The Curious Compendium 2023: First of the cats!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Gray wolf 1.2!


Hmm... ah! Wolves are often thought to be be prey specialists. While many wolves will eat large prey species (like deer, elk, moose, bison etc.) they can also be great fisherman, "mousers", and enjoy a salad now and then. Wolves along coastal regions like Vancouver, Canada  take advantage of salmon runs just like bears, and wolves around great bodies of water like the Great Lakes in the US regularly eat chub and trout like fish when available. As pups part of how they entertain themselves and learn to hunt is by stalking rodents and other small animals. As adults they continue this to supplement their meals. Lastly wolves regularly eat plant material! Seasonal fruits and veggies, tubers, and grasses all make the menu. They also make a meal of the stomach contents of their prey. Not only will this be partly predigested but it also seeds their gut with the bacteria to help them digest such fibrous foods themselves. All of this makes for a balanced diet!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

My favorite deer, mulies!

Mule deer!

Their mule like ears are 3/4 the length of their head. Their antlers grow upward and outwards with 2 main beams thay tines will grow from (conversely whitetails have antlers that have one beam with tines sprouting up from and the antler turns inwards). The blacktail deer is a subspecies if mule deer.

[bmathison1972]

Sad that this is ALL we have in terms of availability for commercially-available mule deer figures (referring to the one in that back; what is that K&M?). Yuk. I am surprised Safari has never included this species in their NAW line.

I love mule deer! They are essentially backyard animals were I live and I don't think a week goes by I don't encounter them, and I never get sick of seeing them. Of course, I never get sick of seeing wildlife; 9 years in Atlanta and I loved seeing common grey squirrels as much on my last day there as I did my first  .

EDIT: I thought that one in front was a custom of yours but it looks like it's the Big Country figure. They are available online here:
https://bigcountrytoys.com/collections/farm-animals/products/mule-deer?variant=39408506503234

How does it compare size-wise to the CollectA white-tailed deer? Thanks!

EDIT 2: searching more around their site, several wildlife figures are sculpts by other companies (I assume a collaborative effort). Was this mule deer previously made by someone else? If the size is good, I may consider getting it.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

The back one is a Hunter Dan model, I habe a whitetail (atypical rack) but haven't had a chance to add it to the family portraits yet. The smaller one is Big Country, and yes they have some sculpts used by other brands.

Here are some comparisons from when I first got it.




If you would prefer my official blue background photos for better size comparison I can oblige (as the ground is uneven and this size comparison would  have some faults for accuracy).

[bmathison1972]

I think it looks to be an OK size next to 'other' standard deer; do you agree @Saarlooswolfhound

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I would say so. Not the best representative of a mulie, but beggars can't be choosers! I just hope Safari makes one someday. I'd even jump on a WW model!

[bmathison1972]

I ordered one. it's not great but not bad for what little options are out there. Maybe I'll replace it if/when another company makes one...

[Saarlooswolfhound]

That's great Blaine!

Here is my penultimate wolf photo.


As for facts... hmm.... since these are some of my largest models: The largest wolf ever recorded was 175 lbs from Alaska in 1939. The largest recordes in Yellowstone was the collared male 495M at 143lbs. He was the alpha of the Mollie's pack whom regularly hunt bison. At the ripe age of 9 (many only live to be 4 or 5) he was still hunting, and died later that year in 2015. There are rumors of larger wolves caught in ages past but no affirmative records remain.

[BlueKrono]

The one on the left could pass for a Dinocrocuta.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

That is the mutant(?) wolf Ralph from the movie Rampage. But now that you mention it, he could pass as one.

Next are roe deer!



Roe does (thats a fun pair of words) often give birth to twins which she will keep hidden separate for a while after birth; returning to feed each regularly. These does are of further intrigue as they are the only ungulates able to delay implementation of a zygote. This is because the species breeds unusually in early summer. If conditions are not favorable, she will suspend the development of the zygotes until conditions improve ( i.e. spring time vs. winter).

[bmathison1972]

I almost got taken out by a pair of roe deer riding my bike in the Czech Republic. They were running through a field near me and then cut across the road in front of me, coming within feet from me. I was almost roe'd kill! 

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Ha, that's great Blaine! Glad you weren't rail-roe'ded by a deer!  *Ba-dum-tssssss*

At last... we reach the end of my favorite group...



So many more facts that I could share here but alas... I think that my last share will be this. These animals once roamed the entire globe (excepting Antarctica) and were a top predator of any clime they met. They conquered every habitat they chose to live in and contributed to the health and balance of the ecosystems they were a part of. Wolf populations across the globe have been decimated; earliest recorded organized efforts to do so began in roughly 800 AD in Europe and ended as late as in the last 2 decades in some places. In some locales, to this day, they are still killed on site on the rare occassion one is spotted. But recovery efforts have begun. Iconic and large tracts of land and ecosystem such as Yellowstone National Park have successfully reintroduced them. There are hopes to reintroduce them to places in Europe, if they have not done so on their own. Sadly, we have already lost unique types like the Honshū and Hokkaido wolves and countless other types are on the brink; Iberian, Andalucian, Eastern gray, Mexican... Perhaps what we have long persecuted them for, feared them for, we simply can't recognize in ourselves. Here is hoping for a brighter future!

There are still lots to explore with this category... stay tuned!

[bmathison1972]

hahaha! Nice comeback!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I was pretty proud of that one!

Reindeer and caribou!





I just really love these guys! For one, they can see UV light when no other known mammal can! They can travel up to 1,500 miles in their migrations in a year. They also have specialized tendons in their hooves that click when they walk; this is thought to help keep the herd together during blizzards.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I apologize for the delay. The last few days have been crazy busy at work and then playing catch-up at home is always fun. Anyhow, here is an attempt to get back up to speed!

My wolf presentation is over but there are still some canids left! Coyotes!



These guys are often hated on in the States and classified as pests/vermin. I have always found them fascinating! Their litter size  is determined by the environment (abundance of food, competition, nearby danger sources); the largest litter size recorded is 17 pups! Though litters are usually much smaller. They are very intelligent animals and recently have been known to integrate into human urban areas, they are even spotted as using public transit in some places! Lastly, due to heavy hunting along the Eastern range they have come to interbreed with the Eastern gray wolf; creating the coywolf hybrid which has even penetrated such supposedly restricted habitat as Central Park in New York city, New York. There is really nothing that can stop these guys!

I will post another group tomorrow sometime. I have been working on updating some family portraits and will be posting those appropriately as I get to them. They will be updated on TCC website also of course!

[Gwangi]

I love coyotes and also find them fascinating. I have the small Safari coyote, which I reviewed for the blog. The larger Safari coyote is gorgeous! 

[bmathison1972]

I've always enjoyed seeing coyotes in the wild, too, both in Arizona and where I live now in Utah. I am cautious when I see them, but generally they keep away. I was chased by one on my bike in Tucson when I was an undergraduate. I always wonder if it was rabid (not rare in AZ) as they generally don't chase people, especially on bikes.

[EpicRaptorMan]

I have a pack of three coyotes that roam around my neighborhood at night and early morning. They are quick to gobble up cats; good thing there is plenty of strays

[Saarlooswolfhound]

And my other catch up group. North American squirrels and friends!


As you can see I customized 2 Grand Canyon squirrels; the Abert (left, South rim) and Kaibab (right, North rim). These squirrels evolved from a common ancestor and the physical environmental reason for it was the separation of the squirrel populations with the development of the Grand Canyon. They look quite similar but are indeed genetically distinct. This is a prime example of allopatric speciation.

[bmathison1972]

I am lucky to have seen Kaibab squirrels when I visited the North Rim in the late 1990s.