Mudpuppies are NOXIOUS
OK, so my sleep schedule is a bit screwed. I'd normally be in bed by now, but I'm just getting back from the lab and my office. I've had three nights in a row now that have been a lot shorter than I would have liked, and kinda crashed this afternoon. But then I had to go in and finish dissecting my mudpuppy (for those of you who don't know, it's a salamander, 8-12" long), locating blood vessels, and compiling the list of stuff for the students to find, then run over to my office and post it on Blackboard for them to print off for class tomorrow.
When we were doing the sharks the past few weeks, they reeked of fish, but that was about it. For some reason, the mudpuppies don't really stink, but the preservative fumes they give off make your eyes and nose BURN. It's really like smelling salts. Or maybe tear gas. I don't know what else to compare it to. And the buggers are so bloody small that a lot of the blood vessels either aren't visible, or just rip as soon as you touch them. Can't wait for the cats. They don't stink (much), they're decent size, and you can actually see things.
When we were doing the sharks the past few weeks, they reeked of fish, but that was about it. For some reason, the mudpuppies don't really stink, but the preservative fumes they give off make your eyes and nose BURN. It's really like smelling salts. Or maybe tear gas. I don't know what else to compare it to. And the buggers are so bloody small that a lot of the blood vessels either aren't visible, or just rip as soon as you touch them. Can't wait for the cats. They don't stink (much), they're decent size, and you can actually see things.