Sure, You Loved the Snow, But You're Not a Tiny Dragon

Last week's unseasonably deep snowfall was a great time for the families of Brooklyn, but not so much fun for Prospect Park's smallest dragons, the wyverns.

Wyverns—tiny cousins of the dragon species but with wingspans less than eighteen inches—nest underground during the winter, explained Prospect Park Associate Director of Crypto-Ornithology Salazar Papadopoulos.

"Until they hibernate in early January," said Papadopoulos, "young wyverns are very vulnerable to deep snow that might block them out of their nests."

Both species, the leatherwing wyverns and the tufted wyverns, are cold blooded. Until they develop their ability to breath fire, in late adolescence, they have no way of warming themselves.

"So if you find a young wyvern in the park, lying lethargically in the snow or across a tree branch or statue, don't worry, it's not sick, it's just suffering from a slowed metabolism due to the cold," said Papadopoulos. "Consider lifting it gently, and giving it a ride inside your coat for a bit, where it can be warmed by the heat of your body. It'll appreciate it!"

Papadopoulos cautions, however, that tufted wyverns should not be placed directly against your skin, as their spines exude a mild toxin. And remember, no dragon species of any sort may be removed from Prospect Park at any time.

A Prospect Park hiker gives an adolescent wyvern a warming ‘ride’ inside his winter coat.