Video of horned toad squirting blood; and a plastic horned toad for your home :)

Here's one of our most popular items. Why? Mainly because it's hard to find horned toad toys - these wonderfull little animals are perfectly harmless and so cute and interesting. I found a video online that shows its most curious ability.

See Real Horned Lizard Video

See video of horned lizard squirting blood from its eye

When I was a youngster and we'd catch horned toads on my dad's ranch, I was fooled into dropping one when it squirted blood. I though I'd damaged the animal, even though I was being very careful! We didn't make the linked video, but we thought it was interesting. It will open in a new tab or window. When you're finished viewing, you can close the new browser tab or window to return to this page.

Sea Sparkle Plush Toy

Our Sea Sparkle Algae

This strange-looking stuffed sea sparkle algae is an unusual replica. It is 5 1/2 inches wide and is made of bright green synthetic fur and green fabric and has large plastic eyes and wears a sympathetic expression. If you aren't an algae lover, you will be after you own these adorable little fellas! It should lighten up your life.This plush sea sparkle algae toy makes a nice pet, a gift for your marine biologist friends, a toy or gag, and could work well for a school play or show-and-tell as a school science project. Check out our other aquatic plant toys and gifts.

About Sea Sparkle Algae

Sea sparkle algae is a kind of dinoflagellate. It appears as a single cell organism in a colony of millions feeding on other plankton. They propel themselves with one or two flagella. They appear as a light blue luminescent color and are especially visible in coastal areas at night.

The Tag on Our Sea Sparkle Says:

FACTS: When you go to the beach or bay at night and see tiny sparkles of light coming from the water, it isn't your imagination. It's Noctiluca! From the Latin for "night light," Noctiluca are also known as Sea Sparkle.

These tiny dinoflagellates float beneath the surface of the ocean by the millions. When they are disturbed, they glow and produce bright flashes of light. This glow is called "bioluminescence," and in the ocean it is usually greenish or blue, as these colors travel well through the water.

You can encourage Noctiluca to glow by whirling your hands and feet in the water. On a night dive, the fins of a SCUBA diver can leave a trail of fireworks behind them! The wake of a boat can often be seen glowing as well. (It is thought that ancient Polynesian mariners used a signal from deep bioluminescing plankton to locate and navigate around islands.)

But why do Noctiluca sparkle? No one knows for sure. It probably has to do with hunting or communication. One idea is that it startles predators. Or perhaps it helps attract larger predators who can turn Noctiluca's own into prey. Or maybe the lights are used to bewitch Noctiluca's own quarry. Or maybe it's just a fun way to say good night.

Plastic horned lizards in a student diorama

We love to see how you're using the animals you buy from us! Here are a couple of photos of a student's desert diorama project. The spiky lizard on the left is a 3D puzzle of a thorny devil, and the one on the right is our small plastic "horned toad" or horned lizard. Cleverly, the student also used the plastic box that the puzzle came in to make the two pinkish rocks in the foreground. That shows ingenuity AND recycling!

Send us your photos. We'd love to display them!

Stuffed plush heartworm - a great way to remember to give your pet its heartworm pills - or an unusual gift for your pet's vet!

Our Heartworm

This, strange-looking stuffed heartworm is an unusual replica. It is 9 inches long and is made of white synthetic fur and has large eyes and wears a collar. If you aren't a worm lover, you will be after you own this adorable little fella. I am not sure you'll want to give it to your dog though! This plush heartworm toy makes a nice pet, a gift, toy or gag and could work well for a school play or show-and-tell as a school science project. You might want to give our stuffed heartworm to your favorite veterinarian as a gift. On the other hand, veterinarians might like to keep a few of these around the office as a gift for a favorite client or as a reminder to give your pet those heartworm pills! In fact, if you know anyone who has trouble remembering to keep their pet's heartworm pills current, this could be an excellent reminder! Check out our other worm toys and gifts.

About Heartworms

Heartworm is a parasitic roundworm (Dirofilaria immitis) that is spread from host to host through the bites of mosquitoes. Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal condition caused by parasitic worms living in the arteries of the lungs and occasionally in the right side of the heart of dogs, cats and other species of mammals, including wolves, foxes, ferrets, sea lions and (in rare instances) humans. Heartworms are classified as nematodes (roundworms) and are filarids, one of many species of roundworms. Dogs and cats of any age or breed are susceptible to infection.

This plastic leech will either delight or disgust you - maybe both!

This stretchable plastic leech may be just the thing for Halloween fun. Whether you're charmed or annoyed, we can't guess. What we do know is that leeches are pretty interesting critters.

Our Black Leech

This, realistic-looking stretchable black leech is an amazing replica. It stretches to 36 inches in length, retracts and can be bent in any direction. It feels like Jello, and is also sticky to the touch. If you aren't a leech lover, this leech replica is truly disgusting. It is black with detailed segments. Our black leech replica may want to suck your blood, but promises not to hurt. This stretchable plastic leech makes a nice pet, a gift, toy or gag for teenagers or immature adults and could work well for a school play or show-and-tell as a school science project or a history project about medicine. Check out our other leech toys and gifts.

About Leeches

Leeches are annelids like earthworms and have long segmented bodies consisting of 34 parts. They all have an anterior (oral) sucker formed from the first six segments, which is used to connect to a host for feeding, and also release an anesthetic to prevent the host from feeling its presence. They use a combination of mucus and suction caused by concentric muscles to stay attached and secrete an anti-clotting enzyme, hirudin, into the host's blood stream. Leeches have been used for medicinal purposes for blood-letting for centuries. Hirudin helps from blood clotting and is sometimes used in micro-surgery. Leeches are hermaphrodites and have an intersting reproductive cycle. There is much discussion about the dangers of leech bites and lots of theories about the best way to remove a leech from your leg.

Stuffed Tasmanian devil almost looks real!

Our Tasmanian Devil

Our Tasmanian devil toy stuffed animal is amazingly realistic, but without the bite! It is beautifully designed and made of quality materials from Hansa. It is extremely soft with lots of cuddly fur. It has a 12-1/2-inch body and a 6-inch tail. White patches are realistically placed on the chest and body. Its legs are posable. Our taz is loving and promises not to bite. Also check out our other Tasmanian devil toys and gifts.

About Tasmanian Devils

Although ours is rather sweet looking, real Tasmanian devils are the world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupials. The body size varies greatly depending on the diet and habitat. Adult males may stand up to 30 centimeters (almost 9 inches) at the shoulder and are usually larger than the females. Tasmanian devils are widespread throughout their habitat and live from the seacoast to the mountains. They live in coastal heath, open dry forest, and mixed rainforest. They seek homes where they can hide and take shelter by day and find food at night. Mainly scavengers, they feed on whatever is available. Their powerful jaws and teeth allow them to completely eat their food, grinding up bones, fur, and all. The Tasmanian devil makes a variety of noises, from rough coughs and snarls to high-pitched screeches. A sharp sneeze is used as a challenge to other devils.

I was once fortunate enough to visit behind the scenes at the medical center of the San Diego Zoo. In the nursery they had a Tasmanian devil in an incubator, only a few days old. The tiny animal had pink skin and only a few very long black hairs. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. I guess you could say it was ugly, but then what baby animal isn't cute in its own weird way? I like them better with hair, but it was such a treat to get this unusual view of a baby Taz!

Old technology, found while cleaning

I've been reorganizing my office this weekend to make it easier to reach things in storage boxes. Quitting Market America has opened up a few file drawers and bins, and that's probably what got me started on this particular Augean stable. So far, I'm liking it. I've been thinking of the various projects I want to work on over the next few years, and all of them entail easier access to the materials stored in boxes and files that have been essentially out of reach for awhile. There are also boxes of old files that have run their 7-year IRS mandate and can be gotten rid of (once reachable :)

Anyway, in the process I found this bit of old printout from an order of a number of years ago. It brought back the old days when I had so few orders and less sophisticated technology. A customer would place their order online, and I had to then e-mail them the total cost and the shipping amount. They would have to OK it and e-mail me back. Then I could ship the order. In the earliest years before that, I actually had to pack up the order and take it to the post office to get a mailing cost, then contact the customer! Back then, if I had a few boxes in a week, it was a lot. Now, of course, it comes in already approved by the credit card company and the customer has selected their shipping method, with the total right there for them to look at.

Plastic fossa

Our Plastic Toy Fossa

This engaging, realistic-looking plastic fossa miniature is made of hard, somewhat flexible plastic. This fossa replica has detailed fur and is painted brown. The fossa body is 2 inches long and the tail is one inch long. This miniature fossa makes for a nice pet, fits into a shoebox diorama for a school project or serves as a great collectible. Check out our other fossa and mongoose toys and gifts.

About Fossas

The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is a large carnivore found exclusively in Madagascar. Related to the mongoose, it behaves much more like a leopard. It spends much of the time in the trees and it leaps from tree to tree like a squirrel. It is almost 3 feet long and weighs as much as 15 pounds. Some think that the fossa is entirely nocturnal since they are rarely sighted. It hunts fish, birds and particularly enjoys eating lemurs. Fossas have no natural predators, but has suffered like most Madagascar animals from the incursions of man.

New Sturgeon Jewelry

Hey, great news! Our hand-made, hand-painted sturgeon pin has been redesigned by the artist to look even more like your favorite fish! Come take a look at Tapir and Friends.

Stuffed aardvark by Hansa - last one until October shipment

Unlike so many of our favorite animal-themed toys and gifts, this beautiful stuffed aardvark is NOT going out of production. However, supplies in the U.S. are nearly sold out. We have only one left in stock as of today until the shipment arrives from overseas in October. You can see and order this wonderful Hansa aardvark at Tapir and Friends online!

Our Stuffed Aardvark

Our wonderfully realistic-looking stuffed aardvark by Hansa is a toy that looks amazingly like a real animal. The plush aardvark is 12 1/2 inches from nose to rump. Its tail adds another 10 inches to its length, and the pink fabric-covered tongue is posable and holds its position when you move it. The tongue is about 1 1/2 inches long. It is sewn with soft plush fabric with extra-soft white tufts around the eyes, ears, and chin. There are four toes on each front foot and five toes on each back foot. This is a good thing, because aardvarks are known for digging! It has gentle hard plastic eyes (black pupils with a ring of gold for the iris) pinkish brown inside the ears. Our stuffed aardvark replica has a kindly expression and promises to snuggle next to you. This aardvark makes a wonderful gift for stuffed animal lovers and complements nicely any stuffed animal collection. The fabric is produced in small batches and is chosen especially for this animal. Each piece is hand-stictched in the Philippines by crafters willing to produce a unique item each and every time. Check out our other aardvark toys and gifts.

Stuffed Animals Made by Hansa

Read more about Hansa stuffed animals and see our selection.

About Aardvarks

Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) are African mammals of a medium size that are most active at night and are good at burrowing into the earth. Their name, "aardvark," comes from the Afrikaans/Dutch language and means "earth pig." This unusual-looking animal has many names locally, including "antbear" or "anteater," although it is not a close relative of the anteaters of South America. Neither is it closely related to a pig, but is somewhat isolated taxonomically and is the only member of the order Tubulidentata. It is not a true edetate, although we've listed it with our edentates on the web site so that people could find it. As odd as it sounds, the aardvark is most closely related to elephant shrews, hyraxes, tenrecs and elephants. If we had put the aardvark in our elephant category, would you have found it? It's a strange thought!

Stuffed hyena by Hansa

In stock as of today and ready to ship anywhere around the world, this beautiful stuffed hyena created by Hansa!

Our stuffed hyena is lifelike and sturdy. Hansa prides itself on making lifelike animals of near-custom quality and design. The materials are made to order for small-run series of your favorite animals. Our stuffed spotted hyena measures 14 inches from nose to rump and stands 8 1/2 inches tall at the shoulder. Its nose is made of moulded hard plastic and looks very real. The eyelids are also made of plastic, giving a lifelike aspect to the face. See our other hyena toys and gifts as well as our collection of Hansa stuffed animals.

One might think that hyenas are related to dogs, but they are actually in a separate biological family most closely related to meerkats and mongooses. Hyenas have among the strongest jaws in the animal world. According to Wikipedia, "The Spotted Hyena, or Laughing Hyena, (Crocuta crocuta) is a mammal of the order Carnivora. They are moderately large, terrestrial carnivores native to Africa. They are best known for a chirping, birdlike bark that resembles the sound of hysterical human laughter. Though often labeled incorrectly as a scavenger, the spotted hyena is actually a powerful hunter, the majority of its nourishment being derived from live prey. Spotted hyenas are the most common predator in sub-saharan Africa, living in savannah, dry woodland and desert habitats."

Red-ruffed lemur toys at Tapir and Friends

We've been working on getting our new Madagascar animals online, and the other day Lee added the plastic red-ruffed lemur pictured above. This is the first time I've seen one made of plastic!

A long-time favorite stuffed animal has been this plush red-ruffed lemur from Fiesta toys. You can find both online at Tapir and Friends, and you can read about red-ruffed lemurs on our web site.

Link to stuffed lemur . Link to plastic lemur

Plastic sifaka lemur with a purple face

Why does our plastic sifaka lemur replica have a purple muzzle? Good question! I don't know. This is how the toy lemur was made, and that's probably the whole story - "just because." Normally, a sifaka would have a black or dark brown muzzle, but realistic toy animals are not all that easy to find, especially the rarer ones. We're just glad to have ANY toy sifaka lemur to offer to fans, collectors, and for school projects! Come check out this toy lemur at Tapir and Friends!

Please join us on our Facebook page for updates from the gift shop, where we try to keep it at least somewhat realistic, and we specialize in the unusual and hard-to-find animals!

Plastic Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Our Hissing Cockroach

This engaging, realistic-looking plastic hissing cockroach is made of hard, flexible plastic. It is 3 inches long and 1 3/4 inches across from leg tip to leg tip. Our cockroach comes from Madagascar and is large with orange and black stripes. Our hissing cockroach replica is a little disgusting, but promises not to bite. 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 cockroach toys and gifts. Just to clarify, our toy cockroach does not make any noise - that's the species name of the real cockroach.

About Cockroaches

Hissing cockroaches are of the genus (Gromphadorhina portentosa) are found in Madagascar and are among the largrest cockroaches in the world.They are wingless and are often 2-3 inches long. They live in rotting logs and feed on rotting material and last for about five years. It gets its name by forcing air through its breathing pores in its abdomen, whereas other insects make sound by rubbing legs together.

Plastic Toy Australian Crocodile

Our Plastic Toy Australian Crocodile

This engaging, somewhat realistic-looking plastic crocodile miniature is made of somewhat flexible plastic. This replica has a detailed face and body and is painted in one shade of green, although the freshwater and saltwater Australian crocodile is more gray in color. It has detailed scales. This plastic crocodile makes for a nice pet, fits into a shoebox diorama, or serves as a great collectible. Check out our other crocodile toys and gifts.

About Australian Crocodiles

There are two kinds of Australian crocodiles, the Freshwater Johnsons Crocodile and Saltwater Estuarine Crocodile. Crocodiles have long narrow snouts, and the 4th tooth of the lower jaw is outside when the mouth is closed. Their scales have modified to form thick tough skin. All crocodiles have eyes and nostrils are on the top part of the head so that they can lie in the water almost completely hidden from view. Crocodiles have very strong jaws. They do not chew their food. They swallow it in large chunks. In the stomach the food is broken down. They feed on a large variety of prey such as small mammals, birds and even cattle. Crocodiles grab their prey and move to deep water, where they roll over to drown the animal. They can leap high out of the water to reach their prey if necessary.

Crocodile School Mascot?

As it turns out the crocodile is the school mascot of Nancy Ryles Elementary School in Beaverton, Oregon, about two hours from our home location in Astoria!

The Beaver: Mascot of Oregon State University

BEAVER

Mascot* of

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

With school about to start, it might be fun to do a series on animals used as school mascots that can also be found at Tapir and Friends online Gift Shop. Let's start with the beaver, since we're located in Oregon, and the beaver is the mascot of Oregon State University. Here you can see all five of the beavers (stuffed and plastic) that we have online for purchase as of this post date.

The beaver was not the OSU's first mascot. It began with a coyote named "Jimmy," progressed to a human mascot, John Richard Newton Bell, a bulldog, and eventually between about 1910 and 1916 to the beaver, a native animal of Oregon. You can read about the interesting evolution of Oregon State University's mascot here.

Meanwhile, what better place to get a toy beaver for a memento, gift, prank, reunion decor and souvenirs, prizes for work well done, or a nice, soft snuggle buddy than from a store that supports wildlife conservation as its main goal?

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* Note: This particular stuffed beaver toy is not an offical mascot, but is a lifelike stuffed animal made by Hansa.

Two new plastic toy great white sharks!

The 6-inch plastic great white shark toy above and the 9-inch plastic shark below have joined our school of plastic sharks for your fun and enjoyment!

Both shark replicas squeak when you squeeze them, and they float in the bathtub or pool, but I have to warn you, they float on their sides. They were not meant to fool anyone, only to have fun with. They actually look kind of dead in the water when they float. However, the hollow inside keeps them from sinking, so you can find them easily and keep on playing. These sharks are made of flexible plastic and are guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of your shark-loving kids, grandkids, or friends. If you like toy sharks or enjoy studying real sharks, check out our plastic sharks in Tapir and Friends online toy store!

Popular panda eyelass holders will be gone before Christmas

Carved wood animal eyeglass holders (Peeper Keepers) have been some of our most popular and successful products ever! To our dismay, they have been discontinued by the manufacturer and there are only a few left. The animal types have been disappearing over the last few months, and many that we have in stock today will be gone before the Christmas/Hanukkah season.

Three that we are sure will be sold out well before the holiday season are the panda peepers, the gorilla peepers, and the hippo.

Come visit our Animal Peeper Keeper page and order online. They are only available while they last, and your order will be shipped as soon as we get it. If we are out of stock in our location, we will contact you about the availability in the warehouse. In that case, shipping could take up to two weeks, but we will let you know ASAP what the status is on your order.

Tapir and Friends Wildlife World has been doing business online since 1997. Check out the many realistic (or nearly realistic) animal toys and gifts on our extensive web site!

New plasic sea life and sea life accessories

PLEASE NOTE that these plastic replicas are not made to be put in the tank with your live fish. You can use them as toys or to decorate a fake fish tank with fake fish. A lot of people use our plastic sealife replicas as decor for parties or as part of shoebox dioramas for school ecology projects.

Above is our new plastic coral, which could be part of a coral reef display.

Next comes our plastic model scuba diver. And what might he or she be looking for besides fish?

How about a nice plastic treasure chest? All of these sea life toys can be found on our Aquatic page at Tapir and Friends Wildlife world. You'll also find lots of other sea creatures on this page. Fish and sharks also abound in our store, and can be found by following links from the Aquatic page.

Plastic mystery monkey - can you identify our new primate?

Lee has done a fantastic job of identifying our new plastic primates. In the process he learned a lot about Old World monkeys, New World monkeys, teeth, claws, paws, brachiation, prehensile tails, short tails, lack of tails, tufts, etc. But he was unable to match characteristics of this plastic monkey to the real world. If you have an idea, please let us know! If you're the first and we use your identification, we can work out an appropriate gift! We specialise in realistic animal toys and gifts, and we do care about the species names! Sometimes it's impossible to get toy animals that are true to life, but we do the best with what's available. Sometimes they are very accurate, and when they aren't we usually comment on it. Many of our customers are animal-lovers, and many use these animals in school projects for dioramas or for show-and-tell with their reports.

Come see our expanded collection of plastic primates!