Alternia's greatest hunter

heres my gift for the homestuck secret santa!! (@homestuckss)

this is for @rustscope, who wanted a scene from scope’s life, like when he lost his right arm!

Sometimes, collections give you a gift. A beautiful, terrible, incredibly bizarre gift.

The Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) is a majestic creature. They’re known for their gorgeous and functional fur patterning, including facial ruffs and dark ear tufts, their huge, powerful paws, and their fierce hunting of Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus), their favorite prey.

This particular specimen may not be remembered for any of those things.

First of all, it may not be a lynx at all. It’s labelled as one, but it looks suspiciously Bobcat-y. One of the things that I love the most about…less than perfect taxidermy is that it points out the differences between humans’ perceptions of animals, and the reality of these creatures. Cats normally hold their claws sheathed, unless they’re attacking something, but we see them on display here. The face has also been shaped to look more like a Bobcat (Lynx rufus), possibly because the artist was more familiar with that species or because of available materials, or perhaps it IS one. There’s also a slight hint of, yes, a rather human smile.