Monday, March 28, 2011

Creature Mondays

Credit for picture
Today's creature is the Manticore.

The Manticore is a hybrid creature whose name means "man-slayer." The beast comes from Ethiopia. It has the body of a lion, the face and ears of a man, a ferocious mouth with triple rows of teeth, and a tail that ends with poisonous spines. Definitely not a creature that sounds timid, although it sounds lyrical - its call sounds like a trumpet and a flute.

The Manticore is a fierce hunter and kills its prey by shooting quills from its tail. I'm surprised it doesn't use all of its teeth more often. *shudders*

Today, the Manticore is rumored to roam the jungles of Indonesia. There, the Manticore sometimes kills its prey with a bite or a scratch and likes to eat its victims, bones and all.

A particularly nasty creature, I think the Manticore would be a fearsome beast for an fantasy hero to face!

Be sure to check out my blog posts the rest of the week - I'm going to be sharing information and notes from The Write Stuff conference this past weekend. Also, be sure to check out my post from yesterday!

6 comments:

Cherie Reich said...

Very cool mythological beast. It makes me want to play Age of Mythology. :)

Golden Eagle said...

I didn't know it originated in Ethiopia--interesting! I definitely wouldn't want to meet up with one, though. :P

Theresa Milstein said...

I remember a Manticore in the Percy Jackson series. Now I know what it looks like.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Very terrifying beast. I love these educational moments. I'm wondering how the hero of my fantasy series would fare against this fell beast.

Janice Seagraves said...

Interesting. I no idea of it's origin.

Janice~

Colene Murphy said...

Ew! Very ferocious! Love it!