i (heart) odd-toed ungulates

Maggie

Meet beautiful Maggie - doesn't get much more classic yellow Lab than this... *More of my animal portrait work can be viewed here.

Tapir Redux

Got a little kick out of addressing this envelope to the "Hooves and Carnivore Team" at the Twycross Zoo in England (winners of my Paper Tapir Challenge). If I weren't working diligently in a one-woman art dept, I'd definitely want a desk next to those fine folks...

For My Mother

This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready

   to break my heart

     as the sun rises,

       as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open--
  pools of lace,
    white and pink--
      and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes
   into the curls,
     craving the sweet sap,
       taking it away

to their dark, underground cities--
  and all day
    under the shifty wind,
      as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
  and tip their fragrance to the air,

     and rise,
      their red stems holding



all that dampness and recklessness
   gladly and lightly,
     and there it is again--
       beauty the brave, the exemplary,



blazing open.

~ Mary Oliver, excerpt 'Peonies'
 

Paper Tapir Challenge Results!

Thank you to everyone who submitted a tapir-mask photo in celebration of World Tapir Day! Each and every image made. my. day. There can be only one winner of my book givaway, however, and the hands down champion is shown above - I can't even begin to explain how thrilling it was to receive this image in my inbox. From the Twycross Zoo in Warwichshire, UK, this enthusiastic crew of tapir-keepers not only made 3 tapir masks (colored to differentiate between species!), they got their beautiful ungulate charges to pose with them for a photo!! It simply took my breath away - thank you to Sarah and her co-workers for the phenomenal submission, and for all of your dedication and hard work as caretakers and conservationists for such amazing critters.

Below, a few more of my favorite paper tapirs - BIG thank you to little Amaya, who patiently modeled the below series of photos on a rather unpleasant day to be outside... and I don't know about anyone else, but I'm already looking forward to World Tapir Day 2013!

World Tapir Day 2012

Hello, FRIDAY! And for those not already in the know, there's another, much more novel reason to delight in this fine 27th of April, 2012... it's World Tapir Day!! Oh yes. You heard that right - today is World Tapir Day - a most fitting occassion (if one needs an excuse) to celebrate, raise awareness, and otherwise spread the good word about one of the coolest odd-toed ungulates to saunter the underbrush of equatorial rainforests: the TAPIR. *Don't be fooled by the 4 toes on each front foot - they only have three on the back! Taxonomically speaking, they are odd-toes, and all 4 species are simply amazing...

I've posted on tapirs previously, having been aquainted a few summers ago with the brilliant family of 3 living at the Franklin Park Zoo - Milton, Annie, and Tupelo are Baird's tapirs, and Tupelo, like all baby tapirs, was a heart-breakingly cute wee thing covered head to toe in spots and stripes when she was born (few things rival newborn tapirs on the squee scale...). Baird's tapirs are one of the 3 tapir species native to Central and South America, where they are the largest land mammal (Baird's are smaller than the Malayan, but larger than the Brazilian and Mountain species). The fourth species, the Malayan, or Asian tapir, calls Malaysia, Thailand, and Sumatra it's home. There is some size range between tapir species, though all fall somewhere between 300 and 750lbs in adult weight. Crepuscular or nocturnal forest dwellers, they spend most of their time forraging for vegetation with their great ungainly snout, and contrary to their somewhat dumpy appearance (and I use that term only in the most affectionate way), they are marvelous swimmers. Favorite food (in captivity, at least)? Bananas.

Below, a visual summary of Tapirdom:


In honor of this wonderous day - and the magical fantastical tapir! - I've designed a template to make your very own tapir mask out of paper! It's super simple - you just need paper to print on, scissors, glue (tape will work in a pinch, but it won't look nearly as dashing), and some string. Click the SINGLE mask graphic below for a SMALL template (will print on one 8.5 x 11 sheet and fit only a very small child's head... To make a mask of more adult-noggin proportions, click on the DOUBLE mask graphic for a LARGE template - this will print on 2 letter-sized sheet which can be cut, afixed together, then traced onto a larger, single sheet of paper before assembling). *You can print on any color paper (brown craft looks surprisingly "tapir-y") or print on white and then color to match your favorite tapir species... seriously fun stuff here - go to it!





*CONTEST EXTENDED*
And in the spirit of craft and contest - I'm going to add a twist - anyone who sends me a photo of themselves - or their little ones - wearing the above tapir mask, will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of my illustrated zoo book, Tropical Forest! Milton, Annie, and Tupelo are featured on page 5... so get crafting! Customization to resemble any of the 4 tapir species is encouraged... This contest will be open for 5 days 7 DAYS - I'll pick the winner at 12 noon EST next Tuesday THURSDAY! Please email your photo submission to: natalya (at) natalya (dot) com - OR tweet it to @natalya_zahn

...And for further reading/viewing: discover the tapir's propensity for "tantrums"; check out a (not too rosey... and I would 100% agree) review of the taxidermied tapirs at my beloved HMNH; and explore research and conservation efforts, because all 4 tapir species are highly endangered due to habitat loss and hunting. Most of all, have fun - tapirs are awesome!  

*For more paper tapirs, check out this Japanese paper-craft website (downloadable pattern), and this origami animal site. And oh how I wish I were better at knitting... HAPPY TAPIR DAY!

Primates for the Postman

It's been mail art central over here this week. Not all envelopes are being scanned and archived for posterity (one of the joys of the "you have 2 hours before the post office closes" game is accepting that a lot will go unfinished...). These wee fellows (Lemur catta) came out quite alright, however - lucky little buggers! Perhaps they've benefitted from my recent Ring-tailed kick... must be those cheeky tails... but wait, there's more!