Pics of things I picked up at school, and some stuff that I've simply not shared before. The first section is from my college pickings ( Read more... )

I had an exceptional day today. Got my chores done, laundry done, my bugs came in the mail, and Mr P called to ask me over to help skin the fox that he picked up last week (on his way home from my place after spending the afternoon skinning one of the beavers ( Read more... )

(Dear Fenrir, I know you don't really like reading about my dead things, and in this post I talk about a couple beavers I was given, but I would be much obliged if you'd at least read the last few paragraphs. <3 ( Read more... )

Between a couple 'how to preserve bugs' threads here and my finding a huge grasshopper on my porch the other day, I decided to put together a quick guide on how to pin insects. Keep in mind that I'm an amateur at this and that I've still got a lot to learn, but I thought I'd share my knowledge (and enthusiasm!) anyways.

( brilliantly image heavy! )

First off, my uncle is the coolest person ever. He works at MTSU in the labs. When I was little, he took us all on a tour of the college's bio department and showed us the all the snakes, feeder rats, and jarred specimens. We got to take home little vials full of tiny shrimp on one visit. He'd go creek stomping with me when he came to visit and he ( Read more... )

I've started collecting bayberries. I doubt I'll get the reported 15 pounds of berries I'll need to make one pound of wax. I'm hoping to gather enough to make at least one pair of dipped candles or even some walnut candles ( Read more... )

( Dead thing chat within )

I got home from church yesterday afternoon right as my sisters pulled in. They hopped out of the car and asked if I'd gotten the rabbit, meaning a roadkill ( Read more... )

So . . . I may be getting a few fox pelts soon -- coyotes if I can pull it, but I doubt that'll happen, sadly. Four red fox (ranched, I think, 'cause they're monstrous 55" long tip to tip) for a slick price that I'll make into a fluffy blanket. My kid sister will pay a small amount for the tail and face of one (she's makin' a costume, so cute!) and ( Read more... )

Thanks to Grygon's awesomesauce post over at curio-collector, I was made aware of this crazy-awesome thing called REVERSE LENS MACROooo!!!

An immediate urge of 'must research this!' and 'hey, I've got these awesome dead things that I've not posted about before' and you get these:

( Read more... )