Survivor: The Aptian Riverbank

So, I wouldn't label myself as a Survivor fan, per se. However, I would label myself as a Michael Skupin fan, who is absolutely the most badass bad-ass to ever play on the show. I loved the second season - the Australian outback - to death. I loved how it was actually about wilderness survival, and in many respects the social manipulation and trickery took a backseat to the more day-to-day demands of staying dry and keeping well-fed. That's the sort of Survivor I really liked to watch. The newest season, taking place in the Philippines, would not normally have caught my attention, but Mike has made a return and so I'm watching just for that.

So how does this relate to a Deinonychus RPRing some poor hapless generic psittacosaurid? Well, my favorite Mike scene in the second season was when he managed to run down and kill a wild pig with nothing but a stick and a knife, thereby feeding his whole tribe on a delicious meal of ham and bacon. ~Agahnim commented on the whole scene, and Mike in general, as being kind of reminiscent of a dromaeosaur, and a generic psittacosaurid is a good analogue to a bristly black pig: so you can say that this painting is modeled after that epic run-down of the wild pig on that Australian riverbank. After Mike kills the pig, he's sort of crouching over it (mantling, perhaps) by the river and looking up in a sort of... blinking confusion at why his tribemates are freaking out and going "EWW GROSS!" Lol.

You can watch the lead-up to the pig chase, the kill and aftermath here: [link] The other tribe members' reactions to the whole thing are equal parts amusing and irritating.

So yes, this is accurate paleoart inspired by a scene from a long-ago Survivor episode. BECAUSE I CAN.