The Curious Compendium 2023: First of the cats!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

That's really neat Blaine! I'd like to see them for myself someday.

Ok, I have taken new portraits amd posted the updates in this post and the original in this topic. The website I hope to update with these soon.























































And apparently I never introduced my african lemurs?!? so... they will be added soon.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Arctic foxes!



They have some of the warmest pelts of any mammal; able to endure temperatures of -70 degrees C/-94 degrees F. These coats are 200% more dense in winter than summer! Lastly there are 3 color morphs, white, "blue", and "sandy".

[bmathison1972]

You haven't shown your lemurs yet??? You'd better move it, move it. You'd better move it, move it. You'd better...MOVE IT!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Ha! I will get to it...  

Red squirrels!



These guys can swim! They can't interbreed with grey squirrels. And only 1 out of 6 will meet their first birthday due to predation, starvation, disease, etc.

[bmathison1972]

I don't see the 2011 CollectA model (which I have for my representative of this species). Did you not get it? I consider it probably the best (although the newer Papo one is just as good)

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Technically I do, but it has been repainted into a Kaibab squirrel. 

I think for me, I have a lot of nostalgia for the old Schleich and I really like the Papo model.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

And a bonus... my sadly forgotten ringtailed lemurs!



Every lemur has 13 black and white bands. They use a certain species of millipede that contain toxins to self medicate; to get a "high" and kill intestinal parasites.

[EpicRaptorMan]

Just replaced my Schleich one with Mojo's

[bmathison1972]

Just replaced my Schleich one with Mojo's

Mine is from CollectA.

Love the note about the millipede; that was new to me. Reminds me of the 'giant aquatic Brazilian centipede' from Naked Lunch LOL 

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Back to the normal scheduling... red foxes!



There are 45 recognized subspecies because these are currently the widest spread wild canid! They are found on every continent except South America or Antarctica. They are known as one of the most adaptable mammals as they have invaded cities and urban areas and have been known to utilize man's transit system also.

[bmathison1972]

I used to have two red foxes, the Papo figure for one of the European subspecies and the Safari for North America. Fox taxonomy, like so many other dogs, is challenging, and interpreting subspecies in a 3-inch piece of plastic is an exercise in futility. So, I removed the Papo figure from my collection and only have the Safari NAW figure.

[Gwangi]

My daughter's favorite wild animal! I have a few red foxes that are nightly visitors to my backyard. I also have chickens but in over 5 years I have never lost a chicken to a fox or even had a fox attempt to dig under the chicken yard fence. I do lock them up at night though, of course.

I still need a red fox for my collection and have been leaning towards Papo's.

[Koifish]

My one and only fox is the Schleich (on the far left end, back row), and I quite like him!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Next up are wild boar!



These guys can smell an edible root or tuber up to 10 inches/25 centimeters underground! A family group is called a "sounder". They are native to Africa, Asia, and Europe but have been introduced elsewhere. Because of their short legs and consequent difficulty in deep snow, this is believed to be one of the only reasons this species hasn't become even more invasive in northern climes.

[Gwangi]

I have the Safari figure. What's that one right in front of it?

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Tree House Kids.

[bmathison1972]

Your thread is never a boar     

[Gwangi]

Tree House Kids.

Thanks! It's quite nice.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Nice one Blaine. Gwangi, it is a nice model though somewhat small and hard to find intact (THK has this issue...).

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Ok, now on to my last canid group to present: Channel Island's fox and my gray fox.



The Channel Island fox is one of the smallest canids in the world, but it is the largest native mammal to the island. These guys descended from mainland gray foxes and has been reduced to about 12 inches at the shoulder and usually about 5 lbs. These foxes nearly went extinct due to non-native introductions of ungulates and consequent dispersal of golden eagles; but in 1999 a conservation effort to remove these threats has led to a population rebound. One of few success stories for the canine world.