jaketeachesdeath

[jaketeachesdeath]

Its Friday at last and we have that Friday feeling. Sunday Al's on holiday and Monday is the start of #mammalweek and then in a weeks time the #citynaturechallenge2024 begins and Al runs the #fibbersleybioblitz2024 and we have a little skull event in the middle.

There's still skulls to finish and all these skulls need adding to the Jakelog

19/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities

[jaketeachesdeath]

Thats right, Al's taking some skulls out for thier Bioblitz so we'll be out to interact with. Theres just over a week to go but since Al's going on holiday Ill be going with! Maybe Ill have other adventures too.

16/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #jake

[jaketeachesdeath]

All the skulls had for thier 30th Birthday from @adrian.johnstone.taxidermy have now been completed!

From left to right

Juvenile Tree Sparrow

Chaffinch (male)

Chaffinch (male)

House Sparrow (female)

House Sparrow (female)

Blackcap (male)

Greenfinch (male)

Swallow

Juvenile Treecreeper

And Snipe is in the back!

These have been fun to complete and it was a pleasure to have brought from Adrian

15/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #bird skull

[jaketeachesdeath]

Does your dog just wreak havoc with your collection or does he just get stuck in a blanket and headbutt your whole shelf from underneath?

15/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #bird skull

[jaketeachesdeath]

*New Species Alert*

Greenfinch!

This one took at long time to clean and still isnt perfect gease trapped in the beak posed a difficult problem and after nearly a month in acetone it still isnt fully resolved.

Again the Greenfinch is rarely seen round here but its not surprise when it was added to the red list in 2021, Trichomonosis seems to be a significant contribution to that population decline.

The males however are a stunning green with striking yellow barring on the wings and tail, the females lack the green and have a dull brown pattern with the yellow tail and wing edges.

They are noted as being garden birds, Greenfinch may take up residence in your conifers and as you can tell from the beak are seed eaters and will readily feed and fight at bird tables. Theyre a large finch not one to pick a fight with especially in the winter months where theyll often feed together.

Our urban parks and gardens have been a safe haven for them due to food restrictions from changes in farming practices. So keep an eye out in your local area for that flash of yellow as they take off!

15/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities

[jaketeachesdeath]

Al has been a little naughty and fell into a Temu hole. But they saw something ideal for ecological or dead works. Its sold as a nail varnish thing but the trays are the perfect size for Al vials. Usually if we take skulls places all uses a box with a built in seat but for other events its perfect.

This holds all the skulls we usually take and can take more (minus the cow). Im really looking forward to seeing how this holds up

13/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities

[jaketeachesdeath]

There's been a lack of content lately and for that I apologise.

Between Al's partner visting soon and planning a Bioblitz in the end of the same week, Al is a little fried.

However, inbetween work and organising a big project has been underway. So whilst Al is away on holiday these posts will update themselves to spend as much time having fun as possible without the stresses of spending hours writing posts.

A daily post will go out at 12pm and some days another at 2pm and 4pm UK time so please stay tuned and get a little excited for Mammal Week (seriously its been a really long process)

Who knows what will happen next!

12/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #mammal week

[jaketeachesdeath]

We finally sorted a shelf for the tiny skulls and Rats after a previous disaster!

Though I need more Mice to work out a good method to clean them as it doesnt usually end well.

12/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities

[jaketeachesdeath]

Set yourself goals that seem farfetched. Then work at them. Look back on how easy they were to achieve compared to how you thought it was going to go.

Back as a novice collector Al thought these skulls would be a hard goal. Roll on nearly a decade later and we've all but one on that list and that due to space Highland Cattle are too big for the space atm.

Which skulls do you have now that youd dreamed of that felt unobtainable?

09/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities

[jaketeachesdeath]

New Species Alert!

This one is a Snipe! A funky Wader as you can see these birds have long beaks for probing into the mud in search of earthworms and crustaceans. Its beak is also mightly flexible allowing the beak tips to open up to snaffle away in the narrow probing holes.

Since theyre active in late evening or early morning tied in with thier incredible camouflage it makes surveying them rather difficult however ringers are now taking to using thermal imaging to find them. Its important to keep an eye on numbers as our breeding population is declining leaving them Amber listed.

Which is kind of interesting since they are Birds which have been historically hunted in the UK. That however is why hunting seasons are important. Large numbers descend on UK wetland from Europe and Russia over winter so the season is actually open from August to January.

That is how I think this ones beak got shattered. Since this was my first attempt at a Snipe I wasnt quite sure how to preserve the beak sheath, which feels more like a skin. But it does however leave the interesting view of the holes for the nerve endings (if you ignore the accidental rust markings)

09/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities

[jaketeachesdeath]

First dead animal Ive seen in a while, Al saw a male Blackbird on the way home earlier.

Its expected youd find more dead in the winter but we find less and less. Summer months are usually the busiest. Soon the fledges will start appearing after unsuccessful beginnings

05/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities

[jaketeachesdeath]

This poor Wood Mouse has been sitting in a pot since around march last year after being given to me by a friend. In that time it even took off down the garden in an odd occurance with the wind.

So its missing a plate, a tooth and the zygomatic arches. But still it cleaned up well I think

03/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #bone cleaning

[jaketeachesdeath]

Working on a bigger project atm stay tuned...

02/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities

[jaketeachesdeath]

Tiny tiny teethies. 11 outta 12 aint bad all things considered. 9 put back in the skull

01/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #bone cleaning #bone proccessing

[jaketeachesdeath]

Al was collecting long before I was on the scene. Back in 2013 probably the little bird skulls appeared in a hole of an engineering brick Al was sorting out at the yard at thier previous job. Theres stacks of these white based cases inside a specimen case under the shelf shown. Over 10 years later, oh how we've grown

01/04/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #bone cleaning

[jaketeachesdeath]

Happy Trans Day of Visibility!

Hope you all have a safe and much loved day

Theres a few creatures out there that can manipulate thier genders. Fish, Molluscs and even some Reptiles and Amphibians but probably my favourite example is not so much a change for breeding survival as far as reproduction goes.

Its one I think is far more fitting for the way that humans present themselves. The Marsh Harrier, this Bird of Prey is the biggest of the Harriers in the UK. Locked into the south of England they became the target of persecution until just one nesting female remained. Now thats to efforts to save this largley migratory bird have seen a rise to over 400 breeding pairs since the 1970s.

They are easily recognisable, fantastically coloured and a very characteristic V shaped wing position in the sky. The unforgettable awe inspiring tumble between pairs in courtship displays of talon locking. This species is sexually diamorphic. The females are larger a smooth brown plumage with a dense golden crown and throat. The males are usual are most intensely coloured long grey wings that extend out into black tips, a pale neck and head trailing back into a gingery underside and a brown upper

Interestingly though there's some levels of change. At thier first moult in winter their juvenile plumage can make things a little murky, now the first full body moult at 2cy can make them sexually distinguishable. However come the summer of that cycle males can start looking remarkably like females, even into the summer of 3cy. Now whilst these males cant match the size of the females they do blend in rather well. Then some of the older females cam develop male type plumage and some birds even keep an almost juvenile plumage

So I think its a casing point to say you just have to do you. Whilst gender identity and gender expression are two different things I think gender expression goes a long way to help folk feel comfortable in thier own skin

It might be the males adopt a female cover for protection, it could be older females want to be left alone by males we dont know but its doesnt change the fact whatever the reason they are still worthy of protection and admiration

31/03/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #tdov #tdov 2024

[jaketeachesdeath]

Finally on to this one again after taking so long to sort it out

29/03/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #bone cleaning #bone proccessing