The Curious Compendium 2023 Tour Finale: Shih-tzu, maltese, pekingese!

Thank you everyone! 

Now my very favorite snakes, rattlers! 
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There are some disagreements on how many species exist, but generally it is thought that there are somewhere between 32 and 45. 3 species are endangered, the Santa Catalina rattlesnake, Tancitaran dusky rattlesnake, and the Long-tailed rattlesnake.

Great batch ! What is the bigger one please ?

Will you add the last Safari Ltd ?

Thank you both! 

@Kiki, the big snake is a sidewinder (I think) from Safari's IC line. And YES I will be getting the new one, it is gorgeous!

Another double post since life has gotten me all tied up!

Misc. snakes again!
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Ringneck snakes apparently coil and flip their tails over (exposing their brightly  colored bellies) as a defense mechanism.

And my last group of snakes!
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Rubber boas are one of a rather few species native to my home state of Idaho. I have met and held one before. These guys are very slow moving on land, but despite their looks are great swimmers and climbers!

Nice snakes again

Reptiles page is live now! Its a bit whacked out for Wix hosting reasons (some weird update messed some things up). I reccomend using the desktop version even if on a mobile device! 

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Onward and upward; Birds are next! 

Albatrosses and a Shearwater!
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I read about a Laysan albatross named Wisdom. She is some 70 years old, is still laying eggs and raising chicks, in 2021 her estimated 40th baby hatched! She has flown 3 billion miles doing what albatrosses do; spending 80% of their lives flying over the sea. Wisdom is currently the oldest known bird.

Wonderful birds

Lovely albatrosses! That shearwater looks great too, I hope for one from a major brand

Thank you everyone! 

Mixed group of water loving/living birds!
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I adore cormorants! I learned that their feathers are NOT waterproof like a duck's because that would prevent diving efficiency; their feathers DO soak up water which helps them sink, but it also means they have to dry off- this leads to the iconic open wing pose when resting on land. Most of these birds can dive 20+ feet, but some species are recorded at 150+!!! That is some of the deepest avian divers known. Their wings are developed to be propelling forces underwater, but this comes at a cost for efficient flying. Lastly, just like owls, these guys regurgitate pellets of undigestible parts of their food (scales, bones, etc). Pretty amazing bird family!

I love the frigate bird in the nest!

I've lost a few posts here. Especially the bracelets section and coral snakes are the nicer bracelets in my opinion. Love those group of birds, they are gradually gaining some protagonism these days and those are good news.

Thank you everyone! 

Another group of birds- on stilts!
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Marabou storks proved to be very interesting. They can soar up to an impressive 13,000 feet! And when flying they do NOT extend their necks like other long necked birds, they keep it tucked into a tight S shape. Their chicks have some of the highest survival rates of any species we know of; 64% likely to survive their first year. Lastly, despite their reputation of being "ugly", they have been hunted for their soft tail feathers to use in millinery, and locals do hunt them for parts to use in local traditions.

All are must haves :)

Great birds! I only have 3 of these.

I just saw a pair of Maribou storks at the San Diego Safari Park, I think they are beautiful birds

The Papo Marabou has a reputation of being very unstable.
And I keep my collection of birds on shelves in the toilet. Then, in the midle of the night I hear a noice, but didn't think much off it. But apparently the marabou had fallen off the shelf into the bowl...
Next morning I did my business and flushed.
I had a major draining blockage for 3 days! It took loads of unblocker fluids to make it dissapear!  

I already knew about Papo Marabou's reputation for falling, but I hadn't heard of one that went as deep as Simmone's.
That's another fantastic group of figures Paige and that's only possible when we mix many different brands. :)

The Great blue heron by K&M international is my favorite.

Simone, I was aware of the stability issues with this stork but goodness! I am so sorry it gave you such grief!

Another catch up post!

First up are Pigeons and friends.

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I learned about dodos! The things that intrigued me are that it is now believed that the original depictions of the dodo (from the few scant remains of stuffed specimens and drawings of them) are incorrect; that the birds would have been a lot slimmer than commonly depicted. Also, I didn't realize until recently that they have 2 also extinct relatives. The solitaire and the Reunion or white dodo. All three went extinct around the same time of the 1600s.

Next we have a small group of vultures!

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For king vultures, there are two theories on how they got their name. Either, the Mayans referred to them as "king birds" because they were believed to be messengers between man and the gods OR that when at a carcass, all other birds including other vultures will give up their position in feeding if a king vulture arrives to feed (likely due to the fact that they are the second largest vulture species after condors).