🌲 Foresters' Statbook

sarane||

stats
offspring stats
genealogy
guide
breeding guide

spring starts February 1^st
summer starts June 1^st
winter starts October 1^st

^{general biology|}
Their teeth are both sharp and crushing - but primarily crushing, like a lion.
Their claws are long, thin, and hook shaped. Not designed for fighting or hunting, but climbing.

Drakes and hens are around the same size, but the males are easily 200 pounds heavier than the females. Where drakes put on more muscle and remain leaner, even a fit hen puts on far more fat. Something akin to looking at bears - similarly sized animal, but you can tell the male is a lot bulkier.
Dominance effects their size as well. A dominant drake is a lot bigger, with more territory and hens under his wing to guard. Younger drakes would be quite a lot smaller than a massively dominant one.


^diet|
Strict carnivores as adults. If it lives, moves, and they can catch it - it's edible. Adults can handle prey as large as murp or galabex. Bird eggs are always a favorite, and drakes would be happy to eat a competitor's eggs or even hatchlings.
Adults tend to divebomb prey from the skies, biting and holding on - a lot like a crocodile.
Younger sarane may display more subtle ways of hunting, for their need to stalk smaller prey like rabbits or... basically anything that moves they can manage to sink their claws into, resorting to bugs if they have to. Like the adults, hatchlings would also eat eggs of their own species as long as they didn't belong to their own clutch-mother.


^hatchlings|
Like most reptiles, sarane hatch fully-formed and capable of hunting for themselves.

Hatchlings aren't particularly territorial, so there's little to no fighting between them.
They will never hunt as a pack, seeing as food is the most valuable resource at this point in their life. If they do not manage to hunt enough to feed themselves, they will either die - or be lucky enough that one of the clutch-mothers didn't finish all her food, as she makes no special effort to save them any leftovers. The world of the hatchlings truly is a world of 'survival of the fittest'.

As hatchlings, they hunt small birds, lizards, rodents. Rabbits if they're particularly lucky, but they'll turn to bugs if their hunting isn't going as well. As they grow, they will continue to hunt anything that they are skilled -or large- enough to catch and kill successfully without injury. They will also eat eggs, even eggs of other Sarane - but never the eggs of their clutch-mothers' nests.

Their clutch-mother is always around for their protection. The hatchlings are fairly independent, spending their days exploring, play-fighting, and hunting. At the end of the day, they will return to their respective clutch-mother's nests for her defenses against those nocturnal predators, the elements, and the chill of the night.

If hatchlings find a threat that is too big for it to handle - which might be a lot, considering how bold these hatchlings can be - it will go crying to the clutch mother's attention. She's not as protective as a bear, but like a mother crocodile, will usually come to see the source of a distressed hatchlings' squeaks. Whatever the 'source', they're in big trouble when she comes around.

When growing up, hatchlings go through a LOT of changes. Their egg-tooth set falls off the tip of their snout. They begin growing horns. The pattern that they will sport in adulthood begins appearing on their thick leathery hide. For Drakes, their teeth grow and grow, and so do their wings, until they are able to use them successfully in flight. Hen wings don't tend to grow very much as they mature, and hens become much more lazy, while drakes become more restless - more prone to scuffles with their peers.

Drakes reach sexual maturity around the age when their wings are well developed enough to carry them into the skies. The next time THE drake comes down to visit his hen, the younger drakes have one of two options; learn to fly NOW, or be eaten. Before they reach maturity, the dominant drake (their father) doesn't mind them in his territory, and can smell his blood in them. Once they reach maturity however, blood or not - they... they tend to scatter like pigeons when he lands - and rightfully so. So, if they haven't learned to fly by the time they reach maturity, they'll likely learn soon enough.

When a hen reaches sexual maturity, the clutch-mother usually kicks her out of the nesting area - a not so pleasant thing to witness. After which, she'll wander like a lone tiger until she finds her own suitable territory for a nest and hunting. As an owner, you never have to kick your hen out, and she will happily stay in her old 'clutch' forever.


^drakes|
The drakes have spaded scales and much grander horns than hens.
Drakes are more difficult to tame, but not train.
They may have loved you as a hatchling; but unless you break it, it will fly off, leave you, attack you, eat you - least of all you won't be able to control them enough to train them. The concept is fairly simple - get on the drake and hang on until they tire themselves out. Just don't, you know... fall off.
If one can manage to break or 'tame' a drake, it is said to be undoubtedly loyal to that individual. Because of this loyalty, the Drake will happily perform any task that it's owner should ask of it.. it would kill for it's owner, and die for it.
When tamed, Drakes can learn to 'tolerate' living within somewhat close proximity... and being within miles being close for most Drakes.

Drakes gave the mindset of they are here, therefore all Hens here belong to them. It seems that captivity is the only place where fighting may frequently break out between both Hens and Drakes...
Drakes impress Hens primarily by having territory and being dominant - but more than likely a Drake would not miss an opportunity to claw up some dirt to show off how strong he is.

It appears that the Drakes have a rather wide territorial range, much wider than that of a Hen's - a Drake's territory will encapsulate several Hens' territories. They are fiercely territorial, and rarely get along with other Drakes.
A Drake will fiercely defend his territory, and will fight off any other Drakes he should find straggling into it - and if he should refuse to leave, the fights may even result in serious injury or death. The male who 'wins' the territory, also 'wins' the females inside it.

Of course, there are some males who are not strong enough to win a territory, usually younger males - and will attempt to sneak into a territory to steal a Hen, should they get the chance... a dangerous task to be sure, as the dominant Drake will likely meet such a visitor with swift retribution.


^hens|
Females seem to be the opposite, and gain loyalty rather quickly - to almost anyone with a friendly hand and cool temper.
When hens grow, they gain extra fat, and especially around the muzzle, giving the illusion of 'lips' that hide most of their teeth - even though their jaw-structure is pretty much the same. Hen wings don't tend to grow very much as they mature, and they tend to become much more lazy.
Hens lack the grander horns of the Drakes, as well as some of the other 'fighting features' that they sport, such as the spaded-scales. A Hen's scales are soft, almost leather-like, and rounded at the end of each scuta.

Females are fairly docile to all other Drakes and Hens... but Hens tend to not want to compete with other Hens in their own personal hunting grounds. The disputes over territory between Hens are usually not very aggressive and mostly just hissing displays and snapping with little to no contact.
When hunting is not involved, the Hens do get along very well. Water sources and nesting sites are often common 'friendly places', where you can find multiple Hens in one location. A Hen has no problem in brooding with another Hen, and will often times happily sit on the nest of another.

The Hen is likely to accept any Drake that decides to claim her. After all, if she meets a Drake, he's more than likely the most dominant male of the area - or a particularly clever competitor. Drakes can smell a Hen in heat's musk for miles, inviting competitors in from all around.
When a female is 'in season' - which is unique to each Hen's cycle, not the seasons - she begins to lay an egg per day until a Drake finds her. After which, she will produce and lay the rest of their clutch in one to two days. Clutches range anywhere from 6-16 eggs. A majority of the eggs will be infertile, likely to increase the odds of the clutch surviving in case of an egg-eater's feast.
The females will generally dig a hole in the ground, and cover the eggs with dirt or sand - or in the case of the White, a very, very deep hole. She will frequently stand guard over her nest, but will continue her daily activities, such as hunting. They aren't the most well-protected nests from predators.