Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting / A Complete Handbook for the Amateur Taxidermist, Collector, Osteologist, Museum-Builder, Sportsman, and Traveller

by William T. Hornaday; W. J. Holland

Please notice the number of facts that are taught by this simple little group. It shows that the opossum is a marsupial, and the female carries her young in a pouch in her own body; that when the young reach a certain age, they ride upon the mother's back, clinging to her fur; that the animal is arboreal in habit, and has a prehensile tail, by which it is capable of suspending itself; that it burrows in banks in dry situations, and sleeps curled up like a ball in a bed of dry leaves. It also shows the full size of the adult, the young of the previous year, and the recent brood. But for an unfortunate accident, which has yet to be repaired, it would also show the number born at one birth. Of course in this group the grass and moss is properly represented, and there are artificial leaves on the tree branches which enter the group.

Groups of this class can easily be made to show the ordinary nesting and breeding habits of the animals represented. Now it happens that animals of some species make a variety of nests, according to circumstances or caprice. In 1889 we prepared a group in three sections, each of which shows one of the habits of the gray squirrel in nesting. Each is composed of an actual nest, and in the identical tree in which it was built by Bunny himself. One represents a nest in a hollow beech tree, in which a pair of gray squirrels bred for years. Another is what might be called a summer nest, made of cedar bark, in the top of a cedar tree. It is a round ball, and in size and shape much resembles a hornet's nest. The third section represents an outside nest of green oak-leaves, placed on a branch of an oak tree. These three groups are exhibited in one case, but while each is separated from the others by a plate of heavy tinted glass, it is made apparent that they all illustrate the habits of the same animal. The specimens composing the three groups were all collected within a radius of ten miles of the city of Washington. Besides teaching what the nesting habits of the gray squirrel are, it also impresses upon the observer the very important fact that the habits of different individuals of a given species are capable of wide variation. They show how dangerous it is for a student or scientific investigator to generalize too freely from one or two facts, and that it is dangerous for anyone to say what an animal will not do!

In beginning the preparation of small mammal groups (for a museum) the following hints may be of service: It is not necessary that a small group should be designed and sketched out in advance. The first step, therefore, is the finding of a typical family of specimens, and a suitable burrow or nest. The character of the creature's home will largely determine the design of your group. By all means endeavor to secure a nest or burrow which can be fitly shown as a typical home of the creature represented.

When the nest of an animal is situated in a tree, it is nearly always possible to cut out a section of the tree, and introduce it bodily into your case, with appropriate leaf settings. When an animal burrows in the ground, as do the fox and the woodchuck, the best that can be done is to dig out the spot carefully, taking measurements and diagrams as you proceed, to show the direction and size of the entrance and the exact shape and size of the nest. You can then manufacture a bank and reproduce a perfect fac-simile. Of course all the nest materials—refuse bones, hair, and feathers—must be taken along bodily, and used in the manufactured nest.

In displaying a portion of a tree-trunk which contains a nest, it has been our custom to saw out a rectangular section at one side of the hollow, and hang the piece on hinges at one side of the opening, like an open door, so that the entire interior and the situation of the nest can be seen. Of course it is in order to place a number of the young specimens in the nest in characteristic attitudes.

When you have collected a number of young specimens, mount them at once while the forms and attitudes are fresh in your mind and the skins are in good condition. If you are lucky enough to get the young alive, you can mount some of the skins while the others serve as living models.

Now comes an important point. It usually happens that at the time when the young are of the best age to display in a group, the fur of the adult specimen is at its poorest. Worse than that, shedding is often in progress. No matter what hypercritics may say, do not hesitate to perpetrate an anachronism by taking adult specimens later in the season, when their fur is at its best. It would be an injustice to the group, to the species, and to yourself, to include adult specimens in their poorest pelage. Along with your groups of young animals, which necessarily represent conditions during spring or summer, do not forget to represent some of your species in their winter homes, with their stores of nuts, acorns, etc., for winter use.

The field open to the conscientious and really artistic taxidermist in the preparation of groups is a wide and deeply interesting one. I know of no branch of taxidermy which ought to be more interesting than this. Its possibilities are open to all. While it is impossible for everyone to prepare groups of large mammals, in the matter of small groups you can say, "The world's mine oyster."

Groups of Large Mammals.—In creating a high-class group of large mammals, it is, as has been stated before, extremely desirable to prepare the design first, and collect the specimens to suit it. There is no burrow or nest to reproduce, and this course is not only possible, but usually very necessary.

There is one important fact which should never be lost sight of in the preparation of a design for a group of large quadrupeds. If the animals are purely terrestrial, as will be the case in nearly all large groups, the largest and finest adult male and female should each stand on a flat and horizontal surface, in easy and conventional attitudes. This is necessary in order that the form, height, and back outline of each of the typical adult specimens can be studied by the technical zoologist with as much certainty and accuracy as any ordinary case specimen standing on a flat pedestal of hard wood. To illustrate the point: If the huge bull bison in our large group had been put walking up hill, or walking down hill, it would now be practically impossible for anyone wishing to draw a picture of him to accurately determine the precise angle of his hump. Furthermore, his height at the shoulders would be either exaggerated or diminished, almost unavoidably. As it is, he was with deliberate intention mounted on a flat and horizontal surface, as was the cow also, so that even though they are in a group they lose nothing whatever of their value to the technical zoologist, who demands that all specimens shall be mounted on flat surfaces, and in conventional attitudes for the sake of comparison. Having done this much for pure science, we are at liberty to vary the attitudes of the remaining specimens of the group.