death by diamonds and pearls

Please note that this blog will contain graphic depictions of dead animals. If that is not your cup of tea or if you just don't want to see that kind of thing then please don't scroll down.

[coffinwax-blog]

Hello! needing some help with a beautiful dead Starling I found today, must have literally fallen from the sky moments before because she was still warm, ive collected bones and dead things since I was a kid and ive always just berried them in the garden and retrieved them weeks later, but its not the best technique I've found. I want to keep her skeleton completely intact if I can, so using insects isn't good either because they carry the bones around, what would you recommend?? Thank you!!

Unless you want to invest in a dermestid bottle colony it's going to involve some gore I'm afraid! There's a great in-depth guide to maceration at skullsite.com/misc/macerationmanual.htm hope this helps, good luck!

[coffinwax-blog]

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with “D”

                                                                                  Dead bunny in a shrub? Yep! (two actually) 

So this is possibly the strangest find I’ve had. Spotted this bunny, then when I removed it there was another one under it! (you can see the other head in the second photo, forth shows it after I lifted the big bun out the road). My initial theory of how it got there was an ambitious bird of prey dinner that got dropped but to have under bunny wedged under this one in the exact same spot makes this seem unlikely? So current working theory title I’m going with is “horror movie shit”. Any ideas?

The skin was solid, dried out over the bones. Both in a tub at home now soaking. 

[coffinwax-blog]

Look at this cutie.

We found this black-headed gull on the side of a path with a twisted wing, it had no notion of moving and didn’t struggle at all when it was touched. I phoned up Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue to see if they could come pick it up but as soon as I hung up it done this weird stretch then quietly died. 

[bufonite-archive]

Damn, he’s gorgeous!

What are you gonna do with him?

[coffinwax-blog]

Freshest find I've ever had! Once I've ordered the right size of eye he'll be getting stuffed :) 

[coffinwax-blog]

So today was a strange day. 

[coffinwax-blog]

Look at this cutie.

We found this black-headed gull on the side of a path with a twisted wing, it had no notion of moving and didn't struggle at all when it was touched. I phoned up Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue to see if they could come pick it up but as soon as I hung up it done this weird stretch then quietly died. 

[coffinwax-blog]

Poor bun :( 

Saw him getting taken out by a massive sparrowhawk yesterday and I was surprised to see there was still fluff left this morning. After louping a barbed wire fence to get it I was pleased to find most of it left.

Currently left to the beasties in the garden and I'll gather the bones at a later date. 

[coffinwax-blog]

Do you sell any of your finds? They're preserved gorgeously!

Hi! Not as of yet. I have plans to sort out an online shop in the new year so if anyone wants to come round and hit me with a gigantic motivation stick anytime soon that would be appreciated thanks. 

[coffinwax-blog]

If your workspace is a reflection of your life then mine is a fucking mess.

[coffinwax-blog]

making a manikin for this wee guy tonight

Also I've been without broadband since the 12th of September and since I've never been able to keep up with my dash when I've found wifi I've just abandoned tumblr really. If there's any important and or interesting dead things related stuff I've missed feel free to send links. Broadband should (fingers crossed, 3rd order lucky) be back next week.

[coffinwax-blog]

Hi , I was thinking about getting started on this whole vulture culture thing , and I was wondering if you can give me some begginer tips or something. thank you !

Hiya, sorry for the late reply! I've found its always good to have a few plastic bags on you at all times (as well as some anti - bacterial hand gel ha) and if you cant stand the smell some vicks for under your nose is good. I've been more successful finding dead things on the beach or on cycle paths because i frequent these places most often. Chat to friends and family about it, I'm forever surprised about what dead things I get texted about or dropped off at my door :) Don't get discouraged if you don't find anything for a while and have fun! I would link you to other things but I'm stuck on temperamental mobile data at the moment. If any other vultures want to wade in here feel free!

[coffinwax-blog]

Watching the independence referendum count with coffee and snacks. was crazy busy today so just made it in to vote before the poll shut. I really want to watch it as the results come in but very aware I need to cycle to work at 7am and doing it sleepy will be no fun at all.

[coffinwax-blog]

Almost squished this on my cycle home.

[coffinwax-blog]

What the hell is wrong with you???

It would be quicker to list what's right with me tbh.

[coffinwax-blog]

in other news Troon is jellyfish central right now. 

[coffinwax-blog]

So instead of macerating in a bucket outside and getting the skulls all mixed up (i am the worst at ID-ing things) I tried out separating them into ziplock bags. Neatly hidden in my ceramic chicken on the windowsill, surprisingly no smell! until you open the fuckers. I changed the water in the other bags but one of my razorbills was good to go. He's now in some peroxide fizzing away and I spent the entire afternoon disinfecting my kitchen. 

[coffinwax-blog]

Busy day at the beach.

[coffinwax-blog]

Dramatastic stag all cleaned up.

This was how it looked before. Got rid of the ugly shield, had to soak it for days to get the jerky-like bits of flesh off that remained, scraped the green paint off, and lost a bit of the skull during the process (the skull cavity was filled with plaster wth?) all in all, much better!