All About Survival

The Herbivores

What we had walked into wasn't just an open meadow. It was a giant field acres wide and who-knew how long. Trees dotted the area in such disarray that it wasn't difficult to figure out what this was: a game trail.

But not for the smaller herbivores, no, this one was for the giants; where even the biggest predators would have to be cautious.

It was no wonder why as I took in the hundreds of animals moving about in a peaceful, unhurried way. These were no lumbering giants; they were surprisingly quick as they moved about; agile and dangerous in their own way.

The easiest to spot and most noticeable were of course the towering Brachiosaurs, spread across the plain in disarray. It was fascinating to watch as one of the younger animals attempted to join an adult at a single tree, to which the larger animal responded by swinging its tail with amazing ease and speed. It cracked like a bullwhip against the juvenile's side, immediately creating a large welt on his skin and sending the youngster dashing away to find his own meal.

Triceratops taller than buses grazed on the lower plants, snorting and swinging their massive heads at each other. The hornless infants were the size of dogs and rarely strayed far from their mother's side.

Stegosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Iguanodons, Corythosaurus and even Pachycephalosaurus littered the area as well. There were other smaller herbivores but frankly I had no idea what they were called.

There was a crashing of branches and dried leaves from right next to us. We all froze, preparing to run for our lives once again. "Don't move." Billy whispered just loud enough for us all to hear. The animal that came out of the bushes was like a dinosaur version of a turtle on steroids, a giant oval shell surrounded by dangerous spikes jutting out from all sides.

The dinosaur paused momentarily, swinging its head around to look at us with each eye. It huffed a few times before moving on, it was almost like it could smell us, but it couldn't see us when we didn't move. The animal moved out of the brush, its lethal clubbed tail lightly brushing against my arm as it swung back and forth in a leisurely, almost clumsy, style.

"Ankylosaurus, that club could shatter a T-rex's leg easily." Billy stated quietly as several other of the dinosaurs came out of the brush behind us, joining the rest of the herbivore herd in the wide open plain.

If InGen had settled for producing the herbivores, then Jurassic Park would have worked brilliantly. Despite all that we had already been through on this hellish island, I couldn't help but suck in a breath as I took in these amazing animals. Watching them, I really felt like I had been transported back millions of years to the age of the dinosaurs. All that was missing...ah there it is. Several Pterodactyls glided over the animals, much smaller than the aggressive Pteranodons with thinner, almost translucent wings. Yes, this was the perfect, peaceful Jurassic magic InGen had been after.

"Any chance we could hang with them?" one of the new men asked, shifting from foot to foot.

I watched the animals, forcing my awestruck gaze to turn scrutinizing. Yes they were herbivores, but even the young Brachiosaurs could easily crush is with a wayward step. Not to mention all of the other animals we'd have to watch out for. Then there was the trouble of the infants, if someone inadvertently got too close to one, the adults could go in a protective rampage. Of course there was also the major issue of what the animals would do if they saw us. Would they ignore us because of our small size? Or would they panic and stampede like they did the last time when we were running from the raptors.

Billy was looking at me, an arm wrapped securely around my waist. He knew the dinosaurs, but I knew how most animals reacted to foreign experiences. After a long moment I finally nodded, "Yeah, but we keep to the tree line on the side. Stay as far away from them as possible, the last thing we need is someone getting stepped on."