The World of Pern - 2. Fire Lizards

Fire Lizards

Both fire lizards and dragons come in five colours; gold, bronze, brown, blue and green. They have a hierarchical society structure, with the golden queens at the top. The greens and golds are female, the others male. In fire lizards, green and golds both lay eggs, although green clutches are less likely to survive long enough to hatch as the greens tend their nests less diligently, making the eggs vulnerable to predators.
In the wild, fire lizards live in 'fairs' - social groups who support each other, share food and work together to keep away predators. They prefer a warm climate, close to the sea.
They are curious creatures and soon become fascinated by the humans who have arrived on their planet. When a woman is giving birth they will gather around the house and croon a greeting in much the same way as when their own young hatch.
Fire lizards and dragons are both carnivores, although the shore-dwelling fire lizards are just as likely to hunt and eat fish as other small creatures. Dragons have also been known to enjoy fish, although it would take an awful lot of them to satisfy the appetite of a mature dragon.

Teleporting
The first human colonists on Pern notice that fire lizards sometimes just disappear, especially if they are startled in some way. Observation proves that they have the innate ability to teleport almost instantaneously from one place to another. This must have proved very useful for the survival of the species given the regular incursion of flesh-eating Thread.

Fire-breathing
Fire lizards can chew and digest a phosphine-bearing rock found on Pern. This produces a gas which ignites on contact with air and further serves to reinforce the similarities between these creatures and the dragons of Earth's mythology.

Communication
Fire lizards are vocal, but they also communicate by means of telepathy and can share images with each other and with humans. In this way they can share information such as where to find food or where danger lurks.

Mating and clutching
When a gold or a green fire lizard rises to mate, she is chased by the bronze, brown and blue males. Generally, the gold lizards are caught by bronzes as they are larger and have sufficient stamina to carry on chasing until the gold decides who she will let catch her. It's an evolutionary strategy to ensure the fittest, strongest male gets to pass on his genes to the next generation. Green mating flights are generally shorter, giving the smaller males a chance to catch a female.
In a gold clutch, the eggs produce hatchlings of all five colours. Green clutches produce only brown, blue or green hatchlings.
Fire lizards send out feelings of lust when they rise to mate. If a human has bonded with a fire lizard, these widely broadcast emotions affect the human in predictable ways during a mating flight. If both you and your human partner have fire lizards this can make for a very pleasurable experience and is is one of the bonuses of being friends with a fire lizard!

Hatching
The eggs must be kept warm and as fire lizards generally dwell near the shore in the warm climate of the southern continent, a sandy place such as a beach is ideal. The female tends her eggs and keeps away predators (golds more so than greens). When the eggs are ready to hatch, fire lizards from the same fair bring food and place it near to where the hatchlings will emerge. As the eggs start to crack, they croon a greeting to the emerging young. When fire lizards hatch they are starving and eat voraciously until stuffed, at which point they fall asleep (much like humans following a large dinner).
If a human feeds a young fire lizard on hatching, it will bond with that person and remain close to them. They are still wild creatures, though, and stay through choice rather than need. If a person is unkind to a fire lizard, it will leave and return to the wild. A person may bond with several fire lizards of different colours and genders. They don't seem to mind this.

Human/fire lizard interaction and history
The first colonists soon observe fire lizards in the wild. Sean Connell and Sorka Hanrahan (who will be among the first dragonriders) discover that feeding them at hatching means they will stay with a human rather than become part of a wild fair. Soon, many of the human colonists befriend fire lizards and they become a common sight around Landing.
Fire lizards save several human lives when the first Thread falls. They are aware of the danger and try to chase humans indoors, or into caves and pools where they will be safe from Thread. They are also seen flaming Thread in mid-air, from where comes the idea of creating a larger, improved version - dragons.
Fire lizards do not take well to living in the colder northern regions. Within a few generations after the move north, very few people have fire lizards any more. After several hundred Turns, they are regarded as little more than fanciful legends, conjured up by people who would like a miniature dragon of their own. They are spotted occasionally on beaches in the warmer parts of the northern continents, but due to their ability to go between, they are rarely visible for very long. adding to their mythical status. It is many thousand Turns later, during the Ninth Pass of the Red Star, that humans begin to reacquaint themselves with these little creatures.