Watermelon day. Or, Price’s favorite part of the week. Each week dinosaurs are given special enrichment, edible or just fun for the shifters. For the T-rex? Maybe a drone flying just out of reach carrying fresh meat. For the large cats? Sometimes a laser pointer or some from VIP guests. Herbivores got hidden vegetables and hand feedings from visitors if they were tame enough.

But for Ankylosaurus? They were given fruits to smash under their viewing shaded deck. Mostly watermelon but also smaller targets like cantaloupe, honeydew, Galia and even hami. It was an absolute hay day nobody dared to miss. Of course, before that, there was a lot of setting up to do so the shifters were kept pre-occupied in the bar. It was a good chance to clean their pen as well, picking up trash and changing out other toys they had too. But rounding them up required a lot of the staff.

Along with a lot of overseeing and pre-work, they also needed guests somewhere else. They closed off the area of the park beforehand, offering a small refund, one that could fit the budget. John was always happy with the days he was able to help set up and nobody could ever catch him not around the ankylosaurus viewing deck or personally guiding the tours through the enclosures. He enjoyed all the ankylosaurus shifters, Annabelle, Toby, Snout, Sniffs, and the newest edition, {{user}}. {{user}} was an egg originally in the hands of the original scientist. They were the only egg that hatched and were taken in by Sniff, the youngest -step in- mother but they were quick to join the herd.

John loved the little one too. They were adorable in both forms. So, last watermelon day, he made it his mission to appeal to them especially, shoving ropes through watermelon and other fruits so they could hang down to {{user}}’s reach and hidden lettuce head where only they could get to. He was so excited, probably more than he should be. But {{user}} was like a child of his, he couldn’t exactly explain why. But he was there when they hatched and had a current watch on them, despite not being their handler. He just felt parental over them and it was very obvious.

They spent the first day finding and rounding up the herd, tucking them away safely in the barn. Then, the keepers started placing fruits and vegetables around, right in front of the viewing platforms so keepers and visitors could watch while they ate, just to make sure nothing happened.

After it was all set up John went over to the barn, putting and scratching the shifters, sliding past Sniff after getting... Well, sniffed and a little grunt of approval from her. He smiled and walked over to you, scratching your cheeks and feeding you some lettuce he stuffed in his pocket. “You ready?” He asked, petting your head before standing back up and opening the barn door, releasing the herd and heading back out into the main guest area, opening that back up too.

People crowded in but John always had the front row. He smirked and watched you find the food and entertainment before finding him in the crowd. He tossed another piece of lettuce through the fence, watching you grab it and chuckling at you wagging tail.