novelsite Chapter 101 Komodo Dragon
Chapter 101 Komodo Dragon
Chapter 101 Komodo Dragon
"I need to find out where the two lionesses went quickly. I want to go hunting okapis with them." With that thought, Chu Ye hurried towards the distant bushes.
Fortunately, Chu Ye quickly found two lionesses, who were hunting in the grass not far away.
Lisa and Elsa are currently hunting a warthog in the grass some distance away. However, the warthog is enormous, and despite the two lionesses' efforts, they have failed to catch it, allowing it to escape into its den.
The male lion, Jik, is nowhere to be found. Perhaps he's gone to fight another male lion, or perhaps he's gone to find food on his own.
Two lionesses, having failed in their hunt, wanted to return to the shade of a large tree to rest for a while. Just then, they saw a strong male lion approaching them.
The two lionesses were startled, thinking it was a stray male lion. If it were a stray male lion, their encounter would surely have led to a fight.
It was only when the two lionesses approached the male lion that they suddenly realized he looked somewhat familiar.
In fact, this male lion is Chu Ye. However, Chu Ye is now extremely large, almost the same size as two lionesses. That is, only slightly smaller than two lionesses.
The two lionesses were astonished by Chu Ye's enormous size. Lisa and Aisha circled around Chu Ye several times, seemingly unable to accept how Chu Ye, once a little lion, had suddenly become such a large lion.
Regardless, Chu Ye still retained the appearance of a little lion. Apart from growing up, his appearance hadn't changed much.
The two lionesses didn't recognize Chu Ye at first. But when they got closer to him and smelled his scent, they recognized him.
"Aww! —"
Lisa came to Chu Ye's side and licked him a few times to express her affection.
Elsa did the same; she came over and patted Chu Ye a few times, expressing her affection.
Although Aisha is not Chu Ye's biological lioness, in a lion pride, all the cubs are the children of all the lionesses. All the lionesses will love the cubs of other lionesses as they love their own.
Because the lionesses in a pride are all sisters, they may all be twins born from the same lioness.
This is why, within a pride of lions, the lionesses will nurse their cubs together. Regardless of which lionesse gave birth to a cub, in the eyes of the other lionesses, there is not much difference between them and their own cubs.
When Chu Ye sensed that the two lionesses recognized him, he roared at them and then walked towards the distant bushes.
The two lionesses followed Chu Ye, heading towards the distant bushes. Although Chu Ye didn't say anything to the two lionesses, they understood his meaning.
Chu Ye continued walking forward, and soon he returned to the place where he had hunted the giant hyena. He had assumed the hyena's carcass would still be there. However, when he arrived, he found the carcass was gone.
There were some claw marks left by carnivorous animals nearby. Because these claw marks were very messy, Chu Ye couldn't tell what kind of animal left them.
"Damn it, what animal stole my food? Was it a hyena, one of those creatures that specializes in stealing other animals?"
Chu Ye suspected that hyenas might have stolen the food, but he wasn't sure if it was hyenas or not.
Chu Ye noticed that in this patch of grass, there were not only many messy footprints, but also some sharp-feathered grass, all of which had been crushed by the animal's body.
Judging from the flattened, sharp-haired grass, the animal that came to steal the food doesn't seem to be a hyena. Hyenas walk on four legs, and they wouldn't leave a trail that flattens out a patch of sharp-haired grass.
"Damn, could it be that crocodiles stole all the hyena meat? But there's no river here, just a big puddle, and that puddle is stagnant; there shouldn't be any crocodiles in it!"
Looking at all this, Chu Ye had a question in his mind: what kind of animal had stolen his food?
"Who cares! Whatever animal stole my food, I don't need to bother with it anymore. I just need to hunt down this giant okapi with the two lionesses."
Thinking of this, Chu Ye looked towards the distant bushes, wanting to see if the okapi was still there.
However, upon looking at it, Chu Ye could no longer see the okapi. After all, this okapi was constantly moving around; it couldn't stay in one place forever.
When the two lionesses saw Chu Ye arrive at this patch of grass, he started looking around and sniffing around.
The two lionesses smelled the place and sensed that a hyena had just died there. However, the hyena's carcass was nowhere to be found.
Chu Ye was still looking into the distance, trying to see where the okapi had gone. But after watching for a while, he didn't see any sign of the okapi.
The two lionesses wondered if Chu Ye had brought them here to hunt hyenas. However, they realized that the hyenas had been preyed upon by some other animal and had already been dragged away.
Seeing no sign of the okapi in the distance, Chu Ye walked towards the distant bushes, hoping to find it there.
Chu Ye walked a little further and then saw what looked like an animal in a clump of bushes in the distance, because some branches in that clump of bushes were swaying back and forth.
"Hey, what's that animal? Could it be an okapi?"
Chu Ye was excited and immediately headed towards the thicket. As he walked, he thought, 'That okapi must be in those thickets. This time, the two lionesses and I will definitely be able to hunt it down.'
The two lionesses probably sensed that there must be some large herbivore in the bushes ahead, and that this time they might be able to hunt one.
Chu Ye slowly walked towards the bushes in the distance, wanting to see what kind of animal was grazing there.
But when it arrived at the thicket, it saw a terrifying monster devouring a coyote.
As soon as Chu Ye saw the terrifying monster, he immediately called out its name.
"Ah! Isn't that a Komodo dragon!"
Chu Ye saw that there was no sign of the okapi in the bushes, but there was a very terrifying monster—a Komodo dragon.
The Komodo dragon, also known as the Komodo monitor, is a species of lizard belonging to the family Varanidae. It is the largest known living lizard species. Komodo dragons are ferocious; adults can prey on their own young and sometimes on other adults. They are capable of rapid movement and occasionally attack humans; however, they primarily feed on carrion, venturing out of their burrows to hunt for food at locations several kilometers away each day.
The Komodo dragon is endangered, with only about 5700 remaining in the wild. Indonesia has established a national park on Komodo Island to help the Komodo dragon population grow.
The Komodo dragon is the largest known lizard, averaging 2-3 meters in length; average weight: males 79-91 kg, females 68-73 kg, with the longest reaching 3.13 meters and weighing 166 kg (including undigested food). Captive Komodo dragons are usually heavier than those in the wild. Its tail is almost as long as its body, its limbs are as thick as an adult's arm, and its head is about the size of a volleyball. Juveniles have green, yellow, and black skin. Adult Komodo dragons are entirely dark brown.
Komodo dragons have 60 frequently replaced, serrated teeth that can reach up to 2.5 centimeters in length. Their saliva is often bloody because their teeth are almost completely covered by naturally torn gum tissue during feeding. They have a long, yellow, forked tongue.
Komodo dragons have armored scales on their skin, which are small bones containing an endosperm that act as a natural chainmail. Like other monitor lizards, Komodo dragons have only one ear bone, the stapes, used to transfer vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the cochlea. This means they can likely only hear sounds in the 400 to 2000 Hz range.
Komodo dragons can see objects up to 300 meters away, but because their retinas contain only cones, they are considered to have poor night vision. They can distinguish colors, but their visual discrimination of stationary objects is poor. Komodo dragons use their tongues to detect odors and, like many other reptiles, use the vomeronasal organ of Jacobson's organ for sensation, rather than their nostrils.
With the help of favorable winds and its habit of swaying its head and tail, the Komodo dragon may be able to detect carrion at a distance of 4–9.5 kilometers. It has only a few taste buds behind its throat. Its scales, some of which are reinforced with bone, have sensory plaques connected to nerves to enhance its tactile senses. The scales around its ears, lips, chin, and soles of its feet may have three or more sensory plaques.
Komodo dragons prefer hot and dry environments, typically inhabiting dry, open grasslands, savannas, and low-altitude tropical forests. As a lizard, although it exhibits some nocturnal activity, it is most active during the day. Komodo dragons are solitary creatures, only gathering together to breed and feed.
They were capable of running at speeds of up to 20 km/h in short bursts, diving to depths of 4.5 meters, and skillfully climbing trees in their youth using their powerful claws. To catch unreachable prey, Komodo dragons might stand on their hind legs and use their tails for support. As they matured, their claws were primarily used as weapons, as their enormous size made climbing impractical.
For sanctuary, the burrows dug by the Komodo dragon could be measured from 1 to 3 meters wide using its powerful forelimbs and claws. Due to its size and its habit of sleeping in these burrows, it could conserve body heat throughout the night and minimize its bathing period after dawn.
Komodo dragons hunt in the afternoon but retreat to shady spots during the hottest part of the day. These distinctive resting places, typically located on cool, windswept ridges, are marked with droppings and devoid of vegetation. They serve as strategic locations for ambush deer.
Chu Ye originally wanted to see the okapi in this patch of grass, but to his surprise, he found a Komodo dragon in the bushes instead.
This is rather strange, because this is a savanna, and there shouldn't be any giant lizards here. What's puzzling is how such a large carnivore from South Asia could exist on this vast African savanna.
"That's really strange. How could such a large lizard appear on the Serengeti plains?" Looking at the Komodo dragon in front of him, Chu Ye couldn't figure it out at all.
Regardless, there was a real Komodo dragon right in front of him. Whether Chu Ye could understand it or not, a terrifying creature from South Asia had appeared on the African savanna.
"So this is the monster that stole my food! I thought it was a hyena or a crocodile!"
Chu Ye never imagined that he would find a terrifying monster—a Komodo dragon—in this thicket.
Lisa and Aisha initially thought that Chu Ye had brought them to hunt some large herbivores. However, when they saw the Komodo dragon in the bushes, they were terrified and quickly hid to the side.
Chu Ye wasn't that afraid, after all, he knew his own strength. Even if he couldn't beat this Komodo dragon, the dragon couldn't do anything to him, nor could it catch him.
This Komodo dragon was hiding in the bushes, eating a coyote it had just found. But then it saw a strong male lion standing at the edge of the bushes, watching it.
This monster seemed extremely domineering on this vast grassland, showing no regard for any of the animals.
When the monster saw Chu Ye, it dropped the food in its mouth and pounced directly at Chu Ye.
Chu Ye certainly didn't dare to fight such a terrifying monster, so he quickly jumped to the side to avoid its attack.
Seeing that it hadn't managed to bite Chu Ye, the monster started chasing him again. Clearly, this Komodo dragon didn't take Chu Ye seriously at all.
Chu Ye dared not confront the Komodo dragon head-on, so it returned to the two lionesses.
The two lionesses were frightened upon seeing the Komodo dragon and quickly fled. Clearly, they too were afraid of this terrifying creature.