Tasmanian Tiger Crochet Square

Rugalugs square number 9 is the Tasmanian Tiger which can also be used as a kitty cat, or a tiger and other feline friends depending on the use of colour.

This is the 9th square in my rugalugs series. I decided I needed a cat, so the Tasmanian Tiger was the perfect critter to choose. The story of the Tasmanian tiger or thylacine is a sad one as they were declared extinct in 1986. The Tasmanian tiger was a marsupial dog with a pouch like a wombat, a head like a dog, and stripes and tail like a tiger. So it was never really a cat at all! The same way as the Koala was never a bear.

The last known thylacine was captured in 1933 and died in 1936. Their demise was accompanied by European settlement and the introduction of sheep to Australia. As a carnivorous animal they were captured and killed by the farmers. The government at the time placed a bounty on the slaughter of the thylacine. They became rare and in the early 1900s were purchased by zoos around the world. The last one died in the Hobart Zoo on the 7th of September 1936. The 7th of September is now marked as 'Threatened Species Day'.

The story of the thylacine is a message to us all in conservation and protection of native species. It demonstrates how far we have come in less than 100 years in terms of environmental awareness, and how awful we have been in the past in respecting the world around us. I cant fathom what the heck the early settlers were thinking? I read somewhere it was about the sheep, as the tigers used to kill them. Such a tragedy that the farmers had such little appreciation for the special creatures we had here. We took the kids to Tasmania a few years back and had a great time trying to see a tiger as we drove around. It is such stunning state to visit, but sadly no tigers.

Domestic cats can be a bit of an environmental nuisance as they kill our birds and wildlife. The feral cat is also quite destructive on the environment, and the native critters at risk as they compete against the introduced species.

I came up with a tail end. The boys call this (rather crudely) his date hole. You can turn the tail around and add a bow for effect. The real tiger had a stripey tail and you can get this effect in variegated yarn. I have done it plain as this photographs much better fro my blog.

And this is little Tasmanian Tiger Kitty.

I designed this square in 2 sizes with the potential to be adapted into a kitty cat as well as a tiger.

The tigers look great on stuff for little boys and I have been making a few hats with tigers on the front. One day when I have finished designing all of these squares I might get round to making an afghan out of them all. At the moment I am enjoying the fun of making little projects with little kids in mind. Our daughters boyfriend is a mad Tigers supporter. She has crossed the floor from Queensland to New South Wales now which is quite risky behaviour!

Tiger Teams always have good colours though. The yellow gold and black is pretty stunning!

My next rugalugs is a Baramundi Fish. So far it looks terrific and I will share it with you soon.

Thanks for looking!

(c) copyright crochetroo 2007. Do not copy or imitate as this is bad karma and your chooks will turn into emus and kick your dunny down!

Bilbies not bunnies

As we approach Easter the shops become plagued by rabbits. Now I don't mean to offend any one, but there are mountains a patterns and toys for rabbits, and one thing the world doesn't need is another bunny toy or pattern. Bunnies annoy me. I have one in my shop and it is designed to be casseroled!

Well meet the bilby. This is a sad story.
Once up a time when the British settled Australia they brought with them rabbits and foxes to hunt , and pigs to farm. And the rabbits went forth and multiplied, and took over the land, and burrowed away, and munched on the nice grass. In the absence of a natural predator, they had found the promised land. The bilby however, used to live in about 70% of Australia now had to compete. The bilby is a burrower, and likes nice munchy green things as well. They also are more attuned to our climate and have a slower reproductive cycle. They were very quickly outnumbered.

When the settlers realised they had a problem, they laid poison, and traps. They caught lots of rabbits, but they also killed as many native animals such as wombats, and wallabies, and bilbies.
So now one type of bilby is thought to be extinct. Hasn't been seen since about 1930. The remaining one we are down to about 600. So I find bunnies pretty annoying. To think they came in and took over and the locals are now an endangered species. The bilby is only found in Australia.

The bilby, sometimes known as the rabbit eared bandicoot is a marsupial with a backwards facing pouch. Bilbies are nocturnal ground dwellers and live in burrows. They are protected in Australia as only 600 now live in the wild. I reckon if you can count them, then there isn't enough! There used be 2 types of bilby, but one species has been extinct since 1931. The “save the bilby” campaign has been active for a number of years, with the slogan “Bilbies not Bunnies” used at Easter to promote the plight of this little animal. Sales from chocolate bilbies go towards conservation efforts. The rabbit has been an environmental disaster in Australia, and needs to be eradicated from our country to enable the survival of the bilby.

So I took on the task of designing a crochet bilby, and to put the bunny in its place. My lovely tester did the one below.

I also made him a little goody basket. I tried for a rustic bush look. While their is some history to the rabbit and Easter, I believe that all Gods creatures have a place on this earth. So the bilby has just as much a role as any other critter. Besides the bilby needs all the publicity it can get if it is to survive.

Easter is about new life, and new beginnings. If you are facing extinction, then this is doubly important.

The patterns are in my etsy store, but the real message is about protecting our environment and raising awareness of how acts of the past have had such a devastating effect on our environment. They had a bilby display at the Ekka last year, and the queu was a mile long to see them. We waited patiently, and saw a bilby. They are such gentle and amzing little animals, it was well worth the wait.

The kids need to know about the bilby, and understand why all animals have a place. Hence I am not into the glorification of the bunny!

Thanks for listening.

Here is a link with some bilby info:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/april2006/

(c) copyright crochetroo (this include images as well as content. I am happy for you to link to this page, but dont pinch my pictures.)