Monster-Watch Rule #21: Never come between a man and his monsters! Doing so can have violent repercussions.

Remember those Chinese villagers who believed that dinosaur fossils were dragon bones? The farmers made medicine out of the precious relics before authorities caught on and confiscated 440 pounds of fossils. To stop the peasants’ practice, Beijing passed a law last year that outlaws any “unauthorized” possession of ancient bones.

Well, the villagers are fighting back!

“Armed with only tractors and farm tools, Chinese peasants recently attacked police who had come to seize dinosaur bones the farmers had found,” reports National Geographic. Seven local dinosaur hunters face trial for allegedly organizing a “Dinosaur Protection Squad” to safeguard the village of Shaping from government hands.

This neighborhood watch patrolled the town and rigged firework-alarms to warn villagers of when the police were coming. After a government detail arrived last March to impound any remaining fossils, the seven leaders roused a mini-militia. The peasant formed “a human barricade and even seized some of the police cars,” says National Geographic.

The cops launched a second raid the next week, but villagers turned their plowshares into swords, so to speak, to defend their town. A government website now says that the “Dino Seven” have been apprehended and face three years in prison for obstructing justice.

(Illustration: Monster-Watch staff)