A. J. Sautter - A Field Guide to Griffins, Unicorns, and Other Mythical Beasts

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I ts a magical and dangerous world out there. At least, thats what many ancient peoplebelieved. In many and legends, adventurers who explored the wild never knewwhat they would find. Heroes sometimes met powerful, yet friendly beasts such asgriffins or phoenixes. But they were more likely to encounter deadly monsters suchas minotaurs or chimeras. For many ancient people, fantastic creatures in storieswere as real to them as eagles, lions, or whales are to us today.

Modern people know that mythical creatures like unicorns, harpies, and sea serpentslive only in the imagination. Stories about these creatures have been around forthousands of years. And today they are as popular as ever. They keep popping up inmodern books, movies, roleplaying games, video games, and more. Why is this? Maybeits because these incredible beasts offer a sense of adventure that people rarelyexperience in real life.

Lets imagine for a while that mythical beasts are real and alive in the world today.If you wanted to find them, would you know where to look? How do these creatureslive? What do they eat, and how do they behave? Get ready for a fantastic adventureas we look at amazing mythical creatures and how theyd live if they were real.

myth a story from ancient times; myths often tried to explain natural events

Size:
7 to 7.5 feet (2.1 to 2.3 meters) long; wingspan up to 20 feet (6 m)

Habitat:
dry caves in grassy hills or mountain regions

Diet:
rabbits, sheep, deer, wild horses, camels, buffalo

Life Cycle: Female griffins lay one or two large eggs every two years. The eggs hatchin about four months. Mothers feed and care for their young for about one year. Atthis point most young griffins are ready to begin flying and hunting for themselves.When griffins reach adulthood at about age 5, they set out to find and matesof their own. Griffins usually live for about 35 years, but a few have lived up toage 50.

Physical Features: Griffins are a combination of features from two fierce hunters.Their upper bodies have the heads, wings, and razor-sharp of large birds ofprey. Their lower bodies feature the powerful legs, claws, and tails of lions. Agriffins muscular body is usually covered with a mix of golden hair and feathers.Griffins can fly up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour with their strong wings.They also have incredible eyesight and can spot a rabbit moving up to 3 miles (5km) away.

Behavior: Griffins usually live alone and spend much of their time hunting for food.Although they dont speak, griffins show some intelligence. They can track prey overlong distances. Occasionally they hunt in small packs to trap and kill large prey.Some griffins are friendly toward people. They may offer help when people are inneed.