As you can probably guess my camera has been repaired, and I've been putting it to use by photographing a few pieces from my bone collection. I've mentioned previously that taxidermy isn't really my thing, and that still holds true; the anatomist in me appreciates the stripped nature of bone, and their endurance.
Most of the bones I've collected were ones I'd found, specifically in the highlands, but this jackdaw skull is one purchased from The Fox Den I received for my birthday last year. I specifically asked for a jackdaw as I have fond memories of a tamed young jackdaw I knew from when I was a kid sitting on my head and trying to eat my hair (it's really no surprise to anyone that I turned out the way I did), and wanted a way to remind me of him. It fits perfectly in my smaller glass cloche, and it was fun making an arrangement for it.
One of the advantages of being friends with the river bailiff (aside from local gossip and occasional free fishing for my dad) is how he called us completely out of the blue one day to tell us that there was a deer skull beside the river if we wanted it. It absolutely stank out the car on the way back, but it now sits proudly in the garden waiting to be cleaned and mounted.
My most recent addition is something I've coveted for a while, and so fragile I'm afraid to touch it - a complete mole skeleton. I got it on eBay for £30 (my mum shook her head and said I needed supervision for going online when I told her), and the skull is so tiny and perfect, like a baby's fingernail. It really deserves a display to showcase it, but until I either articulate it or frame it (the latter more likely, due to its delicacy) I'll share this.
Do you collect bones or curios? Anything you'd particularly like to see? Let me know below!
Fiona C.
Great bone collection! I really love the look of skulls and the differences between all the species!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I obviously love them too; seeing how the features correspond to the living phenotype (please put me down, I am a biology nerd) is amazing.
Deletewhen tastefully displayed, I like the look of bones. Otherwise it's just, here you go: a dead thing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm not a big fan of masses of bones together, which detracts from the beauty of each item; it's much nicer to consider how to display them, even if it's very simple.
DeleteYou really have a nice collection, especially amazing to see bigger sized ones! I tend to put faethers, bones and skulls in my plastic bag whenever I find them around, and clean them later as well usually use them for diy projects / decoration / jewelry :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm very lucky to have the bigger skulls, as well the very delicate smaller ones. I also have a set of roe deer antlers that I totally forgot to include, but I might do that after the start of the academic year.
Delete