After all, it's all about animals

Normally on this blog we show you pictures of toy animals (stuffed animals, plastic animas), animal jewelry, decor and gifts. But we believe in conservation of real, living animals, and we also believe that people want to know more about the real species, whether they are in need of conservation or not. Animals are fascinating, and for so many reasons, we love them!

To that end, we've started a project to add photos of real animals to our web site and to link between the real ones and the ones you can buy. Here's a start, and an experimental page to see how the format works for all of us:

Toy sea lions

Real sea lions

Enjoy!

New plastic alligators in our online store

Here's a family of little 'gator hatchlings.

. . . And an alligator handler . . .

. . . And even a swimming alligator viewed from the top! We have quite a few new plastic alligators on board, just the right size for your shoebox diorama or school project.

For example . . .

Our Plastic Toy Alligator with Babies

This realistic-looking plastic alligator with babies miniature is made of somewhat flexible hard plastic. This replica has a detailed face and body and has three babies riding on its back. The alligator is curved and is 2 1/2 inches long.This alligator with babies makes for a nice pet, fits into a shoebox diorama, or serves as a great collectible. Check out our other alligator toys and gifts.

About Alligator Babies

Baby alligators come from a clutch of eggs. The young are born with a sharp front tooth which helps them peck out of the shell. If they are fortunate enough to avoid prey such as hawks, vultures and large lizards on their way to the water, they have a chance of surviving. Most are carried tenderly by their mother in the her mouth down to the water. A baby alligator is called a hatchling.

Popular big stuffed manatee back in stock

Although the middle-sized manatee in the center is now discontinued, we have the large and the small manatees available to ship anywhere in the world. The big manatee continues to be very popular, and you can see why when you try to get your arms around this soft and quite large water-loving animal.

Our Stuffed Manatees

These gentle, realistic-looking stuffed manatees are wonderfully soft and floppy. The bodies, flippers and tail are made of soft plush fabric allowing for lots of movement. The whiskers are made of gray-black thread. Our manatees have a kindly expression and promise to be your friend. This manatee makes a nice pet. Check out our other manatee toys and gifts.

About Manatees

In the wild, there are three species of manatee: (Genus - Trichechus) West Indian, West African, and Amazonian. All three are endangered and protected by international law. They are gentle, slow moving marine mammals which spend most of their time searching underwater for edible plants. They can weigh up to 1,000 pounds and eat about 100 pounds of aquatic plants per day.

They loved our plastic mammoth bones!

Sent: Wed, October 21, 2009 7:27:28 AM
Subject: RE: TAPIR PRESERVATION FUND Customer Receipt/Purchase Confirmation

Good morning,

We received our box this morning and have had great fun putting [the mammoth skeletons] together.

Many thanks!

[LMK]

Bison finger puppet stuffed animal

You could think of this as a cute little stuffed bison (or American buffalo), but it's actually a finger puppet by Folkmanis.

Our Bison Finger Puppet

Our stuffed bison finger puppet is 5 1/2 inches long and is crafted with fine workmanship from Folkmanis. It has a lined pocket to control the head. Its hump, shoulders, and front legs are made with incredibly soft fabric and its feet, horns and nose are made of soft plastic. Our bison makes for an enjoyable toy or pet or fits nicely into a bison collection. This stuffed bison finger puppet may work well for school projects and can be set into a Great Plains or western diorama as well. Be sure to see our other bison toys and gifts.

About Bison

The American bison (Bison bison) is a symbol of the Great Plains of the American West. Countless animals onced roamed freely, but were hunted to near extiction during the 19th century. The bison is known as an even-toed ungulate, meaning a hoofed animal whose weight is borne by the third and fourth toe. Early bison arrived during the Eocene 40 million years ago as grasses began to cover the plains. Later, hunting and gathering societies considered them as a vital meat supplement to their diet. The bison is not born with its characteristic hump or horns but these features develop as the animal matures. The bison lives for about 30 years.

Large plastic seagull new in our store

One of the most popular toy animal replicas is also the hardest to find, so we were thrilled when we discoverd this life-sized plastic seagull on the wing. It's made of hollow plastic and is light-weight, durable, and inexpensive. It's moulded in a flying position with the feet tucked underneath. It can be used as a toy, show-and-tell at school, and for decor around your home, pool, restaurant, or any seaside store or establishment.

Our Seagull

This realistic large plastic seagull is an unusual replica. It is 18 3/4 inches from wingtip to wingtip and 8 1/2 inches from beak to tail. It is made of hard plastic, but is hollow in the center. It has detailed feathers has a painted eye and beak with feet tucked under the tail. It could work well for a school play, marine display, or show-and-tell as a school science project. Or maybe you have a biologist friend or teacher who needs an unusual gift! Check out our other seagull toys and gifts.

About Seagulls

Our beautiful large plastic seagull reminds us that the seagull is a coastal bird that rarely ventures far out into the ocean. Closely related to terns, it is a carnivorous scavenger, which picks at almost anything organic. It loves small fish and crustaceans which it snatches from the surface. It swims on the top of the water, but does not swim underwater. It is an intelligent bird with a myriad of calls and, like most birds, outstanding eyesight. The adult gull is gray and white in color, whereas younger gulls are a mottled light brown. The Pacific gull (Larus pacificus) has a continous presence here at Tapir and Friends in Astoria, Oregon. It wheels above us and perches on rooftops outside our windows. Its calls accompany our work and our play.

New plastic honeybee

Honeybees are such important insects. Without them we'd have no food! They also live in very complex communties. For whatever reason you need a plastic honeybee model, this could be the bee for you!

Our Honeybee

This engaging, realistic-looking plastic honeybee is made of hard, flexible plastic and is hollow. It is 2 3/4 inches long and is a 2 3/4 inches from leg to leg. Our honeybee is light yellow, orange, and black in color with detailed thick transparent detailed wings. Our honeybee replica promises neither to fly away nor sting. It works well for a shoe box diorama or other school projects. It also makes for an interesting party favor or for a gag. Check out our other honeybee toys and gifts.

About Honeybees

Bees are insects, having six legs, a head, thorax and abdomen. Honey bees can be found worldwide. They live in hollw trees as well as in hives kept by beekeepers. The social behavior of these bees is very complex. The colony is made up of the queen bee, drone bees, and worker bees. The lifespan of the queen bee is usually two to three years. Worker bees are sterile female bees who collect, produce, and distribute honey, and also maintain the hive. These bees have pollen buckets on their hind legs as well as pollen scrapers to make their job easier. Worker bees are able to sting, but they die shortly afterwards. Honey bees help to pollinate flowers and crops and produce honey. Of the approximately 20,000 species of bee, fewer than 20 are considered true honey bees. These are classified in the genus Apis. "The first Apis bees appear in the fossil record at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, in European deposits dating about 35 million years ago" according to Wikipedia. This does not mean that honey bees originated in Europe, but only that they were there at that time.

Posable coiling cobra back in stock in time for Halloween!

Our ever-popular 3-foot coiling plastic cobra is back in stock in time for Halloween shipping! Just think! You could go trick-or-treating or drop in on that party with one or two of these magnificent lifelike plastic cobras coiled around your arms or neck! They are posable. You can stretch them out straight or wrap them around, and they'll stay put. They won't bite, but your friends won't know that!

This super-lifelike coiling plastic cobra looks and feels like the real thing. In fact, our cobra is so realistic it has been purchased for use in a number of TV programs and movies. It makes a wonderful stage prop! We can't say enough about it - it's just beautiful, and its scaly plastic body is soft to the touch. The cobra is posable. As you see it here, it stands 7 inches tall, and it's 36 inches measured from nose to tail. It can be straightened out or moved into different positions. What a great gift or addition to your snake collection! Most details are "strikingly" realistic, although the two dark holes in the front are placed there so the plastic can bend without breaking. The cobra has the typical pattern on the back of its hood, not shown in our photo. Come look through our entire collection of snake toys and gifts.