![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Pack dragons
One of the hunting methods I considered for dragons is pack hunting, like lions or wolves. And I love the idea, so I've been trying to figure out how to make it work. (Once again, discussing six-limbed dragons with toothy jaws.)
One major issue is size. Pack hunting lets you take out larger prey - but at the same time, you have to support more dragons in a single territory. So while your food options are increased somewhat, it's not unlimited. Pack dragons would most likely be smaller varieties, maxing out at the size of, say, a cougar. As opposed to the last post, which covers dragons that can range up to the shoulder height of a large draft horse (though substantially longer).
Pack hunting also means you can scope out more area in search of good prey in less time than if you only had one dragon searching. Of course, more efficient means of locating prey wouldn't counteract the need to avoid depleting the prey in the area.
A reason the smaller dragons may develop pack structures is defense against their primary competitors: other dragons. Especially larger dragons. (Land-based predators pose little threat, and most predators are smaller than even my smallest dragons here, which are about the size of a coyote or maybe a bit bigger - definitely longer.)
I imagine dragons are highly territorial, and a small dragon species wouldn't fare well against a larger species one-on-one. However: in packs, you can get behaviors much like crows with a hawk, or blackbirds or sparrows with a crow. A group of smaller, more agile fliers can harass and drive off a larger, more powerful but slower flier.
I haven't spent much thought on the pack hierarchy yet, as I've mostly been thinking about draconic hunting logistics. I think it would be more like a wolf pack than a lion pride, but not exactly like either. One major difference (and I do mean major) is that dragons, being reptilian, lay eggs. Even being warm-blooded reptiles; they still lay eggs. They are not mammals.
The females therefore do not need to be the ones to incubate the eggs, nor do they need to be the ones to feed the hatchlings, thus removing possibly the biggest biological influence on male/female roles. Said roles may - and undoubtedly will - differ between various pack dragon species.
***EDIT***
I copied a brief exchange from twitter with @nathanblevins regarding packs, age, and raising young.
Nathan: Re Dragons: I can see dragons hunting in flights. Assuming dragons live a LONG time, maybe its an age thing. Young-uns pack.
Me: Why would young dragons leave their parents to create packs? (Also I don't think they do live a LONG time. Not these.)
Nathan: Good point. Are dragons nurturing parents or hide eggs and go (like turtles & some snakes)? If the latter, packing could be approrpriate until size & scarcity drive them apart nearer to adulthood.
This is why I like sharing things~ Most of my knowledge/experience is with mammals and a little with birds, so I forget/don't consider a lot of the more interesting angles of dragons being reptilian. Hidden-egg dragons wouldn't develop much in the way of social structures or language, however, due to the lack of upbringing to pass such things along. Which is in itself a fascinating point to consider.
I shall probably write up something about this at some rather later date!
One major issue is size. Pack hunting lets you take out larger prey - but at the same time, you have to support more dragons in a single territory. So while your food options are increased somewhat, it's not unlimited. Pack dragons would most likely be smaller varieties, maxing out at the size of, say, a cougar. As opposed to the last post, which covers dragons that can range up to the shoulder height of a large draft horse (though substantially longer).
Pack hunting also means you can scope out more area in search of good prey in less time than if you only had one dragon searching. Of course, more efficient means of locating prey wouldn't counteract the need to avoid depleting the prey in the area.
A reason the smaller dragons may develop pack structures is defense against their primary competitors: other dragons. Especially larger dragons. (Land-based predators pose little threat, and most predators are smaller than even my smallest dragons here, which are about the size of a coyote or maybe a bit bigger - definitely longer.)
I imagine dragons are highly territorial, and a small dragon species wouldn't fare well against a larger species one-on-one. However: in packs, you can get behaviors much like crows with a hawk, or blackbirds or sparrows with a crow. A group of smaller, more agile fliers can harass and drive off a larger, more powerful but slower flier.
I haven't spent much thought on the pack hierarchy yet, as I've mostly been thinking about draconic hunting logistics. I think it would be more like a wolf pack than a lion pride, but not exactly like either. One major difference (and I do mean major) is that dragons, being reptilian, lay eggs. Even being warm-blooded reptiles; they still lay eggs. They are not mammals.
The females therefore do not need to be the ones to incubate the eggs, nor do they need to be the ones to feed the hatchlings, thus removing possibly the biggest biological influence on male/female roles. Said roles may - and undoubtedly will - differ between various pack dragon species.
***EDIT***
I copied a brief exchange from twitter with @nathanblevins regarding packs, age, and raising young.
Nathan: Re Dragons: I can see dragons hunting in flights. Assuming dragons live a LONG time, maybe its an age thing. Young-uns pack.
Me: Why would young dragons leave their parents to create packs? (Also I don't think they do live a LONG time. Not these.)
Nathan: Good point. Are dragons nurturing parents or hide eggs and go (like turtles & some snakes)? If the latter, packing could be approrpriate until size & scarcity drive them apart nearer to adulthood.
This is why I like sharing things~ Most of my knowledge/experience is with mammals and a little with birds, so I forget/don't consider a lot of the more interesting angles of dragons being reptilian. Hidden-egg dragons wouldn't develop much in the way of social structures or language, however, due to the lack of upbringing to pass such things along. Which is in itself a fascinating point to consider.
I shall probably write up something about this at some rather later date!