Knucker

A Knucker who recently caught a fish

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Family: Draconidae

Genus: Draco

Species: D. troglodytes

The **Knucker** *(Draco troglodytes)* is a type of water dragon found on various Earth planets (Such as Earth 13). It is native of Europe, with larger populations located in England, mostly in the Sussex wetlands. It is classified as least concern by the GUCN, due to its wide distribution and large population throughout Europe.

Knuckers from various parts of its range vary greatly in size. The body is slender and elongated, and the legs are relatively short. The colour varies geographically, as does the scale type and length of tail. Their coloration is brown, dull red or greenish blue. One subspecie is recognized.

Small mammals form the largest part of the Knucker's diet, but it also kills and eats deers, juvenile humans, and occasionally fish and livestock. Males mark their territories with olfactory signals and have exclusive home ranges which may intersect with or include several female ranges. Knuckers dig holes under tree roots near water beds. Breeding takes place in the spring and summer, and it usually lays six eggs. They are generally small compared to other dragons, and are far less aggressive.

## Description

They have thin, 9 meters long leathery bodies, and can reach an height of 50 cm, but there are some that can reach 3 meters of height. It has four short limbs and a pair of short wings, unusable in flight. It's head is small compared to the rest of the body, with large ears equipped with spikes. Males have fluffy chins. They can be leather brown, deep red, blue or green. The skin is often caked with mud or shiny with slime. In northern Europe, their skin has a lighter coloration.

## Behaviour and ecology

**Reproduction and development**

The Knucker mates in April–July and there is a 34- to 37-day period prior to the laying of the eggs. In Northern Europe, the average clutch size consists of 6 eggs and once hatched they reach sexual maturity in 3 to 4 years. Males may mate during their first decade of life, though this is usually unsuccessful. They are fecund in February–October, though the early stages of spermatogenesis do occur throughout the winter months.

Their eggs are various shades of green to camouflage them from predators in the wet, damp environments. The female often covers them in mud to hide them. Nests are often covered in rotting vegetation. The hatchlings move immediatelly to the water after being born. There, they eat snails and other small, slow moving animals. They don't abandon the water until they are 2,5 years old. There is a single clutch each decade and Knuckers can live for 120 years.

**Territorial and social behaviours**

The Knucker has exclusive male ranges encompassing multiple female ranges. The population density of each territory depends greatly on food supply and reproductive success, thus the social structure and population density of any given territory is unstable and flexible. The male Knucker extends its range during spring or during food shortages. It uses faeces, urine and anal and dermal gland secretions, the latter two of which are deposited by anal dragging and body rubbing. It also sharpen its claws on bits of stone (especially flint) and bricks on the edge of its nest, and anything hard and in texture like stone are also other points to include as well. It digs dens near water and under the roots of trees. The burrow entrance measures about 90 cm across and leads to the nest chamber located up to 54 m below ground. The nest chamber (which is used for sleeping) measures 36 m in diameter.

      Its calls are gurgling-like, resembling running water. During mating season, they resemble yelping foxes.

**Diet**

The Knucker feeds predominantly on lagomorph-like rodents, including rabbits and hares. It usually does not attack larger mammals. Fish are rarely eaten. It can deal with goats and sheeps, but usually cannot overcome boars. Exceptional cases are known of Knuckers killing large prey, such as deer. In England, a favoured prey item is the European Otter (*Lutra lutra*). These have fluctuations in population size, and in years of abundance may form up to 54% of the Knucker's diet. In years of scarcity, livestock forms a greater proportion of the diet and female Knuckers may fail to breed.

Despite its size, it has an hard time dealing with large prey. Although they are commonly taken, the deer are usually young specimens, and become an important food source during the spring, when fawns are plentiful. Male Knuckers take a higher proportion of deer than females, as well as an overall greater variety of prey. This is linked to the fact that being larger, and having vaster territorial ranges than females, males have more opportunities to hunt a greater diversity of prey.

The Knuckers forages undercover, to avoid being seen by larger dragons. It is adapted for ambushing its prey near the water. The Knucker kills small prey, such as rabbits, with a powerful venom secerned from a sac under its throat, similar in power to the one of the Mediterranean recluse spider (*Loxosceles rufescens*). Large prey are killed by a combination of constriction and venom.

**Predators and competitors**

The Knucker is small enough to be preyed upon by a range of other predators. Knucker remains have been found in the excrement of European and Ice Dragons and Hydras, although the latter usually hunts juveniles. Aside from its smaller size, the Knucker is more vulnerable to predation than the Gargouille because it cannot camouflage as well.

In areas where the Knucker is sympatric with the Gargouille, the two species compete with each other for small mammal prey. The Knucker manages to avoid too much competition by living in river areas, feeding on smaller prey and being capable of entering smaller holes. It actively avoids encounters with Gargouilles, though female Knuckers are less likely to stop foraging in the presence of Gargouilles, perhaps because their smaller size allows them to quickly escape into holes.

## Distribution and habitat

The Knucker inhabits most of Europe, where it occurs mainly in places where the Gargouills is not found. It is found throughout Europe (but not Northern Scandinavia) and on many islands, including Great Britain, and all major Mediterranean islands.

It can be found in damp, wet environments where there is moisture.

## In folklore and mythology

The most famous Knucker lived, according to legend, at Lyminster. The Knucker apparently caused a lot of trouble, consuming local livestock and even villagers, and so it was decided to slay the monster. A number of different legends recount how this was done.

One version has the dragon slain by a knight-errant after the king of Sussex offered his daughter's hand in marriage to whoever rid them of the beast. Legend says that after marrying the princess, the knight settled in Lyminster and his gravestone, the Slayer's Slab, can be seen in Lyminster church.

An alternative legend has the dragon outwitted by a local farmer's boy, called Jim Pulk or Jim Puttock, said in some versions to be from Wick, after the Mayor of Arundel offered a reward. He killed the dragon by cooking it a giant poisoned pie, which he took to the knuckerhole on a horse and cart. The dragon ate up pie, horse and cart. When it had expired the boy returned and cut off its head. In some versions he then dies himself, probably of the same poison he used on the dragon, though this is possibly a later addition designed to explain the Slayer's Slab.

## References

https://dragonology.fandom.com/wiki/Knucker