The Curious Compendium 2023: Trakehner!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

It is a very nice wombat indeed. Nice to see you here Isidro!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Next is Numbats! Here are my two.


Some fun facts, they eat termites and don't chew them, thus they do not have "proper" teeth (with cusps etc.) only blunt pegs. They also do not have a proper pouch for babies, only skin folds that sort of cover their suckling young (like other dasyurid/carnivorous marsupials).

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Now my group for the platypus, perhaps one of the strangest animals ever! Fun fact, look up some of its extinct ancient relatives... you won't regret it

[bmathison1972]

so many nice choices. I keep thinking to replace my S.R. platypus because it's so small, but at the same time it's nice to keep it since it's retired and hard to find.

[JimoAi]

Now my group for the platypus, perhaps one of the strangest animals ever! Fun fact, look up some of its extinct ancient relatives... you won't regret it

a platypus?


Perry the platypus?!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Thank you both! They are a fun group for sure.

Blaine, even if you decide to replace your SR model I would probably hang onto it for a bit anyway... these figures will likely be irreplaceable soon enough!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Echidna! A super strange animal in more ways than one... I think my favorite "fact" to share here is that they have very odd skeletons! Right up there in weirdness to the manatee skeleton for me!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I missed a group of macropods... Quokkas!


My "fact" for these guys is thay, as cute and cuddly as they often appear, and despite being known as one of the "happiest" animals in the world, quokkas can still bite! It is probably best to just admire them from afar.

[Isidro]

I was unaware of the existence of that "hugging" quokka, what it it? it's cute but a bit weird

[Gwangi]

Your commentary reminds me of the verbal exchange I often had with customers when I worked at a pet store. They would ask "can it bite?" To which I would respond, "if it has a mouth, it can bite."

[bmathison1972]

Your commentary reminds me of the verbal exchange I often had with customers when I worked at a pet store. They would ask "can it bite?" To which I would respond, "if it has a mouth, it can bite."

Bwahahaha

That's like the line from Douglas Adams' Last Chance to See (and I'm paraphrasing here; been a while since I read it):
Q: What happens if you get bit by a deadly snake
A: You die, that's what deadly means

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Ha! Yes, I am THAT person too... just because its cute and cuddly looking does not mean you have any right to smother it. Besides it has a right to defend itself. 

@Isidro, sadly I have no idea of its brand. The seller I got it from in Spain had no idea and the figure itself has no marking. I would assume its pose is inspired by the "selfie" photos you can find online. I personally wouldn't want a hug from one... they have wicked teeth.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Double upload since I missed last night...
Quoll!

Fun fact for a northern quoll, the males often die after the mating season, leaving only females and offspring present in the wild.

and my northern glider and leadbeater's possum.


Fun fact, leadbeater's possum was believed to be extinct for half a century. It was rediscovered in the 1960s!

[Gwangi]

Ha! Yes, I am THAT person too... just because its cute and cuddly looking does not mean you have any right to smother it. Besides it has a right to defend itself. 

@Isidro, sadly I have no idea of its brand. The seller I got it from in Spain had no idea and the figure itself has no marking. I would assume its pose is inspired by the "selfie" photos you can find online. I personally wouldn't want a hug from one... they have wicked teeth.

It's usually the cuddly ones that inflict the worse damage too. Everyone is afraid of the snakes, spiders, and other "creepy crawlers" when it's the hamsters, parrots, and kittens that can really hurt ya.

On the subject of quoll. I've long wanted Safari or CollectA to make one of those. I thought they would be a fantastic addition to a TOOB.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Safari certainly would make a great quoll! And yes, I suppose the "scary" animals don't get a chance to bite as often as the supposedly "cuddly" ones do.

Thank you gwangi!

This is a myriad of marsupials to round out this category for my collection. All marsupial mammals are now complete.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

The very last group, flying placental mammals (aka bats!) from Australia.

Southern bent-wing bat, grey-headed flying fox, Northern freetail bat.



While looking for an interesting fact to share, I found that grey-headed flying foxes have 20 teeth, while Northern freetail bats have 36! I could not find a dental formula for the bent-wing bat, but learned of a virus called the Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) that is a rabies like infection. Given that I just completed a book about rabies, it was an intriguing rabbit hole to fall down.

[Gwangi]

That was a fun journey through Australian mammals! What's next?

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Thank you Gwangi!

I think we will move this adventure a bit northwards.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Now! We move a bit farther north and west... to Asia! And we may as well start with an iconic group... Giant Pandas.





Fun facts... there are lots... I will share that they have vertical pupils like cats or foxes, not round like many other mammals.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Goodness... I realized I should have started this category off with a canine! Here we go to... raccoon dogs! 



Fun fact... I have two! First, they are the only wild canines to hibernate and second, they can include several toxic toad species into their diet (producing copious amounts of saliva to dilute said toxin in their GI tract).