Wandering Bones

The Ocean gives me bones and I do not question her. A beginner vulture, I collect bones from the beach and sand dunes and I'd like to make something beautiful from them.

[winetae]

i understand that not everyone can donate rn even if they really wanted to. i myself am currently unemployed and cannot donate much more than i already have atm !! not donating is okay - pls don’t feel guilty if you do not have the means to do so.

if donating is not a possibility right now, ive found this 1 hour video you can watch on youtube where all proceeds from the ad revenue will go to an organization to help the cause (more info in the video’s description). op has compiled songs and art from Black artists to listen to. you can leave it on to play in the background or plug in earphones and go about your business as usual. it can’t get more simple than that.

as a fandom that’s known to mass stream, it would be amazing if you could channel that energy into watching this video !!!!!

[catboyobito]

in the comments there are plenty of tips to make sure youre streaming it correctly, here are a few i compiled

TURN OFF ADBLOCKERS & DO NOT SKIP ANY ADS, no matter what they are or how long they are. all money is going to be donated

if you want to do smth else while it plays, do NOT mute the video, mute the tab or use your devices audio settings instead.

do not fast forward or skip

watch with the video on at least 480p with the video players volume on at least half

dont watch it on repeat or on a playlist, if you want to rewatch then watch 3 to 5 of any other videos, then SEARCH this one again to rewatch it

do not clear your watch or search history

if youre on mobile, watch it on the app, not your browser

[guccixcoochie]

If you fall into any of these categories, please unfollow me

- the "all lives matter" crowd

- the “i don’t care about politics” crowd

- "blue lives matter" people

- "violence is never the answer” people

- "i don't see race/colour" people

- the "white people experience racism too" crowd

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

This is just my sideblog for vulture culture, but I want to make my stance as clear as it is on my main blog @piratearrowxab. I am completely in favour of the BLM protests in America, peaceful and non-peaceful alike.

I'm queer, I'm anti-capitalism, anti-facist and pro-anarchy, I support the BLM movement. ACAB.

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Wandering Bones Learning Experience #7

I need to start bringing a pack for collecting large bones when I go into nature, as I've been surprised with a fox, a badger and most of a seabird recently. I had to leave the fox overnight because I had nothing to put him in, and hope he was there when I went back the next morning.

I'm thinking of setting up a small rucksack that I can at least leave in the car. It should have

At least 2 bin bags

At least 2 sturdy shopping bags

Some sandwich bags

A knife

Disposable plastic gloves

Gardening gloves

String

Hand sanitiser

Bandana (face mask or keeps my hair back)

Plastic box/tub for rare finds

First aid kit

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

H2O2 burns were worth it at least! I have a tub of hot water with all my whitened bones in it, and this is my next go of bones! This one has skulls and jawbones unlike the last lot, which was mostly limb bones and vertebrae. I'll post a picture once I set them out to air dry

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Wandering Bones Learning Experience #6

Hey here's a fun fact! When they say wear gloves when handling hydrogen peroxide, they mean wear gloves. I had to open the bag with all inside it because oxygen was released and the bag was going to pop, and got hydrogen peroxide all over my fingers. Then i had to go and soak my hands in hot water for 10 minutes to make the burning stop.

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

So that 5 hour post-exam walk I mentioned?

I was lucky enough to find a really fresh fox up there too :D Still had his eyes, almost perfect gums. Only breaks in the skin were two or three presumably bullet holes.

Male, with a baculum, probably young given how clean his teeth were, probably some serious internal bone damage due to the bullet hole locations (I confirmed the head of the right humerus was shattered, and there were holes over the ribcage.

I want the skull for display alongside my ocean fox skull, and there might be an interesting bone or two broken by the bullets! My dad also wanted a fox brush, so I read up on removing and prepping the ttail for keeping. Otherwise I'll use the bones for crafting and jewellry.

Preparation of the fox is below and is graphic.

To prepare the fox, I first removed the tail. I got 2 straight sticks and had my dad hold the fox so I didn't damage the skull by standing on it. I cut the skin at the top of the tail, pullet it down a little, and put the sticks on either side of the bone. Pulling was difficult at first, but after the first 1/4 or so the tail slid right off the bone (the exposed bones are somewhat visible in the left picture, and the tail is visible on the right). I then put the tail in a sealed tub of methylated spirits and it will stay there for 3 weeks. I'll update with the next steps when I do them!

The fox I placed in the box as shown: there are women's tights over the head, 4 feet and tail to prevent loss of small bones, and the head is in a yoghurt tub to prevent rocks from shattering the skull (hopefully). There were fly eggs and maggots in the mouth and throat when i checked the gums, so they should hopefully take care of brain tissue! I plan to dig him up in a year :D

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

So the day after my exams I went to my favourite bone hunting grounds for 5 hours and... went a wee bit mad. They've since been sorted and roughly brushed off, and i'll start washing and hydrogen peroxiding them in small batches depending on what i'm doing.

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Family friend found a dead baby badger and told me where to find it! I currently have it in a bag, I need to decide by this afternoon what to do with it bc it's likely roasting in there (I've literally had to retreat inside from gardening, it is Too Hot for Ireland). I mostly want the skull for display, and I'll probably make jewellry or craft with the other bones.

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Been a while! I'm done with my exams, and I've been very lucky with some new finds :D Gonna post a few updates with them!

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Wandering Bones Learning Experience #5

So it turns out if you leave bones to macerate in cold water in the also cold Irish spring, they don't macerate very quickly :/

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Ok so I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather to degrease my bones in the maceration bucket (not pictured). They all had tissue still on them so i got bored and scrubbed at the sea fox a little more 😅, then sorted the bones to get a rough estimate of what i'd got/missed. (Vertebrae and ribs not pictured bc the vertebrae needed a lot of scrubbing and i got bored and slightly cold)

I have:

Skull and both halves of the jaw

Both scapulas

Hips

All of the major leg bones

Most of the foot bones

Most of the vertebrae

Most of the ribs

Pile of teeth (1st pic) incl. 3 fangs

9 claws and 3 claw sheaths

Most of the tail bones

Some connecting bones/stuff I'm not sure of yet

I also think I have an anvil bone from the ear and a part of the hyoid apparatus (second pic)! I'm not sure, and some smaller bones might be mixed in with the larger bones or still in the fox water bin, but i'll buy a sieve before I do anything else.

The weather's been improving so I hope the maceration process speeds up!

[grimalkinirl]

Reblog by 4/15/20 to get a book recommendation based on your blog!!!

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Fished the ocean fox skull out of the maceration bin for a better look and a quick attempt at sexing! Going by the shape of the zygomatic arches, I'm estimating this is a vixen or an immature male.

I'll get the callipers out and use the greatest length/post orbital constriction formula when it's cleaned and sterilised, nd have a look at the teeth as i put them in to assess rough age.

[jaketeachesdeath]

A long awkward looking post. In this industry we work with a lot of chemicals and I figured we should highlight a little health and safety.

COSHH is the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. This is a regulation that basically protects workers from exposure to harmful chemicals. Part of this includes the CLP Hazard Pictograms. These particular pictograms came into force in 2010 as EU legislation on labelling chemicals.

Hazard labels are very important, you'll find them on your bottles and they are visable so straight away you'll know what dangers they pose. Its vital that you keep your chemicals in thier original packaging. Its also advisable that if you keep a lot of chemical that you have a correct chem store thats locked. (Id also add a list of chemicals, quantities and safety data sheets on the outside)

So basically theres a number of chemicals that are used regularly within the industry whether youre just cleaning bones all the way to actual taxidermy. Theres information on safety, handling and storage attached along with their pictograms.

Please always read the bottle and if in doubt find out the Safety Data Sheet. This is a document created for each different chemical, it lists everything that needs to be known about that chemical. From hazards to environmental impacts and even exposure levels.

All information on each chemical was taken from Safety Data Sheets produced by Fisher Scientific.

Once again please be careful, and always always follow the instructions.

(Also appologises if youre dyslexic its gonna suck)

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Wandering Bones Learning Experience #4

Re: buried ocean fox

So putting the sack over the skeleton meant that i didn't hit anything with the spade, and there was a bit of air trapped with the skeleton which i think is the reason I didn't get any grave wax?

It did mean I lost some of the small bones, though.

I think if I ever bury anything with small/many bones again I'll put the sacking under the skeleton, and stick some chicken wire over it? It shouldn't trap as much air, which is bad, but i can try to use it and stones to create artificial air spaces.

I don't know. Maceration is probably the best way to go but it has to be safe from my dogs and cats and I don't much fancy the smell.

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Wandering Bones Learning Experience #3

Seperating and cleaning the bones yesterday, I created a scale from ribs (a delight to clean) to vertebrae (absolute bastards)

[saltscouredwanderingbones]

Wandering Bones Learning Experience #2

Rotting brain smells so bad. It's SO BAD.