OWEN GRADY

- @raptortastic

──── 🦋 ────

“Old man?…”

“Owen… Contrary to what you might think, I quite like microraptors… Though, the-, the extinct ones. Their history and impact on the palaeontology world is… Very fascinating.”

And come on, they’re about as big as a Great Dane—and other modern sized dogs. Probably smaller.

And no, Deinonychus is NOT a hybrid! Those were…not suppose to be made. Those were animals whose dna was twisted and mutilated in a lab to suit the purpose of profit. Your degree is based on why that’s a bad idea. Need I explain more?

"Ahhh, they're- they're all hybrids. Not exactly the same animals who had their shot at life, Owen... My PhD is what gives me full confidence that... That none of them should be here. And for the record, I was among the first to transition to using computers..."

And really? I figured that would take a lot more convincing. Or is it just an excuse to see Alan?

You’d probably like raptors a lot more than you’d think. They’re pretty smart.

[ He went from being visibly irritable to a warmer, relaxed demeanour. No matter who, hearing someone say they’ll never be good at math, or that they’re not cut out for it. It burned up the teacher inside him. ]

“Practice makes perfect, no one is incapable of learning and applying such a science.”

[ He pulled out a business card, flipping it over and scribbling an address onto it. ]

- @raptortastic

──── 🦋 ────

“Old man?…”

“Owen… Contrary to what you might think, I quite like microraptors… Though, the-, the extinct ones. Their history and impact on the palaeontology world is… Very fascinating.”

And come on, they’re about as big as a Great Dane—and other modern sized dogs. Probably smaller.

And no, Deinonychus is NOT a hybrid! Those were…not suppose to be made. Those were animals whose dna was twisted and mutilated in a lab to suit the purpose of profit. Your degree is based on why that’s a bad idea. Need I explain more?

"Ahhh, they're- they're all hybrids. Not exactly the same animals who had their shot at life, Owen... My PhD is what gives me full confidence that... That none of them should be here. And for the record, I was among the first to transition to using computers..."

And really? I figured that would take a lot more convincing. Or is it just an excuse to see Alan?

You’d probably like raptors a lot more than you’d think. They’re pretty smart.

- @raptortastic

──── 🦋 ────

“Old man?…”

“Owen… Contrary to what you might think, I quite like microraptors… Though, the-, the extinct ones. Their history and impact on the palaeontology world is… Very fascinating.”

And come on, they’re about as big as a Great Dane—and other modern sized dogs. Probably smaller.

And no, Deinonychus is NOT a hybrid! Those were…not suppose to be made. Those were animals whose dna was twisted and mutilated in a lab to suit the purpose of profit. Your degree is based on why that’s a bad idea. Need I explain more?

"Ahhh, they're- they're all hybrids. Not exactly the same animals who had their shot at life, Owen... My PhD is what gives me full confidence that... That none of them should be here. And for the record, I was among the first to transition to using computers..."

And really? I figured that would take a lot more convincing. Or is it just an excuse to see Alan?

You’d probably like raptors a lot more than you’d think. They’re pretty smart.

I've had a hypothesis about their communication skills for a couple of decades now, especially after an, um.... Experience, of my own, back then. But I still don't believe they can be "trained" in the same way as a dog or a horse. Way more intelligent. I'm sure you can agree.

We have much to talk about, Mr. Grady.

- @fossil-frontiersman

Dr. Grant, you’re that Utahraptor guy—aren’t you? It’ll be nice to talk to someone who specializes in raptors for once.

I have to agree, at least somewhat. It’s a fair assessment to say raptors aren’t like any other domesticated animal. Their superior intelligence allows them to learn way beyond them. For their benefit, usually.

I am mostly wondering about their vocal capabilities, their language. How many different calls did they make? Did they make combination calls?

How about....

Mimicry?

I'm also curious of their behavior as juveniles, you interacted with them since the moment they hatched, for proper imprinting, correct? As they grew older, how did you manage to keep their respect in the hierarchy and remain at the top? I believe they were still on the younger side of adulthood so I can't help but wonder if they would've eventually overpowered you once fully grown. From what I've seen of most free-roaming raptors, they are constantly looking for a reason to gain power over each other, always squabbling. From the footage I've seen, yours definitely didn't snap at each other nearly as often, very fascinating...

They were pretty vocal at all the stages of life that I knew them, honestly. Most often their vocalizations were in the pursuit of obtaining food—especially when younger, similar to how baby birds might chirp to signal they were hungry. It wasn’t always for food though. Blue and Charlie tended to vocalize a lot more in general. Many reasons…sometimes in a response to something happening around them or me just being there. There was once that Blue even signaled an injury to me when she was around nine or so months old. Relentless chirping and thudding her tail on metal.

Charlie at one point had learned how to mimic birds overhead pretty well, and she had been starting to make some sounds that were a lot like music that one of the facilities management people kept playing when working.

Delta and Echo were far less vocal, but I’ve always figured that was more a matter of personality than anything. For animals in a hierarchy they were pretty unique on an individual to individual basis.

As far as trying to overcome me, it’s hard to say. I’d like to think they liked me enough to not do that, but given that’s not how packs work, it’s more reasonable to think it was because they knew I was their shot at getting food.

Above me, Blue was always sort of the second hand if that makes any sense. Definitely above all of her sisters, yet she never really enforced that idea too much. There was always occasional fights here and there, but otherwise they were pretty bonded. Almost synchronized…like a pack of wolves or a pride of lions. Not what we see in any of their modern day raptor relatives.

I feel there must be something we are missing in the way they are raised. As we know, the first InGen "velociraptors" were practically blank slates. No adults to learn from and their human caretakers handled just their basic needs. They turned out to be very vicious animals, surviving by the law of "kill or be killed", they didn't know how to raise their own young once they began breeding on their own and often ate the hatchlings.

On Site B, I witnessed something much different. These raptors managed to work things through, cooperate, and they were successfully raising young. Still snappy towards each other but much more coordinated. However, sometimes, at least some individuals were easily distracted by drama with other raptors. I wasn't there for very long, not nearly enough time to truly study their social behaviors. They did seem to have a pack structure similar to wolves, the breeding pair being the highest rank and the most experienced. But what I did witness was definitely noteworthy. Many different calls that all seemed to have different meanings. They seemed to have conversations with one another... One that particularly sticks out to me all these years later, the call for help...

I haven’t had the chance to read much up on the original raptors of Hammond’s shit show but to hear that isn’t surprising. Raptors, even the ones we have nowadays—like Seriema and Falcons, always rely heavily on their parents during their early years. Given they’re the closest living relatives, it would make sense not having a parent was…impactful. Could have been the reason they were so aggressive. Honestly, that could have been why all the species they had there were like that. Having a park with animals not used to humans was a stupid idea.

In comparison to my raptors, I don’t believe the Idominous had much handling or care by anyone at all…just the basic necessities were handled, and that was that. Otherwise it was completely kept from the world, brewing aggression. Fear. Then again it was kept a secret from everyone so it’s just a speculation of mine if anything. Don’t know much about her.

Given raptors are much smaller compared to many theropods yet so skilled in their hunting abilities, even on an individual level, I’ve always believed they would have preferred living in social groups given how successful their abilities are when paired with each other. I actually studied it a couple of times. Had Blue track her own food and then had her do it with her pack. It took her around five times as long compared to the 6 or so minutes it took her group.

I really wish I could have had some more time or paid more attention to their vocalizations, but from what I do remember there were for sure distinct ones. One to alert the presence of food, one as a vocalization to ‘correct’ the other when they overstepped, like how a dog might growl at another…even one that was specialized to get my attention. It started as Blue mimicking a word I had said, I believe, though it sounded hardly like what I had said. Echo would sometimes make a small grumbling noise whenever she inspected something, which usually got Charlie’s attention specifically. Of the sisters they were probably the closest pair…so i

- @raptortastic

──── 🦋 ────

“Old man?…”

“Owen… Contrary to what you might think, I quite like microraptors… Though, the-, the extinct ones. Their history and impact on the palaeontology world is… Very fascinating.”

And come on, they’re about as big as a Great Dane—and other modern sized dogs. Probably smaller.

And no, Deinonychus is NOT a hybrid! Those were…not suppose to be made. Those were animals whose dna was twisted and mutilated in a lab to suit the purpose of profit. Your degree is based on why that’s a bad idea. Need I explain more?

"Ahhh, they're- they're all hybrids. Not exactly the same animals who had their shot at life, Owen... My PhD is what gives me full confidence that... That none of them should be here. And for the record, I was among the first to transition to using computers..."

And really? I figured that would take a lot more convincing. Or is it just an excuse to see Alan?

You’d probably like raptors a lot more than you’d think. They’re pretty smart.

I've had a hypothesis about their communication skills for a couple of decades now, especially after an, um.... Experience, of my own, back then. But I still don't believe they can be "trained" in the same way as a dog or a horse. Way more intelligent. I'm sure you can agree.

We have much to talk about, Mr. Grady.

- @fossil-frontiersman

Dr. Grant, you’re that Utahraptor guy—aren’t you? It’ll be nice to talk to someone who specializes in raptors for once.

I have to agree, at least somewhat. It’s a fair assessment to say raptors aren’t like any other domesticated animal. Their superior intelligence allows them to learn way beyond them. For their benefit, usually.

I am mostly wondering about their vocal capabilities, their language. How many different calls did they make? Did they make combination calls?

How about....

Mimicry?

I'm also curious of their behavior as juveniles, you interacted with them since the moment they hatched, for proper imprinting, correct? As they grew older, how did you manage to keep their respect in the hierarchy and remain at the top? I believe they were still on the younger side of adulthood so I can't help but wonder if they would've eventually overpowered you once fully grown. From what I've seen of most free-roaming raptors, they are constantly looking for a reason to gain power over each other, always squabbling. From the footage I've seen, yours definitely didn't snap at each other nearly as often, very fascinating...

They were pretty vocal at all the stages of life that I knew them, honestly. Most often their vocalizations were in the pursuit of obtaining food—especially when younger, similar to how baby birds might chirp to signal they were hungry. It wasn’t always for food though. Blue and Charlie tended to vocalize a lot more in general. Many reasons…sometimes in a response to something happening around them or me just being there. There was once that Blue even signaled an injury to me when she was around nine or so months old. Relentless chirping and thudding her tail on metal.

Charlie at one point had learned how to mimic birds overhead pretty well, and she had been starting to make some sounds that were a lot like music that one of the facilities management people kept playing when working.

Delta and Echo were far less vocal, but I’ve always figured that was more a matter of personality than anything. For animals in a hierarchy they were pretty unique on an individual to individual basis.

As far as trying to overcome me, it’s hard to say. I’d like to think they liked me enough to not do that, but given that’s not how packs work, it’s more reasonable to think it was because they knew I was their shot at getting food.

Above me, Blue was always sort of the second hand if that makes any sense. Definitely above all of her sisters, yet she never really enforced that idea too much. There was always occasional fights here and there, but otherwise they were pretty bonded. Almost synchronized…like a pack of wolves or a pride of lions. Not what we see in any of their modern day raptor relatives.

- @raptortastic

──── 🦋 ────

“Old man?…”

“Owen… Contrary to what you might think, I quite like microraptors… Though, the-, the extinct ones. Their history and impact on the palaeontology world is… Very fascinating.”

And come on, they’re about as big as a Great Dane—and other modern sized dogs. Probably smaller.

And no, Deinonychus is NOT a hybrid! Those were…not suppose to be made. Those were animals whose dna was twisted and mutilated in a lab to suit the purpose of profit. Your degree is based on why that’s a bad idea. Need I explain more?

- @raptortastic

──── 🦋 ────

“Old man?…”

“Owen… Contrary to what you might think, I quite like microraptors… Though, the-, the extinct ones. Their history and impact on the palaeontology world is… Very fascinating.”

And come on, they’re about as big as a Great Dane—and other modern sized dogs. Probably smaller.

- @raptortastic

──── 🦋 ────

“Old man?…”

“Owen… Contrary to what you might think, I quite like microraptors… Though, the-, the extinct ones. Their history and impact on the palaeontology world is… Very fascinating.”