What is it? A cross stitch story.

one of tye projects my mil gave me in a completely unopened state was actually one of two very difficult looking projects. I made up my mind to donate these treasures when Blueman mentioned how much he liked them and wished I would make them. Well, what's a wife to do after gnashing her teeth?

I took them to work and stared them both down during a lunch hour.  I chose what I thought might be the lesser of two evils. 

So what is it? Ring tailed mythical creature? 

Dinosaur (turn it clockwise)?

Weird noose?

Center section of a cello?

Here is my highlighted portion of the pattern. I can only do this if I highlight my stitches as I do them. Why, you ask? Because the colors in this (and there are only 20+) have six to eight in the brown range only! 

It's a good thing I love Blueman! If I can, I'd like to complete this for his birthday in December.
Happy stitching!