Vulture Culture

[GingerC]

I was just wondering if anyone here in the mantis community is into vulture culture: the collection of dead things and other nonliving biological material, such as taxidermy, bones, fur, mummified remains, eggshells, wet specimens, etc. It's a hobby I've just started getting into, mainly because of my interest in biology and anatomy.

I have a resin cast of my pet mantis, as well as an assortment of dead bugs, a fossilized trilobite, ammonite and some ferns, a claw I saved from my crayfish's molt, and the naturally mummified corpse of a half grown house gecko.

My current project is to make a mount out of a salmon's lower jaw; I skeletonized the bones a few days ago and now I just need to use some glue to hold them together (the cartilage disintegrated) and mount them with wires. I even made a little diagram to remind myself how they fit together; it made me feel like a proper anatomist when I made it, lol.

I also found a skull I presume to be from a baby gecko in my yard, which I'm going to cast and make into a ring.

Anyone else have a collection? What have you got, and do you clean and prepare stuff yourself?

 

[SMUG BUG]

How did you get the resin cast? That sounds really cool

 

[Nanodot]

I seem to be collecting molt skins from my Mantids.  I love seeing the huge size changes from molt to molt.   

Here is one resource I know of:  http://deadinsects.net/

I found what I think was an occipital bone from a giant sea turtle, on the beach.  I tried to sun-clean it to keep as a specimen, but I think a member of my family threw it away because the stench was too much for the backyard....

My son who loves moths is a vegetarian and he doesn't want to display pinned moths, even after their natural death.  That's too bad, I would love a mounted Luna moth and a Morpho butterfly.  

We have fossils displayed, both real and resin.  Someday I want a dragon skeleton from Shapeways...  You can get all sorts of real and imagined bones 3D printed at Shapeways.  

 

[Rick]

Yes but I never knew it had a name. Keep most of it in my office at work. I'm a prolific fossil hunter so the house is literally full of fossils. 

 

[Okoboji22]

Yes but I never knew it had a name. Keep most of it in my office at work. I'm a prolific fossil hunter so the house is literally full of fossils. 

You should post some pictures of your more interesting fossils, they sound fascinating! Also, what type of fossils? Like bones or fossilized seashells?

 

[Rick]

You should post some pictures of your more interesting fossils, they sound fascinating! Also, what type of fossils? Like bones or fossilized seashells?

Mostly teeth is what we find because teeth fossilize more readily. We find lots and lots of whale bone pieces but they are rarely identifiable. I keep lots of skulls and stuff in my work office. Here is a pic of a few fossils. 

 

[Connor]

@Rick wow that’s neat... youve got a lot there. That’s only a few? Crazy. Back when I was little I used collect all different sorts of rocks and fossils. I would go to those one rip-off places where you sift through the sand. 

 

[Okoboji22]

Mostly teeth is what we find because teeth fossilize more readily. We find lots and lots of whale bone pieces but they are rarely identifiable. I keep lots of skulls and stuff in my work office. Here is a pic of a few fossils. 

View attachment 9955

Wow that's a lot of fossils. How are you able to find so many?

 

[Rick]

Wow that's a lot of fossils. How are you able to find so many?

That's about a quarter of my collection I'd say. 

The east coast is very fossiliferous.