The Curious Compendium 2023 Tour Finale: Griffons!

What a herd!

I took yesterday off for a holiday, but we are back at it!

Cougars!

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These guys can live in nearly any habitat type North America has to offer. They have been difficult to study due to their cryptic nature; we are now beginning to understand that they are actually much more social than previously thought. They have even been recorded as "priding up"; some females may band together with their cubs. Though we have very little understanding as to why this occurs.

Another great comparison. My feeling is that the perfect cougar model doesn't yet exist. Perhaps I like the most recent Papo best.

Great collection of Cougars,North Americas most ionic cat! and along with the black panther the source of the mystery big cats in the UK and Australia!

Mountain goats! Very pretty family, I have a soft spot for the two Schleichs even if I don't have them any more. I hope that Papo and the PNSO will delight us this year.  

Your mooses are very beautiful too. We only have one in common, the last Schleich bull. Looking at your photo I can see that the Safari Ltd is very attractive too.  

Nice collection of cougars too, my favourite is the old Papo but I also like the Safari Ltd 2023. I suppose it won't be long before it joins your collection.

A lot of cougars in your collection, congratulations.

Thank you everyone. Personally, I think the original Schleich cougar overall is the best for proportions and overall "mood" for this species (its old and outdated in style and detail, I know) and the Safari pictured here for a big muscular northern type male. I think part of the issue is this species has adapted to a huge range of habitats and different populations look different... i.e. to me, the newest Schleich looks like a south american puma, while the Safari shown here is a big heavy winter coated male. The old Papo looks more lanky like a Florida panther, while the new Papo could pass for a few ecotypes (i.e. a juvenile northern male or a female). Anyway, I think that's part of why this species hasn't pleased many collectors.

Anyhow, here is a *bonus* for a group I *forgot* to post with its compatriots...

More lemurs!

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For the coquerel'a sifaka this species holds a dear part of my heart... a childhood tv show called Zoboomafoo had one of these as their main character alongside 2 guys who would teach you all sorts of things about animals. His name was Jovian and he has since passed but he has children and grandchildren still living in captivity today. :)

Ok, down to real facts! I think my favorite two are that they can leap 40 feet between trees!!! (I mean holy cannoli!) And at night the troop might line up on a branch and hug or "spoon" each other to help keep warm at night.

Then I also just got the WAI ringtailed so here is an updated portrait for them.
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I like lemurs :)

A lot of wonderful groups!! I love the cougar group, they are such a uniquely shaped cat with their teeny little heads and giant feet. The ringtail crowd is so fun with all those tails in the air!! Is the tan ringtail model AAA? That's such an interesting color for it to be released in, do you know if that occurs in the wild or if that's just artistic license?

I spent a little bit of time at the Duke Lemur Center with some of Jovian's extended family (he had passed before I was there). I applied for a position there in fact, but ended up going elsewhere, but it's a super neat facility. I had not seen sifaka in person before that, and watching them move in real time for the first time was wild.

Absolutely love that second red ruff lemur from the left, the small one. Who made that one? In the same time frame I worked with red ruff lemurs, they were actually the feature of my big ethogram enrichment study. Their call, which is intended of course for traveling for miles in the jungle, is so incredibly loud and unsettling when you are in a concrete backup space with them.

Thank you everyone!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], ringtails can be a brownish color sometimes (just normal variability in a population). From a quick Google search its not common to be mostly brown though. Here is an example of one with more brown tones than gray. 
This photo is from wikipedia and is not mine! 
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The smaller red ruff is a K&M from their Madagascar tube. Also, thats really quite cool that you got to meet some of Jovian's family!

Bighorns and Dall Sheep!

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Apparently Dall sheep are the northern-most dwelling sheep species!

One of the great things about Safari being one of the major brands is because being a USA brand, they contrast slightly with the "European" brands in terms of species choices. While Schleich and CollectA give us European mouflons, Safari gave us a bighorn and since it is retired for some time now, Safari could give us a Dall's sheep, a new mold, not a repainted bighorn.
I also hope to see a urial, CollectA or Mojö could release it since they are Asian brands despite their UK roots. Mojö could even use the partnership with Anna who already sculpted a beautiful Transcaspian urial and I'm the proud owner of one.

Nice again, but 2 Dall sheeps are repainted, right?

@Andreas: No, the small one on the left is Bullyland, the one on the right is a custom repainted Newray.

Thank you both! Roger, wild sheep and goats are pretty underrepresented unless its an ibex. Even the mouflon I wouldn't say is exactly "common". I love to see more from any big brand!

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

@Andreas: No, the small one on the left is Bullyland, the one on the right is a custom repainted Newray.

Thank you both! Roger, wild sheep and goats are pretty underrepresented unless its an ibex. Even the mouflon I wouldn't say is exactly "common". I love to see more from any big brand!

Thanks, the Bullyland i own to. Sorry, i mean than the very light bighorn sheep.

Ah, that is a Newray model (untouched).

Lovely group!

Thanks Taylor!

Next are my Eurasian lynxes!
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This is one of the widest ranging cats in the world; living in Europe and arts of Asia! They are the national mammal of Romania and Macedonia. They think the name "lynx" comes from the Greek character Lynceus who could see through the earth with his super keen eyesight.

Nice spotted tribe ! What ? The older Papo is missing ?

About Dall sheep, your custom is on the right and the New Ray on the lelft corner ? Could you make a pic for TAW please ?

Thank you for this useful comparison picture.  
The Papo one an previous Shleich one are the ones I prefer. It is the first time I see the Nayab one with a so yellow coat. Which brand is the little cub sitting one please?

Beautiful lynxes! The old Schleich cub was one of my favorite feline figures. She's almost completely white now

Thank you everyone! [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] that is a Toymany figure from an arctic set.

Eurasian otters!

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They have territories of 1-4 miles on average (depending on food availability). They can hold their breath under water for up to 4 minutes! And they sleep so much that it is the equivalent of about half their lives!