corvus
Posted : 9/30/2006 5:10:02 AM
Oooo, bones! I've collected skulls for a while, now. I collect dried bits of dead animals, too. I know an artist who's just as bad as me and we always collect extras for each other. She mounted some kookaburra wings for me. I also have a very extensive feather collection. My favourite one is a lyrebird tail feather. I've got one of the middle ones that are all fillamenty and my artist friend has one of the edge ones that are two feathers attached at the base. Very pretty.
I've got a frogmouth skull (like an owl), a shearwater skull, an echidna skull, a possum skull, a deer skull, a cow skull and part of a fox skull. I've also got a whole bunch of kangaroo skulls of different sizes. I got so many that I actually started to walk past the old roadkills instead of looking for the skull. I think that's all. I've also got a wing and part of a skull from a tiny bird, which is just beautiful. And lots of other bits and pieces I've found.
The worst thing about doing field work overseas was that I couldn't bring any of the cool dead things I found home. The bear and skunk skull had to stay in the field, as did the turkey and flicker feathers. I think technically it is illegal to collect them because it's impossible to prove whether you killed the animal to get the specimens or not. But I find it unlikely that someone is going to walk into my room, see my collection and report me. And unlikely that anyone could be bothered to fine a penurious zoology student over a collection of dead things.