SLIT WRITSTS

gore blog. proceed with caution

[i-get-wet]

territorial pissings

[i-get-wet]

not in da com but heres some killers i admire notheless samanther rupnow

ruth ellis

solomon henderson

joanna dennehy

aileen wurnos

randy stair

[i-get-wet]

i like women killers the most can you tell

[i-get-wet]

not in da com but heres some killers i admire notheless samanther rupnow

ruth ellis

solomon henderson

joanna dennehy

aileen wurnos

randy stair

[i-get-wet]

i will probs become a killer im just not at the right place to actually do it rn. ive got to make some kind of name for myself yk?

[i-get-wet]

everyone who should kill themselves never do

[i-get-wet]

im gonna kill a man someday but youll never know about that

[deadbirdsdaily]

One of the data points we take during prep is skull ossification. Baby birds start out with a thin single layer skull and as they age they develop a thicker two layers skull. Most orders of birds have a fully ossified skull when they fledge from the nest but passerines take a bit longer, so it can give us a lot of information about how old a bird is.

This Fox Sparrow died by hitting a window in December, and from the outside appeared identical to an adult bird, but because of the presence of a bursa near the cloaca and this partially ossified skull, I know it was a first year bird.

Incredibly, banders can determine skull ossification on a live bird by looking through the thin skin. I'm not entirely sure how they pull that off, because I typically have to remove the brain and look through the skull in the light to feel confident that I'm actually looking at a partially ossified skull. I do so many non-passerines that I don't get enough practice.

In the first photo, I circled the window section that appears transparent compared to the rest of the skull. I also included a diagram of the skull ossification process under the break.

[deathconnection]

i wanna do drugs get high get drunk cut myself and then kill myself and kill myself and kill myself and kill myself and kill myself

[flesh-rot]

[i-get-wet]

face reveal

[pacificremains]

Young raccoon ribcage

[flesh-rot]

⌖ A deer skull with cortical bone fenestrations and severe tooth decay/root exposure, likely due to an oral infection.

[deadbirdsdaily]

It seems poignant to me that the two Accipitrine hawks I’ve prepared at my current museum are on opposite sides of their first molt.

The Goshawk (left) had a single slate grey adult feather hidden in the brown juvenal plumage of his back. This week’s Cooper’s Hawk has a single brown streaked juvenal feather prominently on her chest that’s otherwise covered in her adult red barred feathers.

Both so fat, obviously successful hunters. Who probably would’ve been successful adults, except for similar accidents with the human built environment. The Goshawk hit a window, and the Cooper’s hit a bird feeder “so fast the feeder shattered.” The Goshawk died instantly; the Cooper’s was taken to a rehab. They tried to repair her torn open wing, but she was suffering. Five days later, she tore open her stitched up wing and they made the difficult choice to euthanize her.

One so close to leaving growing up, and one so close to entering adulthood. The beginning of spring and end of summer.

Injury Photos of the Cooper’s Hawk below the break:

[deadbirdsdaily]

I made sure to leave her baby feather visible on the finished skin!

She actually had a few more but they were harder to keep visible

[deadbirdsdaily]

One of my favorite parts about pinning raptor skins is giving them a fluffy chin. Raptors puff up their chin feathers when they’re comfortable or tired. I hope it makes her look a little more peaceful.

Similarly, she gets a nice fluffy skirt of belly feathers to cover her upper legs. Another comfort sign in raptor body language.

[nekrophile-deactivated20130812]

baby fawn sleeping with its dead mother 

[lesnienka-deactivated20170311]

[maureen2musings]

Wasilla, Alaska

patrickthunalaskaphotos