Peter

Today in mammology we skinned and stuff a study pelt of various mammals. There was a sugar glider, a few small brown bats, jumping mice, lots of hairy tailed moles, a head hog (named Francisco, not Sonic!), a grey squirrel and a fox squirrel with a SMASHED face and an eye flattened and poking out. I decided to try a mole, it was a medium size and was something I could take with me if I wanted...the head hog you could not. This turned out to be a wise choice. The "hot" girls in the class, who always show up two hours late b/c they are taking another class that conflict with this one, got stuck with the smashed fox squirrel. Oh man, it's a GREAT thing I didn't choose that one, what a stinky! mess.

The mole, and most others, turned out to be way less bloody than I imagined. Another surprise was the amount of force needed to remove the body cavity. It was hard! My fingers hurt a lot from all the tugging and pinching, but it was well worth it.

We had to cut off the head and clean out the brain, which I have never done on such a small animal. Turns out you use a syringe with water. After digging around the inside with the needle, you being to squirt water inside and watch the grey matter flow right out. I will get to have my little buddy, Peter, in about a week. I think he'll make a great travel companion for Oliver...a store bought toy duck that Elisabeth and I travel with and photograph throughout our various travels.

Here's Oliver with a toll booth attendant on our way back from a trip to Michigan in the summer of 2004.

I photographed the mole skinning process, if you are squeamish, don't look at the photos in the next post.