schaffaaaaaaarghghgrherx7's!

fond greetings sir/madam! my name is the mantis. pleased to make your acquaintance.

i trust that by now you're familiar with the schaffas, those funny little wooden toys made by the finest t-shirterers in the business, screamdance.

the launch of last friday was a roaring success and, ignoring my avian counterpart's self-deprecating remarks, every artist's efforts were spectacular. below we see my humble contribution to the exhibition; a mounted specimen of Wilson's Lesser Schaffasbok.

photographed by screamdance

characterised by its diminutive stature and blunt, geometric features, Wilson's Lesser Schaffasbok is surely the most peculiar of the world's antelopes. the schaffasbok is native to the lower slopes of South Africa's Drakensberg Mountains where it forages for mushrooms amongst the tall grasses.

photographed by screamdance

the specimen was acquired by Lord Douglas Parry-Smythe in the early 19th century when the schaffasbok was abundant across its range; Parry-Smythe famously quipped that "...one cannot venture into the underbrush without trampling the head of one of these unfortunate beasts underfoot". the species has since suffered a precipitous decline in numbers, due largely to the incautious footsteps of early explorers and later overhunting to provide horn for the antler-pipe craze of the 1890s.

sadly, today the schaffasbok is rarely seen and is feared to be facing the lascivious embrace of extinction.

photographed by screamdance