Talons and Claws

You can look at an animals claw or talon to know if it was a predator or a herbivore. Claws and talons are important tools for animals because they need them for foraging or digging. Over years I got a lot of animal claws and talons and today I want to introduce them to you.

Lion
Claws of cats are always hard bended and very sharp. Its easy do differ cat claws from other animal claws. I bought that lion claw in a taxidermy shop and it is very big! That claw is a jewel in my collection and stands besides to my lion skull.

About 4cm long and it exists way bigger lion claws

Find more cool claws under the cut!


Badger
Look how large that claw is! It belongs to the old badger I have written before. Badgers are masters in digging holes so they need strong and long claws. The favourite foods of badgers are worms so they need their claws for foraging, too. I don’t want get hit by a badger claw neither.

Very long, about 4cm long

Coyote
Typical canid claw. Those claws aren’t long and not very sharp. No wonder, canids can’t push back their claws like cats can do.

About 2cm long

Bears
Bear claws have a very typical shape so you can not make a mistake. The claws are flat and could be very long and sharp. Bears are omnivores so they need their claws more for digging for insects, mice or bulbs than for hunting. Anyway, you better don’t get hit by a bear.
I got my little black bear claws from my taxidermist.

"Baby" bear claw, about 3,5cm long

Birds
All flying birds have pointy claws, so it isn’t always easy to say if it was a bird of prey or just a normal songbird. Look at the claws of the crow, they are very pointy! But a crow isn’t a bird of prey although even they eat meat sometimes. Claws of bird of preys are often more bended and pointy as hell!

Crow

Golden Eagle

Common Buzzard

Kestrel

Long-eared owl. The claw is about 1.5cm

Mole
This hand with the claws is mummified and I’m pretty proud of it! That hand is very big, like a shovel and the claws are long, strong and blunt. Smooth digger hands!

The paw is about 1.8cm long

I really like big claws, especially from predators. They look dangerous and that fascinates me. But I don’t want to feel them on my own skin neither ;)