Saturday, June 1, 2013

My Mini Animal Craze

Replicas of the two remaining species of elephants
Tallest land animals, the giraffe
I have been writing a lot about plants but I equally love animals too.  But animals are a bit tricky to keep.  I started my serious plant collecting because I was keeping animals, fishes to be exact.  At the end of my fishkeeping, I was recreating biotopes by using plants in the aquarium.  Eventually the plants bug overcame my fish hobby. 

Polar bears, symbol of Arctuc fragility
Today I am still collecting animals, but in the form of my other craze...toys.  I was not given the patience to keep a zoo (plus to do so is complicated), so my miniature zoo is keptin the confines of my room.  My last article for Metro Home made me bring out some of my collections.  

The World Wildlife Fund mascot, the Chinese panda bear
Another endangered animal, the Asian big cat or tiger
Australian icon, the red kangaroo
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I used to buy anmal figurines and replicas from Divisoria when I was a child.  I used to keep them in a drawer.  When I was thriteen years old, I went home one day to find a few of them gone.  My dad thought I don't care for them anymore, gave them away.  I remember rebuilding that collection right after college, buying Playmobil and recently the Schleich toys.
Lion pride
Kings of the jungle
Two spotted cats, jaguar from the New World and leopard from the Old World
 My first Schleich was bought in a Target store in Florida in 2009.  I only got one tiger because they cost much.  But I wanted more.

A cast of other African savannah animals; wart hog, kudu, gazelle and ostrich
It was only recently that I discovered them again in a local toy shop, Built City, but they cost more than when I saw themin Target. So it is only once in a blue moon that I splurge to build my mini zoo. My quest continues...
Another spotted cat, the cheetah, the fastest animal with four legs  
My favorite flock, zebras!
Pouncing crocodile   

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