*YAWN*

Contagious yawn spreading... XD

Yeah~

I'm ashamed of myself for letting this arouse me. ;_;

There is an entire website dedicated to just RL animal maw shots. You are far from alone in that area ;)

Nawh, I've seen it.. not many hyena pics though :<
only stupid cats and stuff

Most folks cant get a hyena to yawn on command..or have the ability to stick their camera very close either. :)

Hehe, x3 I really wish I could have a tame pet spotted hyena, <33 I would love him so much

Is that gapingmaws.com?

Rodent's site, yes.

His canines are so warn down!! :(

The right one (his right) is actually busted off and you can see the root. It happens often it seems. :<

Ohh goodness.
I didn't know hyenas had prickly tongues like cats either.. unless I'm just seeing things

You're seeing it right. They have the same rough almost barblike projections that big cats do. Helpful for stripping meat off bones. Helps to grab it. :)

His teeth look pretty good.
Did you get this from the zoo?

There are a few busted ones but the rest do look fine. When you eat a lot of bones it keeps the tartar off apparently XD

Yenas has impressive teeth 8O

They do! The broken ones are probably due to biting down on something that didn't give. Their bite strength is insane..that + their teeth = pretty intimidating package!

umm...ya got a little...here let me get that *wipes drool*

really awesome reference pic, thank you! that right canine though, it looks so ouch!

OH thanks..yeah..hard to tell. It kinda just..drooly strings..allover. Scuse me.

Thanks! I have quite a few ref shots I want to post..want to put up a dedicated website for showing off hyena behavior and pics n stuff.
Yeah I always wince when I see the broken teeth.. they don't seem to care in the least either. O.O

oh that would be great. i love seeing them in a different light from the one demensional way theyre normally portrayed. im gonna assume youve already seen this but just in case you havent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uNCwmax8cs happy hyena!

Yah, unfortunately that different light usually means mainstream media is not interested in what you have. They only seem to care about what supports and reinforces the stereotypes. I really wish someone could fund a nature show that bucks the stereotypes! It would be my favorite show..ever.

Awww adorable!! That is an awesome vid! I took a video of one playing in the pool a lot like that... keeps biting his own foot and falling over. I love watching them play in the water! <3

What big teeth you have!

I got something stuck in the back of my throat...don't mind the teeth just..come closer..... MUCH closer

Like it's SOOO hard to get them to yawn :)

O:)
Hehehe!
Tough getting ref shots without any identifiable background :<

I like the fact that hyena's tongues are the same texture as cat's :3
This is so cool though

Well they are closer related to cats than dogs.. still not either. Civets and mongooses are their closest living relatives. Good examples of convergent evolution tho..for their doglike appearance.

Thank you XD

Absolutely beautiful! =3 Rasped Tongue, lovely Fangs. and the Strongest set of Jaws in the animal Kingdom! not to mention one of the strongest digestive systems! lovely Shot! not often you get such a Remarkable Shot with Crocuta Crocuta! thank you so much for sharing this. =D absolutely going into my Faves! =D

Aww thank you! :D

Teef!

I wish there were more hyena jawsets available (that weren't like, $60 a piece). I'd so make a correct hyena fursuit. With big nasty teefers. >:D

What big teeth you have!

All the better to NOM you with! >:E

I have a jaw casting. Was going to pull a mold from it and make copies for my personal projects. Tho I must say $60 isn't too bad when you consider the price of materials. The one I have is from two part foam so that was cheap but if you're making latex molds or using dental acrylic type stuff it'll get pricey.

Hehehe their teeth are so awesome. The rear bone crushing ones are always a dead giveaway to IDing a skull or just jaw as a hyena. Been to many museums and noticed the skulls and say "OH look a hyena (or extinct relative)"

They nom things with scary ease! O.O

the carnifx jaws? I've considered getting a set, but I'd need to sculpt gums before casting a lighter version for a pursuit. I would do it in super light plastic like the cheap vandykes bear jaws I got (unpainted without tongue)

I would love to own a replica hyena skull o3o

nom nom nom!

I forget who made mine. They are just two part foam jawset with lots of overflow from the mold.
The replica yena skulls are only a few hundred dollars ;P
One I get money to burn I'll end up getting one. One day!

the ones by Carnifx are like...under 20, but they are made off a skull, so you have to add the gums back in.

I will get one of those hyena skull replicas. and maybe paint it up really cool. :D

Oh my! Love the saliva action.

Yeah, I got some shots that are just lips and drool. *drooooool* but I don't post em cause I don't think many folks would find that as fun as I do XD

POST IT

Ok, gotta find it (I have thousands of pictures) and gotta make sure you can't recognize the background. If you can, I will take another better shot of the drool. :)

YAY

I do take requests, I'm just slow on the execution of them. However I do remember when I'm taking pics what people mentioned.

Also their saliva will etch the coatings on lenses if it gets on them. One of the camera guys compared it to Aliens XD
It is also verrrry thick and stringy. Much thicker than dog saliva.

<3...


Do like maw shots :>

Yay! Me too XD

Great shot, especially that you managed to catch the saliva (or "slavers" as I almost typed in local slang :p )like that.
Now to find one to chew on me for a bit

Hehehe, their saliva is verrry thick and stringy. *grin* and I'm sure we can find one to chew on you ;D

Yay ! Would that one be you ?

*big cheesy grin* :D

Look at that spit string.

Yep, it'll take the coating right off your camera lens too :P~~

Don't tell me this is the only picture you took of the hyena, please show us more! D:

I got tons more, just gotta find good ones to post. XD Ones that show details that artists need to see along with some sorta composition going on.

poor baby has sores and cuts on the inside of his mouth, and that right canine looks painful to eat with. X~x

Awesome shot though!

Yeah, luckily their immune system is AMAZING! Infections are rare despite the fact they are crunching up and eating bone (and in the wild it's sometimes rotting meat being stabbed in with those bone shards). I get all sorts of pain from a broken corn chip so I can't imagine bones :P

The broken canine tho does look super painful but he doesn't show any signs of discomfort.

Thank you! I'm glad you like it! :D

Oh yes, their immune system is by far very impressive, liike a crocodile. I was watching an old documentry where a low ranking male was attacked by a patrol squad of hyenas cause he wandered into their territory for a carcass. They ripped his entire right ear off, along with a good portion of his face and bit his entire front lip off. He's lucky to be alive but he's scarred for life, it looks like he has a perminant snarl. I feel so srry for tyhem though, hyenas do have one of the hardest lives out there, next to cheetahs.

Yeah, when you eat things with a lot of nasty bacteria in them you gotta kick ass in the immunity department. Opossums are another example. They were even researched by the military for their cool immune system.
Sad story about the half a face hyena :( poor guy!

Huh, their tongues are cat-style rough?

Yep! It's one of those things no one mentions..like how they don't have fur between their toes.

Wow. I hate to admit it, but I never knew that.

So do they drink cat-fashion, just by dipping their tongues, or dog-fashion by actively lapping?

Well unless you've been around them there is no way to know that. I've never seen it printed anywhere and I've read most everything I can find onthem.

They actively lap I believe, cupped tongue. You know. I never stopped to think about that...the difference in drinking! Now I gotta watch! :D

Please keep spouting off random facts. XD

Uhh, when they get up close and 'talk' to eachother through the fence, they groan or moan...sounds like a cow...a Moooooooo. Very odd sound. Happy hyenas don't make sound..they do yawn if they like how something feels, pet/massage/neckrub brings out a yawn. So the pics of them yawning during sex makes sense.

I love the mooing they do. There was one video where a man was playing a didgeridoo(holy spellcheck batman I spelled that right!) to two of them and they liked it so much they were doing that at him. The yawning thing I never heard about before; it sounds absolutely adorable to see. The few videos of hyena cuddling are wonderful.

It's really a shame I've never had a chance to go to a zoo that appreciates these animals and doesn't ignore them since less people want to see them. :/

Awesome! I'll have to find that video!
They are really sweet when they want to be.

The zoos i've been to that had them, if you talk to the keepers, they all loved the hyenas most of all. The San Diego Wild Animal Park has two and they are my suggestions if you're going to go traveling to see them :)

I did some digging for you! :P
Didgeridoo playing to hyenas The hyena portion starts around 2:47
Hyena playing with kids
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHIz.....WsNM]Dangerous Companions[/url. This one is a 5 or so part set on youtube that's quite worth the watch for how much you get to see Kevin working with big cats and hyenas.

I assume you already saw the video of one rolling around in the water and biting its foot. :)

Woops! Fixed

Thank you!! :D
YAY!

Yes and ours do that too, they love biting their own foot when they are in the water...foot, tail..sometimes front foot. Then they'll spin around in the water, jump out of the pool and go racing around the enclosure. It's hilarious to watch and they always stop when I pull out the camera :P

I found this tooth rottingly cute video recently too. I really wish I could work with hyenas at some point in my life. They're such amazing creatures. <3

They are adorable! With enough determination or money anything is possible ;)

Look at the size of that carnassial pair! Teeth are so interesting.

Yep! They have very distinctive dentition! :D

Teef!

All the better to procure and rend food with my dear!

ive yawned 4 times (went up twice while writing the comment) since i first looked at this ive learned with my cat that you can get animals to yawn just the same as people.

Yeah! I got some great horse shots this past weekend cause HyenaGirl made the horse yawn by yawning. It was really amusing! :D

Very nice reference! Wish I would have found this when I was working on my hyena jawset (ended up ordering a regular taxidermy one instead).

Thanks! I have very close up refs of every bit of a hyena that I just need to get around to posting. Feet, tail, ears, eyes (they have the most amazing pupil shape!) etc.

I bought a foam cast from a jawset for mine then pulled a mold from it so I could cast it in something other than regular two part foam. I think ordering a taxidermy one would have been the easiest way to go!

It was easier, since I didn't have to sculpt the inner mouth details, but I still had to mold and recast it. The sculpt was really well done, but the jaw set was solid cast plastic and weighed a ton. It's a great drawing reference, though!

Would love to see all the refs you've taken, if you post them! Can't know a critter too well if you want to draw them. Do you work with captive hyenas? You know'em so well! I'd love to know more about them, and the differences between wild and captive behavior. :>

Ah ok, makes sense.
Glad the pic could be of service!

You will see them. I'm going to start posting them when I have a spare moment.
I work with them yes, they are fantastic creatures. Thank you, I spent my undergrad career reading everything ever printed on hyenas. Then I got a job and for the past 10 years I've worked with them. Next I would love to learn about their wild behaviors and be able to point out the differences. I know a few but no first hand experience, only stories relayed by others.

Wow, I'd love to see them close up or even work with them. We don't have anywhere, except the zoo, who has hyenas though. Otherwise, I'd love to volunteer at a sanctuary who had them. Quite awesome to get to be so close to them!

Have you heard about the possible closing of the Berkeley colony? They may not get any more funding, and might have to shut down the end of January. It's sad, they're hoping they don't have to shut down. :<

They are great to work with! Fantastic creatures!
What zoo? Good chance they got theirs from the Berkeley colony.

The Denver Zoo. They've had spotted and striped hyenas for many years. The big female has had several cubs in her tenure there. You can get close- they exhibit is really well built and offers great views, but it's still not the same being on the other side of thick glass. Not sure where they got their animals from- they have 2 males, the female, and her almost 2 year old cub right now. :>

Those are from the Berkeley colony. I'm glad they are doing well! :D
I gotta visit them sometime.

I'd LOVE to see their striped hyenas! I dunno where they got them from. I don't know of anyone who even breeds them stateside.

They did come from there? Neat! They're all beautiful animals. I have a TON of pics of the female, I stalked her for over 2 hours getting refs one day. I need to go visit them again soon.

Yep! I'd love to see the pics! :D

I'll try and get some of them posted somewhere, and toss you a link. A few of them look pretty good retouched, but most are more just for drawing reference than real display. :>

Thank you! Look forward to it :D

Ahhh!