[Although the grandaddy of all fearsome critter books is Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, it contains a number of desert and chaparral creatures as well, gleaned from tall tales told by cowboys, 49ers and other pioneers of the West. This is one of those critters.]
Roperite
This bizarre creature looks to be equal parts lizard,
roadrunner and jackrabbit. Its lower jaw is a wickedly sharp beak, but its
upper jaw is extended into a leathery loop.
Roperites are strange avian
predators native to the dry, scrubby hills and plains known as chaparral.
Vicious and aggressive, they consider anything that crosses their path to be
potential prey. Roperites are so named due to the strange sinewy lasso that
dangles from their skull. When not in use, the roperite’s lasso coils inside of
the creature’s sinuses; the launching mechanism is little more than a
controlled sneeze. Prey grabbed by a roperite is rapidly yanked to the ground
and torn to pieces with its beak and sharp claws.
Roperites live in loose
flocks that merge and split depending on the season and the availability of
resources. A lone roperite will rarely tackle prey larger than a jackrabbit, but
a large flock of roperites will gladly pursue horses and bison. Within a flock,
the largest and oldest member is generally dominant, but such dominance extends
to little beyond determining the direction the group will travel. Roperites are
monogamous and the bond between mates will last until one of the pair dies.
Roperites lay eggs and have broods of three to six chicks at a time—the
aggressive chicks usually reduce that number by about half within a week of
hatching. A roperite stands about five feet tall and weighs eighty pounds.
Shores of Swords 