This fantastic-sounding chimeric creature is a small mammal that most of us probably wouldn’t recognize: the musk deer. And you’d almost have to see it to believe that it really exists.

There are several species of musk deer in the Moschidae family, which used to be widely distributed in prehistoric times but today are found only in parts of Asia. Their name is a bit of a misnomer as they are not actually deer (who belong to the neighboring Cervidae family, and can be distinguished for instance by their horns). While these unusual animals may lack the jackalope’s signature antlers, their weird combination of features may make them the closest living thing to its mythical cousin.

Left: The taller Siberian musk deer.

Musk deer are shy herbivores who inhabit the remote woodlands of Asia’s high terrain. The males are highly valued for the potent scent they produce, a commodity that can bring enormous market value and has led to aggressive hunting and trapping, especially in China.

Interestingly, the musk deer resembles the oldest living species of deer, the Muntjac or “Barking Deer” of Eurasia. Muntjacs have small antlers in addition to tusk-like teeth. It is believed that these two species are remnants from a prehistoric population ancestral to both Moschids and Cervids.

So what of the infamous Jackalope?

Jackalopes – the cunning, antlered hare whose lore has been the bane of many a green tourist – is not just a specialty of the West. Similar “hybrid” creatures exist in the fables of countries around the world, most especially in Alpine regions. Like the winged Wolpertingers, Rasselbocks, and Skvaders of Germany and Scandinavia, they are an elusive but prized catch and a favorite folk spoof.

One peculiarity of jackalope lore is the tale that its milk is aphrodisiac. This is strangely reminiscent of the musk of its real-life counterpart, the musk deer, that has led to its near extinction.

I am not sure if there were any Moschids indigenous to America’s West in prehistoric times – or if the “jackalope” is merely an import of European settlers – but it is interesting to note the overlap of habitats between the musk deer, muntjacs and the jackalope’s Eurasian cousins. Could it possibly hint to a stored cultural memory of a time when strange, small bounding mammals with horns and tusks were not quite so scarce?

Ultimate Ungulate: Moschids (Musk Deer)

Wikipedia: Musk deer, Muntjac and Jackalope

Museum of Hoaxes: Jackalope

Images:
Wikimedia Commons
World Wildlife Foundation/HW Schuldei/Leipzig Zoo
BorealForest.org
BlueSkyBirds.co.uk “Mutjacs”

Brown bear cub in snow, from Gary Lackie’s photostream on Flickr. Doesn’t look like the Alaskan cold bothers this little fellow a bit, does it?

I did this fun little guy in graphite over the weekend. Thanks to Larry Johnson on Flickr for the great photograph.

Yes, another swan. Thanks to Alex Saberi on NatGeo’s Visions of Earth.

It’s not just for folks in the UK. The BBC’s Nature & Wildlife department has a big website comparable to National Geographic’s – it’s chock full with oodles of photos, videos, and fact files (and of course news) making it a nature lover’s paradise.

Some of the video content may not be available to visitors outside the UK, but there’s still enough great material to make it worth the visit. I could spend hours merely looking through the gorgeous photography. Professor Iain Stewart, whom I have blogged about before, is one of the main contributors for the science section. Browse by region, species, and topic – it’s superbly well-organized, and a particularly useful research tool for students.

Put this site in your Bookmarks!

More screenshots:

Perhaps the American Indian was much more knowledgeable and perceptive in their understanding, acceptance, and treatment of wildlife – especially of the wolf – than we allow ourselves to be. They were not threatened by wolves; rather, they respected, admired, and learned from them.

Read the rest of the article on Wildlife Extra

Photo Credit: US Fish & Wildlife Service (public domain)

Light-mantled albatrosses are a threatened species of the circumpolar Southern hemisphere. Albatross pair bonds last for decades and individuals are known to live as much as forty years.

That question is redundant, I know. If you’re like me you can never get enough. So here is yet another batch of excellent snapshots – some carefully staked out and others captured more serendipitously – from the 2010 BWPA’s.

Above: “Dark-Eyed Deer,” by Damian Waters.

From National Geographic’s Weekly Wrapper.

Landseer’s life

Landseer was born in London to a family who encouraged their children’s early artistic talents and cultivated a deep appreciation for nature. Edwin was the youngest of seven surviving children, all of whom became artists. His prodigious abilities won him praise very early on and marked him for a career in painting and illustration, earning him a place in the Royal Academy.

As a young man, he contradicted the popular image of the artist as a troubled, taciturn individual; he was an engaging, charming socialite with a gracious manner and an eager mind.

Most of all he was beloved for the careful and sensitive portrayals of domestic animals and wildlife that established him as the Victorian era’s pre-eminent animal painter. He was intimately acquainted with the anatomies of the animals he painted and with their natural surroundings; from specialty dog breeds favored by the nobility, to the majestic wildlife of the Scottish Highlands, to lowly livestock – all of his subjects received equal treatment.
Landseer, Self-Portrait (c.1840)

All this won him the admiration of the public, his fellow artists, and even royalty – he was a frequent guest & tutor in the home of Queen Victoria (who knighted him in 1850).

Ironically, Landseer’s best-known works are not paintings at all; the four giant bronze lions at the base of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square in London were one of his final great accomplishments, and evidence of his equal talents as a sculptor.

Sadly, as his health gradually declined later in adulthood, increasing substance abuse caused irreparable damage both to his career and to his mind. His death in 1873 marked the passing of a national icon; he was mourned throughout the country and buried with honors in St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Above: “Monarch of the Glen” (1851);
Below: “Heads of Sheep and Cattle”

“Sleeping Bloodhound” (1835)

Influence and style

“If people only knew as much about painting as I do, they would never buy my pictures.”
(Sir Edwin Henry Landseer)

Landseer is certainly the best known artist of the 19th century’s animalier movement. Because his abilities were widely recognized during his lifetime, and his popularity transcended the boundaries of class and rank, his fame has continued to the present day.

Fortunately, Landseer was also a prolific artist, so there are an enormous number of beautiful and moving paintings to enjoy.

“Saved” (original 1856 – this is one of several widely-circulated engravings)

One of the hallmarks of his paintings is the tendency to portray his animal subjects with highly anthropomorphic qualities, often in sentimental terms that suited Victorian sensibilities. His depictions of dogs, for instance, as loyal companions and guileless defenders of children and the innocent, emphasized the virtues of nature over its harshness and unpredictability. But beyond the Romantic idealism, his powerful grasp of animal anatomy and the sensitive, respectful treatment of their character endowed them with a dignity usually reserved only for human subjects.

“A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society” (1831) Landseer substituted a model for his depiction of a London legend – a stray Newfoundland called Bob who made at least 23 recorded water rescues.

Today, it is his paintings of dogs on which his fame primarily rests. He championed the role of the heroic rescue dog and in particular the black and white Newfoundlands that now bear his name.

Few breeds could have been better suited to personify Landseer’s quintessential ideal of the gentle, devoted canine. In fact it was a Landseer belonging to the English poet Lord Byron who inspired the legendary encomium that has come to describe the best of a dog’s character:

“Near this Spot
are deposited the Remains of one
who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
and all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.”

(Epitaph to a Dog)

Incidentally, the Newfoundland Club of America has a very good page on Byron and his beloved Boatswain, and also an excellent section on Landseer and his work, including the stories behind many of his animal paintings:

NCA: Sir Edwin Henry Landseer and his Gallery of Animal Paintings

“Prince George’s Favorites” (1835)

See also:

Wikipedia: Sir Edwin Henry Landseer

Wikipedia: Thomas Landseer (Edwin’s eldest brother)

Results from the National Wildlife Federation’s 2010 photo contest (I love them all!)

Be sure to check out the slideshow of honorable mention placeholders. Be sure to note, here “honorable mention” doesn’t mean they weren’t as good as the winners – just that there aren’t enough wining places! You don’t want to miss these.

Slideshow: 2010 Winners

Slideshow: Runners Up

As their name implies, lovebirds are a monogamous species. The photo is from a GreenAnswers.com post featuring a look at several natural pairs who mate for life.

GreenAnswers.com: What are some animals that mate for life?

A 9×12 ebony pencil drawing of a dear friend’s recently-departed companion, “the best border collie in the world.” She was bred on a farm in Devon, England and came from a long line of pedigreed working dogs tracing back to the original Scottish border shepherds.

Libby was a wonderful girl with an angelic face and a temperament to match. She was much beloved and will be greatly missed.

A gorgeous jaguar from Flickr.

Few animals possess the tranquil, sophisticated grace embodied by the swan. Their beauty and mystique is attested by the long tradition of art, music, poetry, and folklore they have inspired in cultures all over the world.

These qualities make them a kind of totem of the winter season, in particular – their snowy white plumage and regal poise evoke the radiant stillness of a freshly fallen snow, or the remote beauty of an icy northern shoreline.

That’s why I couldn’t think of a better time of year to do a post on this remarkable animal.

Right: Nature’s ballet dancers – or perhaps a budding ice skating star? (Whooper swans photographed by Stefano Unterthiner)

A few facts about swans

There are several species of swans common throughout the temperate regions, with the most common (and largest) being the trumpeter, the whooper, and of course the famed mute swan. The whooper swan is prevalent throughout Europe and Asia, as is the mute swan, which has become naturalized in the Americas. Of the three, trumpeter swans are the only variety native to North America. They were hunted aggressively by early white settlers and only recently have their populations rebounded after bordering extinction.

They can be easily distinguished by the differences of their bills. Whooper swans have orange, knobbed bills tipped with black; trumpeter swans have straight black bills; and mute swans have black-knobbed orange bills. Mute swans also have the signature curved necks, while those of whoopers and trumpeters are straight.

Other varieties include the smaller tundra swan who inhabits the cold waterways of the far north; the black-necked swan of South America; and the distinctive black swan, indigenous to Australia.

Swan Identification Guide (PDF) – See this handy reference sheet from the Trumpeter Swan Society comparing bills, body shapes, flight patterns, and vocalizations of different types of swans

Swan Lore

Swans figure prominently in the mythologies of the regions where they are prevalent, including the British Isles, Scandinavia, and northern Asia.

In Norse myth, swans descend from a pair of birds who drank from the sacred waters of Asgard, home of the gods, while in Finnish legend the Swan of Tuonela courses the underworld on the gloomy river of death. Today the whooper swan is the national bird of Finland. Swans are likewise sacred symbols in Greek and Hindu mythology.

In North America, they are common characters in the oral traditions of American Indians, most notably as the “earth-diver” portrayed in the Huron creation story.

Swan Trivia:

• A male swan is called a cob, while a female is known as a pen. Swan young are called cygnets (not ugly ducklings).
• It is believed that the use of quills from the female swan gave rise to the modern name for our favorite writing tool – i.e., “pen quills,” or “pens” for short.
• Trumpeter swans are thought to be the world’s largest waterfowl, with wingspans reaching up to 10 feet.
• Contrary to popular myth, mute swans are not mute – in fact they produce a wide range of sounds.
• Along similar lines, the famous expression of the “swan’s song,” referring to a legend that swans never vocalize until they are about to die, is also a fallacy. But true to the spirit of the swan’s inimitable persona, even this myth was a source of inspiration, as reflected in Heine’s famous ballad:

And over the pond are sailing
Two swans all white as snow;
Sweet voices mysteriously wailing
Pierce through me as onward they go.

They sail along, and a ringing
Sweet melody rises on high;
And when the swans begin singing,
They presently must die.

Right: A favorite wallpaper from NatGeo. See also:

NatGeo: Swan Serenade – The whooper swan is a bird to inspire flights of fancy

and a gallery of swan photography by Stefano Unterthiner

Bird Fact Sheets: Trumpeter

Mute Swan and Trumpeter Swan Profiles on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Wikipedia: “Swan”

Flickr: A gallery of Creative Commons-licensed swan photos

Ernest Thompson Seton was a professional trapper hired to rid 1890′s New Mexico of a legendary wolf named “Lobo” – a wily predator who was the scourge of local ranchers. By the end of the hunt, Seton the bounty hunter faced a revelation in his view of the natural world, and Lobo’s death warrant spelled out the beginning of a new chapter in the story of America’s turbulent relationship with the wolf.

Following the heartrending episode of Lobo’s capture, Seton put his natural knowledge and journalistic skills to new use and became one of the country’s leading advocates for preservation. He said, “Ever since Lobo, my sincerest wish has been to impress upon people that each of our native wild creatures is in itself a precious heritage that we have no right to destroy or put beyond the reach of our children.”

Watch a full-length documentary from PBS:
NATURE: The Wolf that Changed America

Lobo’s mate, Blanca, after her capture