This and That: A Blog

 We round out the alphabet this week with X , Y , and Z  for Sunday Stamps .  My alphabetical stamps have been animals, and for X I am grateful for scientific names! X iphias gladius , Swordfish Solomon Islands 1998   X ylocopa caerulea, Carpenter Bee   Singapore 1985 Y is a trio of Y ellow-Bellies.  Y ellow-Bellied Glider Australia 1997 Y ellow-Bellied Sunbird Australia 2003   Y ellow-Bellied Trogon Belize 1978 Last, but not least, Z .  Z ebu  Madagascar 1930 Z okor When Mongolia issued this stamp the official postal description used a generic fur-bearing rodent term that Western editors interpreted as "muskrat," as z okors were unknown outside the scientific community. Once one major catalog printed "muskrat" the others followed suit. Catalogs almost never revisit mid-century wildlife identification, so "muskrat" it remains.  However, it isn't, it's a z okor!  Mongolia, 1959  That ends this round of A to Z stamps....

  Sunday Stamps this week brings us to the letter T.  T as in  T iger and plenty of 'em! T iger Snake Kingdom of Cambodia 1999   T iger Barb (these are nice tropical freshwater community aquarium fish, get a few, they are schoolers) Hungary c.1962  T iger Swallowtail Butterfly Czechoslovakia 1966 T iger Beetle, Green Germany 1993 T iger, Bengal Hungary 1961 T iger Shark T anzania 1993 T asmanian T iger ( T hylacine) Australia 1981 If Australia can call it an " Endangered Species " rather than extinct on the stamp, I'll run with it!  I still hold out hope there are some in hidden pockets of T asmania.  Want a good book about the search for the Tasmanian tiger?  Carnivorous Nights: On the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger , but you can get it on eBay used for a lot less.) Next week is the letter U , and I'll have fewer.  Promise. 

  Sunday Stamps : Letter G  G iant Land Snail New Zealand 1997 They can be up to 12" long and 2 pounds!  Naturally, at that size they can destroy a garden in a short time. G oldfish, a Japanese breed, the Tosakin  Singapore 2021 G azelle The French Somali Coast (now Djibouti) 1958 H is up next.