Plastic Fruit Bats

Plastic Fruit Bat Burrito at Tapir and Friends Animal Store

Only at Tapir and Friends can you find a fruit bat burrito! Look at all those cute little faces. While we take conservation very seriously, we also love to have fun at work. Occasionally that means piles of octopi and fruit bat burritos. TPF is a good place to work. 

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Newsletters and Discount Codes!

Hand-painted Pewter Bat Pin at Tapir and Friends

Yesterday, we told you about our October sale; today, we want to let you know about our newsletter, which gives you opportunities to save year-round. Each newsletter comes with a coupon code at the bottom and has interesting tidbits about life at Tapir and Friends, new products, and fundraising updates. If you'd like to subscribe, please go to our main page, scroll down to the bottom, and sign up for our newsletter and save! Thanks!

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Bat Pins ~ Made in USA

It doesn't have to be Halloween to wear this fantastic pin!

Our Hand-Crafted Bat Pin

These gorgeous and unusual bat pins are made in Washington and Idaho by a team of U.S. artists. The high-quality lapel pins or oversized tie tacks are unique. They are exquisitely detailed; the quality of the painting elevates each pin to an item of wearable art. Each one is cast in pewter and painted by hand. You will be delighted with the professional quality and artistic details of your piece of fish jewelry. The finish is extremely smooth and shiny, as you can see by the highlight from the scanner. It is also extremely durable. The pin is secured by two sturdy tacks on the back so it stays upright, and the finished product is not only beautiful, but satisfyingly substantial in weight. It can be used as a lapel pin, hat pin, tie tack, and more. This collectible animal pin is heirloom quality, and the details are so realistic, they are found in museum gift shops and bought by organizations in need of the perfect animal to represent their group.

About Bats

The only mammal capable of true, sustainable flight, bats represent about 20% of all classified mammal species. About 70% of bats are insectivores, with most of the rest feeding predominantly on fruit. Very few species are non-insect carnivores, and the infamous vampire bat representing the only parasitic mammalian species.

Bats attain flight through a specialized webbing of skin between their legs and forward digits. Bats are capable of highly acrobatic and fast flight, in contrast to other "flying" mammals, such as flying squirrels, which glide rather than fly.

Bats feature prominently in popular fiction, folklore, and heraldry. The modern-day coat-of-arms of several Spanish and French cities feature bats, as well as the insignia of Royal Valentcia Yacht Club and two Spanish football clubs. The U.S. states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Virginia each have a official state bat.

 This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Halloween Party Favors, Decorations, Gifts and Prizes

Trick Or Treat!!!

Our New Halloween/Samhain Page!

The first of many holiday pages to come, TPF presents all the creepy, crawly, sneaky, and scary animal toys and jewelry we offer in one place, just in time for your Halloween bash! Come vist and enjoy the festivities of the harvest season.

About Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated around the world annually on October 31. Celebrations vary based on geography, culture, religon, and individual preference, but most feature a theme regarding the honoring of ancestors and recognizing the change in seasons from a time of abundance and fertility (Summer) to a time of cold and darkness (Winter). This holiday goes by the name Hallowe'en, All Hallows' Evening/Eve, Samhain, Samuin, and Parentalia.

In neopagan and pre-christian faiths, the holiday of Samhain (pronounced SOW-win) represents the last of three harvest festivals, signifying the end of Summer and the coming of Winter. In a practical sense, the holiday celebrates the end of agricultural work (the harvests are in, work's done, HOORAY!), but has a dark connotation that "what you have is all you have"...what you've harvested had to last until the next growing season. In a religious sense, Samhain is one of two holidays (the other is Beltaine, held May 1) that represent a short time of transition, where the boundries between our plane of existence and that of the Summerland (where the spirits of the dead reside) become thin and porous. Spirits of fallen friends and family can come calling, or may even be invited to attend meals in their honor (called Dumb Suppers). Mischevious spirits can wreak havok on the living on this night, and many people decorate themselves and their homes with wards against these poltergeists in the form of Jack-O-Lanterns and elaborate costumes.

The Christian holiday of All Hallows' Day or All Saints Day occurs on November 1, and so October 31 is "All Hallow's Eve". Both All Hallows' Day and All Souls Day (held on November 2) involve honoring those individuals who have passed away and praying for the recently dead to ensure their souls safely reach Heaven, and are therefore very similar to the older cultural beliefs of this time of year. Attitudes amongst modern Christians regarding Halloween vary widely, from cheerful acceptance of what they see as a childrens' night of fun to a horrible holiday of demon worship and blasphemy. I recently saw a Christian Halloween dance being advertised as "reclaiming what Satan has stolen". Many American public schools no longer offer Halloween celebrations because of potential conflicts within their communities regarding the holiday.

The holiday of Halloween involves many unique images and traditions. The Jack-O-Lantern, carved out of gourds and root vegetables, is a common sight throughout October. Goblins, vampires, werewolves, and other denizens of popular horror fiction decorate homes and workplaces. Games like bobbing for apples and corn mazes become popular. Trick-or-treating is a common tradition on this night. Orange and black dominate clothes, homes, and stores. Above all, any nocturnal, creepy, or ferocious animal features prominently in Halloween decor, costume, and gift-giving. Scorpions, spiders, and insects abound...the raven and the owl watch over trick-or-treaters and are harbingers of news...and of course, the black cat slinks through the shadows, watching to cross the unwary's path.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Bat Earrings, Pins and Pendants

Just the thing to complete your All-Hallows' outfit!

Our Bat Jewelry

Note: This bat is a large design (3 inches wide), and the metal wingtips are pointed. They are not extremely sharp, but at that size they could poke. The artist has suggested that this design might be best used for pins and pendants, but the choice is up to you.

Any item can be ordered in a variety of colors. These sturdy bats are made by Corinna Bechko, who is not only an artist, but has worked at the Los Angeles Zoo in the research division. She attended the Jewelry Arts Academy in Manhattan. What a lucky day it was for us when she discovered our web site and suggested we might want to see the jewelry she makes!

Customers have a wide variety of choices. Pendants and earrings come with a bead. Corinna will try to find any color you want, so bead choices are almost endless. The bat itself comes in a variety of colors as listed in the drop-down menu above. You can see examples of the earrings, pins and pendants and some of the color combinations, as well as the other animal types we sell, on our page of Aluminum Jewelry.

This jewelry is sturdy and light weight, and each bat measures 3 inches from wingtip to wingtip. The pendants hang on a 17-inch black silk cord (included). Your color choice can be made up quickly - probably in only a few days. Come see our other bat gifts.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Going to bat for bats!

Yesterday I had hoped to see some big-eared bats when I hiked into Pictograph Cave near Bend, Oregon, but unfortunately the best or the worst I found was a prodigious amount of old bat guano. Big-eared bats are classified as vesper bats, common bats, or evening bats. They are insectivores and rely on echolocation by shouting through their open mouth to create an ultrasound beam. Large ears help pick up the returning vibration.
Bats are in the small order Chiroptera, which include flying mammals. What is remarkable is that it is the only mammal which, by its webbed wings, is actually capable of flight.

Tapir and Friends Animal Store has a wide selection of miscellaneous animals for sale including bats. As Halloween approaches, perhaps you or a friend may want to wear a pair of bat earrings, a pin or necklace to the party. I can't promise they'll help you fly, but you will look superb.

by Lee

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.