Legends reborn: Cockatrice

during the early days of the middle age, traders from the middle east told fantastic tales of a dragon, bigger than a house, with the head of a rooster that could breath fire and petrify anyone who mad eye contact. due to the excess of wine consumed during these stories, they were beleved to be a farce. but then, a trader brought a live cockatrice for the kings menagerie. it broke free and began terrorizing the nearby town of Wherwell. for fforty days, it ran amok, killing villiagers until it was lured into a dungeon. many brave men tried to kill it, but none survived. then a man named Green lowered a mirror into the dungeon. The cockatrice hissed and growled at it's reflection. Then, it charged the mirror and knocked itself out on the stone wall behind it. while it was unconcious, Green slipped in and beheaded it.

on January 18th 2011, what appeared to be a surviving Therizinosaurid was discovered roaming the desert of Iraq. this dinosaur was named the Cockatrice when it's similarity to the legend was pointed out. it comes to about 3 and a half feet at the shoulder and weighs 500 pounds. it's carnivorous and mainly preys on camels and occasionally, one unlucky farmer....'s dairy cow. they are not known to be aggressive to humans, but they are far from safe. their sharp beak, powerful legs and scythe-like claws make it a very dangerous predator indeed. the early descriptions of the cockatrice as the size of a large house are no suprise. after all, when gorrilas were first discovered, they were said to be "able to tear ships in half with their monstourously powerful arms" just food for thought

(up next, I'll be doing the Kasai Rex.)