scavengersmenagerie-blog

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My father tried to convince me that two and a half months would be long enough for an entire male deer to decompose. I should have bet money seeing as how the stomach cavity was still in the ribcage.

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Upcoming specimens!

Rasmus the board and Petunia the Deer.

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With finals two weeks away for me I have put my scavenging work on hold for the time being. I have a handful of projects I just cant wait to tell you folks about when I can get back to it.

For now I would love to see what everyone else has discovered! Feel free to submit your discoveries and adventures if you would like or leave an ask with any questions or comments!

Hope everyones having a good week, keep scavenging!

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Two or three weeks ago I went to my first taxidermy lessons and sucessfully mounted this fella! Who I named Renley the Raccoon.

I said I was going to mount a beaver but at the time the little guys were not ready to be mounted, so I brought a raccoon with me that I found a few months ago while roadkill scavenging. It was so much fun and I learned tons, a perfect experience with more to come. We mounted a troublesome bobcat while Renley was tanning and cleaned skulls. Took some interesting calls about bobcats, pets, and skeletons. Some folk stopped by to get turkeys mounted in which I got to watch my instructor work. 

I still have another week payed for that I will go back during summer break to complete. But between now and then I have a grey fox that I skinned there that I am to finish and mount as a pedestal for homework. When I go back we'll both mount the beavers and finish Renley and the Fox.

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Why no cats, dogs, or birds?

It's all laws that stop me and many others from doing much to nothing with all three.

Here where I live  (small town in florida) If you find lets say fresh dog or cat roadkill you are to call animal control. They will come out and check for chips and if they do they contact the owners if they don't they take them. They don't want us picking them up for the sake that they could be someones pet and then we are taking someones possession. Which in short becomes a legal issue, its one of the creatures that are illegal to pick up on roads. Also with the fur trade laws here once you get a dog and cat fur you are stuck with it. It is illegal to trade and sell dog and cat fur. Now bones are open to sale and trade and if found on the road or tracks (like my dog skeleton delilah) then you are aloud to pick them up. 

Birds on the other hand are so complicated that I wouldnt even try. Most birds are part of the migratory bird act and there for you don't even want to be caught with a feather let along a skin or skull. Living in florida this law is very strict, Almost all our birds are part of this act. There are little to none that are not and have to be hunted or found in season and most with permits and tags.

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Whats a better birthday gift than puppies and kittens?

These two cuties were birthday/christmas gifts from two of my best friends. I would have made a post two months ago but I just recently had the chance to meet up with them. The puppy and kitten were both purchased from skulls unlimited and were bundled in a nifty little shadow box and apothecary jar. You know you have good friends when they give you dead things.

I love these two so much because you can see their teeth rupturing through the jaw bone. It is sad that they are so young but at least they were properly taken care of and are in good hands now. 

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I walked out to the deck the other day to check on some raccoon skulls I have macranating in tubs. But I forgot this fellow was in the fire pit and gave me quite the startle. My dad found him by one of the ponds and insisted on keeping it. It doesnt stink but I still refuse to do anything with it. So it lives in the fire pit until we wish to use it. My dad considers it our collections mascot.

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Just a little update to hold you folks over, its been a little slow over here but there should be new updates soon. My taxidermy lessons are the end of this month so there should be some interesting photos coming from that!

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I'm so glad I found you! Do you have any tips on finding dead animals and cleaning bone? I just started out :)

Welcome new scavenger! :D

When searching always have bags, gloves, and a poke em stick! (a garden spade works well.)

Roadside, train tracks, and forests.

Let your friends know, if you think they may be into something like bone collecting that is. I have a handful of friends that enjoy going out scavenging with me just to see what I find. Sometimes they find things to!

No cats or dogs unless they are all bone! No birds either unless you know your birds well!

Fish are stinky…I don't trust fish.

Drug store peroxide is excellent for whitening bones, but foams like crazy and takes a week or more to whiten! Brace yourself and sit back for the ride.

Insects are a good sign..That is if they are outside.

A little dawn dish soap, hot water and a tooth brush will clean dirty skulls right up!

Do not boil, do not bleach. You can simmer, and you can whiten. Boiling will make your bones more brittle as will bleach.

If you go through the Q&A link on the page it'll lead you to some questions others asked that may help out as well. These are just the things I tell most off the bat. Have fun scavenging!

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Just wanted to say what an awesome blog you have!

Aw why thank you! You got quite the nifty blog yourself! Followers go check em' out!

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Becoming a Taxidermist

Today my father and I went to see Bill Burns (Back to Life Taxidermy) about getting two of my brother in laws fish mounted and my cousins bass redone. But we mostly went to see about getting me in for lessons this coming spring break! Which I am! The 25th through the 29th I will have taxidermy lessons where I will be stuffing a beaver and assisting with the many, many, many deer mounts he has to work on. Its pretty awesome to meet someone older than me who gets just as excited as I because we are able to bring creatures back to life in different ways.

Why did I pick a beaver? Well we told him we have three fox squirrels and a raccoon and he suggested that I could go with one of my squirrels. But I feel squirrels are typically always the beginners first mount if not a rat or mouse. So I went with one of the beavers he mentioned he had multiples of. Mind you, however, Bill told us something that makes lots of sense "Once you do a squirrel everything after that is just a bigger squirrel." 

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I dont just get strange gifts from my father to help me feel better. My uncle is pretty good at finding some things here and there for me.

This and two vertebra belonged to a wild hog at one point. A rather old animal because the leg is pretty nicely fused together and i cannot take the two segments apart! So its a functioning leg segment that moves! I took a frame by frame moving the leg and when I feel better I might put it together in a clip or GIF.

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If a turtle loses his shell is he naked or homeless?

I dunno but he would be missing a pretty big section of his spine!

I have been sick lately which has caused me to miss almost all of my midterm exams. Its dragged me down a bit and ive been sleeping most the day but my dad seemed to find a way to cheer me up. Sunday he went to have dinner at my grandparents house and during dinner him and his brother went to the attic to find some of their highschool art work. They found that and more.

This is the skull and shell of a turtle that my dad hunted and ate with some friends when he was younger (I believe when he was in his teens). Granted both are a little worn but still a wonderful gift to be given! I almost didn't know what to do because the shell is so big and I am running out of room for the collection! Fear not however I cleared a spot for both the shell and the skull to sit together.

I know it is a snapping turtle of some sort judging by the beaked skull and pretty flat pointed shell. I haven taken time out to search what type and I really should. Back when my dad was younger there were not many laws on hunting turtles but now the laws here in Florida have gone crazy. Being the animal was hunted when it was legal we shouldn't be in trouble if it is illegal now but we may be stuck with a turtle friend for a long, long, time. Thats ok we don't plan on getting rid of him anytime soon!

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A handful of discoveries and projects

New updates are to come! Right now I am working on some film projects and while that happens there are bones processing and animals filling the freezer.

There are currently three fox squirrels and a raccoon in my freezer waiting to be skinned. Once skinned their remains will go to either the bone garden or our compost pile. In the compost there is a deer and a raccoon that we picked up. In my buckets there is a raccoon skull and a hog skull and a few other hog bits. There will be plenty to update on clearly.

I hope everyones scavenging is going well and you have a safe couple of days!

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How far do you generally walk along the train tracks before you find anything Also, what do you think about scavenging a roadkill dog or cat without tags? I live in a somewhat rural area where a lot of loose animals get hit by cars and I've always wanted to stop and pick something up, especially if its been there for a while. I love canine skulls, I'm just leery of ending up with someone's beloved pet or if it had a microchip instead of tags. I'd rather not leave something so neat just to rot.

Its really one big game of chance.  I could be walking for a good thirty minutes before I find anything  big. Some cases i've walked right out and instantly found a full skeleton or just a few bones. But i have yet gone out and not found at least one or two bones.

It also depends on the location. Our train tracks mostly lead to old machine shops and orange groves so when they were running they went through pretty secluded areas before they made it to any roads. Best bet is  to go to tracks near roads because I assure 60% of the time the animal somehow ends up at the tracks after getting hit. You'll be able to tell because the skeleton is not on the tracks but off to the side.

Eh I would be very careful and probably avoid said animals. At least until they have decayed or its just bones. Its illegal to posses cat and dog furs and illegal to pick up what could be a domesticated pet. Its such a sticky situation with microchips and people generally not tagging the pets that I wouldn't even try until its obvious no one is going to pick it up. Now if its obvious the animal is feral, not bathed or fed so on, then you can trust your gut feeling and try it. But for the most part i'd say just move the animal to the side where it wont be damaged but can still be found. If your looking for its bones I guarantee it will be a little less than two weeks before the critters picked it clean. Then you can go back and investigate and claim what you wish. It's going to rot at some point, let it rot knowing you wont get in trouble.

I would use my dog skeleton as an example but it was obvious she was dumped in the location because of the trash bag she was in.

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It sounds like a bit of a silly question, but how do you transport the bones you find back to your home? Walking around with bones in your hands would probably get some attention!

No question is silly not asking them is silly :)

If i'm purposely going out to scavenge I take a reusable grocery bag and a handful of plastic ones. The plastic ones are so I can keep the different bones separate and the reusable for carrying it all. Here our train tracks are used as nature trails and paths now so its more common to find a kid walking around with grocery bags than bones. Same goes for walking up and down the road.

Now in my car I carry a cooler and a big plastic mechanics bin for those sudden finds. Those are usually fresh or stinky so I have a box of gloves (bright pink, we scavenge in style) in there as well as trash bags. 

Transporting from home to other places is when I'm not so put off to carry them openly. But for the safety of the specimen we put them in coolers with towels and fluff or canvas boxes.

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How do you safely clean an animal like a rat and still get all the bones in a good enough condition to articulate (for the rat I would use glue), in a way that parents wouldn't puke over or be concerned that you'll die from a horrible disease? (My parents aren't big fans of my hobby).

Oh this is a toughie. Anything with water is going to create a mighty stink, and I'm sure your parents wouldn't appreciate you dissecting a rat in or near the home.

I would find a spot away from the house, dig a hole and place the animal, and then put a pot of some sort upside down into the hole with the animal. Burry the pot with the animal half way and leave it for i'd say a month or more. This allows the flies to get in from the holes in the bottom of the pot and the crawlies in the ground to get to the animal while keeping the stink level down.

BUT, you may want to discuss your hobby with your parents. When the time comes around that you pull up the specimen you'll still have to pick through dirt and hair, maybe some bits of gross, before you can whiten/disinfect and articulate.  If you can convince your parents it will be ok i'd clean the animal of skin and flesh before burying it. This will speed up the nature cleaning and give the crawlies something easier to get to. But thats hard to do, parents really worry 'bout their kiddies. Theres more chance to get something from other people than dead animals.