r/carousels

Hello! I am trying to identify this… thing I saw at House On The Rock in Wisconsin, USA. The museum is famous for their carousel but this creature was not in the carousel area, it was high up in another room. I am not sure it is actually meant to be a carousel animal.

I would love to know more about what animal / creature this is, where it could be from, and if there are others. These photos are from 2021.

I assume it’s wooden, and it has a pole going through the center. Note the long, curling tail.

Just been on a binge of videos by Carousels & Coasters ( @amusementparkhistory_ on Instagram) and started wondering about the different styles of carousels.

This ride in the image travels around funfairs in the Netherlands. We would call it "dierenrups" (animal caterpillar) because it makes a similar up and down movement to a "rupsbaan" ride (caterpillar track) so I never really looked at it like a carousel, but really it is just like a carousel in that it has animals you can ride except on this ride the entire floor sections move up and down instead of the animals themselves. Apparently it's also called a "golfbaan" (wave track) or "Hobbelende Geit" (Rocking Goat)

Any hardcore purists here that can offer their view? I'm intrigued.