Grey Forest Dragon

Made in Spore
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Grey Forest Dragon
Size:  1.5 meter long- tail length 65 cm,  .5 meter high, 176 cm wing span, 25 cm skull length
Weight: 6 to 9 kg
Diet: Carnivore
Habitat: Forest, Temperature Rainforest, Mountain forest and woodlands.
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Description:
This venomous apex diurnal predator despite its wingspan, it can mainly powered gliding with only being able maintain height by wing power when it stomach is full and climbing with wing power only a 10- 20 feet above the tallest trees unable to reach height on it own that required for open space soaring need to effectively hunt from the sky in grassland, prairies, savannah, shrub-land and other open spaces. Ultimately it is a excellent glider as well a excellent runner and climber, but it mainly gliding over long distance with using wing power to only maintain height. Due to it size and venom, it is able to easily drive off any real competing aerial predators that better fliers but much smaller. It hunts both terrestrial and arboreal prey ranging in size from Varoach 10 g to large herbivore as big as 700 kg in weight even predators like Eatons and Braelet. It will rarely prey on domesticated animals as it is timid towards humans. Grey Forest Dragon regularly preying on Tree rabbits, Varoaches, Laubar, mineaux, Soloten, Plaroach and many other prey weights from 0.5 to 2.5 kg. It will also eat carrion, and even drive off predators like Eatons on their fresh kills.  It will supplement its diet with insect, seeds, birds, eggs, small fruits and berries. It hunts both in the trees and grounds. It is often perched in trees to spot or smell out prey with both excellent senses of smell and sight that work well both night and day. It perches on tree near water/nutrient sources like salt licks, streams, and fruiting trees. It will also actively hunt by gliding around the forest to spot prey, and it wills also stealthy patrol on the ground common ground pathways of prey. On ground, it wills chases down prey and try to bite the prey to deliver its venomous bite which for small and medium prey kills in seconds to minutes. Then it follows the scent of prey which is dying or dead from blood loss and/or poison, and the grey dragon feeds quickly on it kill. When it pounces by gliding down from its perch, it will often kill its prey by impaling with killer claw and biting or combination with venom. Normally small prey like varoach and tree rabbits, it will rely on biting and impaling to either kill instantly or cause lethal wound without using venom. Otherwise, it will make an initial attack with claws to hold onto the prey to deliver as many bites as it can before let go and jump off to prevent injury from the prey especially large or aggressive prey. Then it simply allows the venom to do it job. The venom is anticoagulant and hemotoxin causing burning pain, fever, infection, and blood loss. For large prey, this can be hours or days of bleeding, fever, and illness before it either killed by Grey Forest Dragon, another predator, infection or blood loss. Grey Forest Dragon will swallow the prey whole or as much as it can which is quarter of its own weight. Rarely carrying off with it preys thus it can climb and glide with ease and no drag as the stomach expands without deform the overall shape. Otherwise, it feeds on site quickly and flying off, often to show its mate the location of kill site if the kill large enough to feed more than itself easily. A grey forest dragon can drive predators from fresh kills and carrion due the fear of venomous bite expect for carnisuchus due its armored body, and pack of Night Terrors. A pair or group of Grey Forest dragon may work together drive off scavengers or lone carnisuchus from a kill. Grey Forest Dragon excellent senses allow them to tell the decay of carrion to see it become too toxic or disease-ridden to eat. They can often tell by smell carrion has been poison or has dangerous disease. They been known to even carry off with soiled meat and wash them off in streams. Grey Forest Dragon has been known to attack Eaton carrying carrion and trying to steal the carrion from it. However this is risky for a Grey Forest Dragon as Eaton will try to defend itself as it tries to run away with its carrion.  A pair or group of grey forest dragons will defend a kill/carrion from other predators expect a pack of Night Terrors. While one(s) grey forest dragon feeds as much as it can, the other will keep watch and defense then they switch so both can feed. Also intelligent, it will patrol traps and steal from them. It  can tell unarmed human from armed human enough to avoid armed humans. Still fearful of humans, but it is willing to come closer if the human is unarmed.  Being bolder around human during winter and/or night to point they are willing be noticeable visually since they realize humans cannot see well as they can in the dark. They can be so bold at night to steal any meat left in open by humans in only a few meter of a human. Also they are not shy in attacking domesticated animals at night; however, attacks on domesticated animals are very rare as it prefers wild prey due human threat element.  They are non-migratory and during winter they mainly depend feeding on carrion and large prey like Ankalope weaken by the winter. Lifespan is 30 to 60 years.
Reproduction:
Grey Forest Dragon mate for life and breed from early spring to early summer. Unpaired Grey Forest Dragon will search out for unpaired Grey Forest Dragon soon after leaving its parental nest and territory. When two unpaired Grey Forest Dragon of opposite sex meet smell each, look over each and follow by chasing each other. First the female chases the male until the male stops and fluffs all his display feathers. Then male chases after female until the female allow the male to catch her as part of her acceptance of male, and they will mate to form the pair. However females are only fertile during early spring to early summer, so mating outside of this time is just for bond forming and non-reproductive. If a partner is killed, widowed partner will seek out new mate unless they have pass 50 years old at that point they are no longer fertile. Unless the age difference is equal or greater than 10 years, the pair will remain together and mate for bonding. If there is age difference and partner become infertile due to age, the partner divorce will seek a new mate. Elderly Grey Forest Dragons will and are often able to help their most recent or close children's pairing with defend their territory and even raising their offspring. Often in this situation, the survivable and success in raising offspring is greatly increase with the aid of grandparent as young is never let unguarded even during the intense feeding stage of offspring development. After a pair mated, they will seek out an nest normally of abandon nest in tree top, branches and hollow trunks of tall tree, but they will steal the nest of medium animals tree-dwelling by driving out the residents. Rare but they have been known to use nest that were built in abandon buildings. Then they will clean out filth, old feathers, and debris; reinforce with sticks, twigs, and grass; and add insulation of feathers(include their own)and fur gather from kills to the nest. Ultimately, the nest will be easily able to hold one of the parents, the egg, and chick up to 2 kg with the original nest being the core support and additional acting as further support for egg and incubating parent. During the nest building period, the females will not hunt and only drink water as she  devote all her time awake to seek, cleaning, reinforce, and insulation a nest.  If there is no suitable nest, the female and male will build one. The females does the majority of nest building and seeking, but the males hunts for the both of them and will return to his mate to share from his stomach content. A pair will often call to each other with long low howling shrills especially during the nesting period to keep in touch. The nest building period is normally 10 days, but can be extend up to 14 days. After the nest is built, she will laid a single egg, but if they is supporting grandparents then she will laid two eggs. If the egg or chick dies during breeding season, the pair will mate again after a week to produce another egg in a new nest and after first cleaning and grooming themselves intensely to prevent the spread of possible parasites. A pair will groom each and will often clean themselves in water of clean stream or creek. It takes 56 days to incubate with both parents taking shift to allow the other to hunt, feed, and drink as one remains to keep egg incubate nearly constantly with transfer being a synchronized movement by both parents to only leave egg uncovered for only milliseconds. Grandparents will help by feeding the incubating parents allow them to stay on the egg and minimize any exposure time of the egg. After the egg hatches, the chick will still under constant presence of a parent. They will still laid on it to stay it warm or shade it and even fan with their wings to keep the chick cool. The parents will take turns gathering water to cool a chick by wetting the chick and allow evaporation to cool the chick in hottest parts of the summer days in addition to shade and fanning. One parent is always with the chick to protect it and take care of it, as the other hunts for feed for chick and itself. Grandparents will help in parents care of chick by not only feeding the chick but taking shifts guarding and tending to it allow the parent to hunt and drink. During some of the hottest summers, it is chicks with grandparent that are able survive while many other chicks die from overheating. At 36 days old, the chick needs to be feed more constantly by the parents. At 1-2 kg, the chick can walk, climb, and defend itself against small predators like tree dragons. Thus, it will unguarded but never will a parent hunt farther than it can get back to the nest within a minute or two at most if the chick cries. The chick danger is a very high and loud screeching crying that a parent can easily heard. It is not uncommon for when the chick reaches this size to be lead away from nest by a parent and even carried to safe treetop locations closer to food sources, so the parents can remain close to the chick if danger becomes present. However if the chick has grandparents as mentioned before, the chick will always adult grey dragon forest to protect it and rarely leave the nest.  At 5-6 months old, the chick a juvenile is able to hunt and defend itself, but it will join the with always one of it parents or grandparents in order to learn to hunt and survive. As well, juvenile will still be feed by the parents and grandparents until it is full grown at 10-12 months old. During the juvenile's first winter, it will be also keep warm by family huddle together and the family will stay together as they hunt and forage for food. When taking down large herbivores struggling against the bitterness of winter, the parent each will attack individually one followed by other to deliver it venomous bite. Then the juvenile will attempt to attack as shown by it predators. The parents will screech to tell the juvenile to back off if its attack is done improperly/ endanger from injury from prey. If the juvenile fails to deal effective blood bleed bite, then the parents will show the technique again but twice instead of once. With grandparents, the grandparent with parents will attack to show juvenile how to attack as in same matter as mention before. Again in harshest of winters, support and additional body heat allow juveniles to survive where others die from combination of illness, malnutrition and cold.  Ultimately, it is nearly impossible for a single parent to raise a chick unless the single parent has grandparent(s) to help. Often if a parent dies during the raising of chick, the widowed parent will abandon the chick they were raising in order to seek a new partner. A juvenile however can survive with one parent, and the single parent will continue to raise the young until he leaves before seeking a new partner. Full grown, the young immature adult will be nomadic until its finds a territory and partner. However it is rare for young immature adult to establish a permanent territory and find a partner before it matures at 4-6 years old. After the parent's young left their territory, they will produce another chick after 1-2 years but rarely due bountiful years they will produce a chick the following year.
Humans:
Since grey forest dragon will attack domestic animals and trapped animals, they are seen as pest from trappers and farmers. So some people do attack them if they can. This is the source of why grey forest dragons are fearful nature toward human especially armed humans. In defense of themselves or their chick, they will bite humans. If not treated, a full grown male will die within an hour from blood loss. In addition due to venom and infection, a person will need care for 3-5 days. Often needing to keep cool, give medicine, and a lot of rest, but also made sure the wound is clean and sealed. The person will feel like they are on fire which last for hours, and become just feverish heat afterwards for days. If not careful, a person will easily die from infection. However, they are loved since they attack Eatons, vermin, and pest. Also they easily get rid of small-medium fresh carrion and feed enough on larger carrion that other scavengers will easily finish quickly whatever left that too toxic or diseased for grey forest predator and many predators. This is also the source of the saying "A Grey Forest Dragon would not eats that either." to mean food is inedible or distasteful. Also the life long bond and devotion of grey forest dragon has made them symbol even role models of love for warriors, hunters, and nobles. Also the acceptance of the elderly, their role, and importance has been to mirror their culture. So many seen Grey Forest Dragon as noble creatures and often prohibit to be hunted or trapped. Commonly, farmer and trapper still do try to harm grey forest dragon but just keep it secret. If caught, they are often fined and looked on by the community negatively. As people know that Grey forest dragon can be easily scared away and livestock can be keep in barns to keep livestock loss by grey forest dragons. In some communities and kingdoms, the punishment of this crime is death or exile. A tale of great and beloved king, when he was a boy found an abandoned grey forest dragon chick and raised it. It become his loyal pet often being found at its master’s side and save the king's life after an assassin tried to kill the king in his sleep. However in the struggle the assassin lethally wounded the grey forest dragon and it died soon after. The king defeats the wound assassin. The assassin ultimately died in horrible pain from blood loss but not before he learns of his brother betrayal. After dealing with his treason brother, he gave his pet a warrior burial with full honor. When the king died, his pet was moved to be right next to king’s right side which was in life often where his pet could be found. From then on, the grey forest dragon has been a symbol of the kingdom and killing or harming grey forest as close to treason and treated as such. Keeping as pet is rare as they will not breed in captivity. Often people obtain grey forest dragon from abandon chicks, and they find the intelligent of grey forest dragon allow them to be trained. Often pet grey dragons are used on sport hunts to track down quarry and either allow the pet to kill it or kill the quarry themselves.