One-toe-bears - Teddy bears by Marie-Christine Twardy

"Kobe" (Buxbaumia viridis)
1st March 2009, 267 g, 22 cm (8.66 "), 8 joints

This is "Kobe´s" story: In the beginning of March, the snow was melting and revealed the first buds and green mosses. On a sunny day I took a walk in the forest and suddenly I heard a strange sound. I looked around and found a very cute moss, struggling to free his right foot from the icy snow. He (the moss) was trapped. The snow that had covered him during winter had melted and the warm sun rays had woken him up. It was just his foot which was still frozen and covered with snow. When he saw me, he was frightened and played dead. I tried to convince him that I wouldn´t hurt him and that I could help him. He winked with one eye. Then he moved slowly and finally asked me to help him. After I had freed him, he was quite tame. He warmed up in my hand and told me he was hungry. I decided to take him home. As a biologist I identified him as Buxbaumia viridis, a moss species. You can tell this species apart from other mosses because of its characteristic "flower" (here you can see the characteristic sporophyte). There is an orange stem and a green capsule with an orange tip. Unfortunately his botanical name is quite long and "Kobe" doesn´t like it much. He kept on complaining about his name, so I gave him a nickname. The german name of the species is "Koboldmoos", so "Kobe" was the first choice. He loves his new nickname. "Kobe" has got a very cute orange stitched nose and green felted pads on feet and hands. His stringy pale grey-green mohair looks wet, like a soaked moss. His snout, soles and palms are plucked. He has got eight cotter pin joints, so he can move his legs, arms, hands and head (here a double head joint provides additional mobility). Sheep´s wool and steel pellets in his feet and belly provide him with shape and weight. Thus he can stand alone very well. His short legs make him rather small and mosslike.

"Kobe" loves chocolate and he is cheeky enough to pinch a piece of chocolate when nobody watches. So don´t be too surprised when you fetch yourself some chocolate and a piece is missing after you went to fetch something else. At first, he won´t admit it. You must be a little strict and tell him that you hate lying, then he will admit his deed and apologize. Furthermore, he seems to like taking a sip of coffee, too. Especially coffee with flavour, sugar and milk seems to be appealing. But be careful, he really mustn´t have coffee! He becomes hyperactive on caffeine and he is really unbearable then. However, decaffeinated coffee is all right. After all, "Kobe" needs a lot of love and affection. He needs to be hugged very often and loves the warmth of your hand.

Now "Kobe" lives happily in Austria with his new loving mum, Nicole. There he joined Nicole´s furry little family. "Kobe" moved to Ricky´s in the Netherlands, where he found a new loving home.