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The prehistoric beasts that will rampage through Mellon Arena might send youngsters scurrying under seats.

"Use your best judgment," Rob Goodman, assistant general manager and director of marketing for Mellon Arena, tells parents.

"It really depends if your kids are going to be startled by loud noises. We have kids that cry during the Wiggles and Sesame Street."

Tickets go on sale Saturday for "Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience." It is scheduled for eight shows Dec. 3-7.

The dinosaurs walk, blink, chew and flick their tails in life-like fashion as a narrator takes the audience through their reign, decline and extinction. Utahraptors stalk prey. A 42-foot T-Rex charges loudly onto the arena floor when it senses its baby is threatened.

The show, based on the BBC series of the same name, was created in Australia at a cost of $20 million.

The 10 animatronic dinosaurs include a 31-foot, saw-backed Stegosaurus, a 43-foot-long Allosaurus and a long-necked Brachiosaurus, an herbivore that stands 36 feet tall and 56 feet long. At one point in the show, this beast nuzzles audience members in the lower seats. Five smaller creatures are operated by actors in dino-suits.

"My favorite part of the story was when the people get to see them and pet them," said Kharissa Kightlinger, 6, of Homestead, part of a group from Ascension School in Munhall who watched a video of the show Wednesday, sponsored by Tickets for Kids Charities in Aspinwall.

"That was scary," said Tristan Keener, 5. "Really neat scary."

Each of the 10 large dinosaurs is operated by a driver at the base and a team of computer puppeteers, who manipulate the movements from a suspended booth. They use a "voodoo rig," which uses radio waves to transmit computer instructions to the dino-bots. The beasts' Lycra skin is stippled with paint to make it resemble reptilian hide. Clumps of material underneath the Lycra move like muscles.

Matt Lamanna, assistant curator for vertebrate paleontology at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland, said he hoped the show would inspire audiences to see the Carnegie's own exhibit, "Dinosaurs in Their Time."

"I was actually impressed with the scientific accuracy," he said. "What these guys have done is consistent with what we know from the fossils."

Tickets are $20.50-$78.75 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. Seating capacity for each show is limited to 6,500 seats. Tickets are available at Giant Eagle, the Mellon Arena Box Office and www.ticketmaster.com. Details: 412-323-1919.

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