwards the pair splits and the female joins her sisters in the great migration to the winter hibernation territory. She will then search for a nest site, lay around six to eight eggs, and go into hibernation.
The mother awakens early and goes out hunting, she may break the normal nocturnal scheduled to not only fill herself but to gather enough food for the soon to be born young. She will feed them and allow them to wander and test their limbs before moving them to a new site, just one of the many stops to the winter cave where they will be raised among their many cousins and so on. It takes a month for the young to be strong enough to cling onto their mother for the migration back to the summer hunting grounds. By their first year they are capable of flying on their own to and fro migration spots. By their second year the males are old enough to find their own territory and females old enough to breed for the first time. However most only bear young by their third year.
The life span of these dragons, as many books fail to make note of, is seventy-five to one hundred and forty-two years. Seventy-five being the youngest age to die from old age. However trapping, hunting, poisoning, and disease takes sixty-four percent of the population compared to the number of dragons who die naturally. It is a sad fact but one I have to state for reasons you may already know.
My hope is that this will bring more knowledge to the world before we completely wipe this unique species out, before it is officially know by the educational world. Now as for tips when dealing with this dragon, I warn that you must never, ever ever, EVER, anger this species while near any body of water. Sound bounces off smooth surfaces and this dragon's scream coupled with that is a danger you would rather not encounter.
Note: Anyone who wishes to raise one of these dragons must be able to withstand the sight of an overgrown, wing dinosaur weighing over one ton or 157 stones crunching up beetles, spiders, roaches, and slurping up worms.
