Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Ranging from southern Canada all the way down to Argentina, rattlesnakes are a large group of pit vipers famous and feared for their venom and their rattling tails. Despite their negative reputation, they are in truth important predators of rodents, helping to balance ecosystems and prevent crop damage.
For my next October review I will be giving a brief overview of the entire 3D Dangerous Sea Creatures Pictorial Book collection by The Access (also known as Access Toys), which was released just a couple months ago this past August 2023. I was originally going to just review the jellyfish, but was convinced to review the whole set by forum member JimoAi.
Review and images by Kikimalou; edited by bmathison1972
After Schleich and Safari Ltd. in 2022, Mojö Fun is also offering its version of the famous green anaconda, Eunectes murinus, new for 2023. Until now, my collection has lacked a serious representative of the species. Initially tempted by the Safari Ltd., I finally fell for the Mojö version.
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) of Southeast Asia is actually not a ‘true’ cobra in the genus Naja, but it most definitely lives up to the first part of its name. It’s one of the more deadly venomous snakes, fully capable of killing animals up to the size of Asian elephants with a single bite.
I’m a little late to the Hallowe’en party this year…but better late than never. And in that spirit, here’s a set of animals that, if you mess with them, ‘late’ could be your proper adjective. Animals that as a group tend to create a visceral if generally unnecessary fear and loathing, even though most are harmless.
The Sahara Desert covers about 25% of the African continent and is the largest hot desert in the world, with an area of 3,600,000 square miles (9,200,000 km). This immense ecosystem is made up of sand dunes, some of which are 500’ tall, stone plateaus, sand seas, gravel plains, dry valleys, and sand flats.
The green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) is the heaviest species of snake in the world, and one of the longest. It is also one of the most familiar and feared species of snake. In capturing the human imagination the anaconda has become the subject of pulpy adventure novels, and B grade monster movies that have perpetuated many tall tales about its maximum size and potential man-eating abilities.
The ruby-eyed green pit viper (Craspedocephalus rubeus) is a venomous species of snake from Cambodia and Vietnam that was described in 2011. Not much is known about the species. It lives in seasonal tropical forests near fast flowing streams and appears to be nocturnal. The genus Craspedocephalus contains 15 species, and they tend to be small, arboreal, and feed on small rodents, birds, lizards, and amphibians. Today we’re looking at the ruby-eyed green pit viper, part of Yowie’s Animals with Superpowers set released in 2021.
Continuing onwards with our look at creepy creatures all through October, I present to you… a snake. Snakes as a group are among the most feared and misunderstood creatures on the planet, two adjectives that often go hand-in-hand. As such, snakes are synonymous with Halloween and an obvious choice for review during spooky season.
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
While the suborder Serpentes counts approx. known 3600 species, the everyday person would probably only be able to name four or five, and the cobra would be a sure contender amongst these. This popularity stems from the potency of its venom as well as from its quite unique defense behaviour.
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
Amongst the suborder of Serpentes (Snakes) with their quite uniform body plan, rattlesnakes make a somewhat exotic difference. Few species of snakes have keeled or largely overlapping scales which give the rattlesnakes’ skin a rather coarse appearance, some species even have small horns above their eyes, and all have small ridges above their eyes which bestows them the sinister look of all vipers.
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
Colorata is a Japanese company that has been around for several decades. The internet and global market made their models available to the world outside Asia and the quality of their products made them desirable collector items. A lot of Colorata’s figures have been released as parts of a box, set, of which there are quite a lot to choose from, “fossil fish”, birds of prey, sharks, dinosaurs, cats and a lot more.
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
Glaring sun scorches the land as a venomous death silently slides towards its den beneath the sparse shade of the burned grass. Suddenly night falls and accompanied by a hot but soft wind, eight fiercely piercing blades start to cut all life from its automatically wildly curling body.
Where plastic toys often fail in species diversity plush toys seem to shockingly excel. The Wild Republic line of plush animals is a major player in the plush animal game and responsible for much of this diversity. Although I don’t collect plush animals I do have a young daughter, as well as an eye for quality toys, so our house has a lot of these plush animals sitting around, including the 54” (137 cm) blue rock rattlesnake (Crotalus lepidus) we’ll be looking at today.
Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Those are the names of the Great Lakes of North America that boarder the central/east United States and Canada. In total area they represent the largest freshwater lakes on Earth, holding roughly 20% of the world’s surface freshwater and 9/10ths of the water supply for the United States.
