Sadly, the Velociraptor's claim to pop-culture fame in "Jurassic Park" is based on a lie. The special-effects wizards have long since confessed that they modeled their Velociraptor after the much bigger (and much more dangerous-looking) raptor Deinonychus antirrhopus, whose name isn't quite as catchy or as easy to pronounce and who lived about 30 million years before its more famous relative. "Jurassic World" had the chance to set the record straight, but it stuck with the big Velociraptor fib. If life were fair, Deinonychus would be a much better-known dinosaur than the Velociraptor, but that's the way the "Jurassic" amber crumbles.
Extrapolating from the smaller, more primitive, feathered raptors that predated it by millions of years, paleontologists believe Velociraptors sported feathers, too, due to having quill knobs, just like today's birds, on their bones where feathers would have attached. Artists have depicted this dinosaur as possessing everything from pale, colorless, chicken-like tufts to green plumage worthy of a South American parrot. Whatever the case, Velociraptor almost certainly wasn't lizard-skinned, as it's portrayed in the "Jurassic" movies (assuming Velociraptors needed to sneak up on their prey, we're on safer ground assuming that they weren't too brightly feathered).
For a dinosaur that's often mentioned in the same breath as T-Rex, Velociraptor was remarkably puny. This meat-eater weighed only approximately 30 pounds soaking wet (about the same as a normal-sized human toddler) and was just two feet tall and six feet long. It would take six or seven adult Velociraptors to equal one average-sized Deinonychus, 500 to match a full-grown Tyrannosaurus rex, and 5,000 or so to equal the weight of one good-sized titanosaur —but who's counting? Certainly not the people who script Hollywood movies. There's No Evidence That Velociraptors Hunted in Packs.
Given its red-carpet treatment in Hollywood, you might expect Velociraptors to have been as American as apple pie. But, these dinosaurs lived in what is now modern-day Mongolia, about 70 million years ago.
Although its sharp teeth and clutching hands were certainly unpleasant, the go-to weapons in Velociraptor's arsenal were the single, curved, 3-inch-long claws on each of its hind feet, which it used to slash, jab, and disembowel prey. Paleontologists surmise that a Velociraptor stabbed its prey in the gut in sudden, surprise attacks, then withdrew to a safe distance as its victim bled to death (a strategy emulated millions of years later by the saber-toothed tiger, which leaped on its prey from the low branches of trees).
We make no representations as to the accuracy of the figures attached to the Geocache. Obviously dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years and the descriptions included are based upon research of paleontologists and other scientists much more learned than El Fartero & La Vaca Verde.
"Walking with Dinosaurs" is a Reptilia-themed power trail consisting of 25 traditonal microcaches hosting their featured dinosaur, and 2 large, well-stocked ammocans you'll have to answer some questions to find. It extends for a total of 4 miles north from Hubbel Corners toward Grand Gorge on the lovely, but lesser known Southern portion of the Stamford Rail Trail. The trail is mostly flat, wide and level, and other than a few sections that can get watery, it is dog, stroller and bike friendly. Most of the caches are winter-friendly, but a few are not, so check the attributes if there's deep snow. We recommend doing it over two days for a more enjoyable, leisurly experience, but more ambitious cachers (or First-to-Find maniacs!) can start early and do it in one. We have tried to provide good coordinates and helpful hints to give you a rewarding caching experience.
Parking is available at the South end of the trail at N42 18.165 W74 33.256, or at the North end at N42 21.238 W74 31.250