#khe128

[deadbirdsdaily]

Mammal mondays are back!

…likely sporadically and possibly for a limited time only…

That is to say, over the summer, at least, I will be preparing mammals as well as birds for my internship. I’m not sure if I’ll keep preparing mammals during the quarter but for at least a while there will be sporadic mammal content, starting with this black-tailed jackrabbit.

[deadbirdsdaily]

Prep NO.KHE128

Black-tailed Jackrabbit

Lepus californicus

It’s always a lot harder to get mammals to look quite right because their entire skull is removed, but she’s got some shape to her so I consider that a win! Not just a tube lol.

A few more photos after putting a stitch between the ears and using some mesh to hold them in place and flat

[deadbirdsdaily]

Black-tailed jackrabbits are locally endangered in Washington state so this lady was part of a telemetry program that tracks the population. The tag in her ear has her ID number #57 and tracked her location.

When she died they were able to use her location to find her body, so we know that she was predated by something (likely by a coyote based on the compound fracture on her hind leg and the puncture marks on her neck and haunches). Her body was cached for later where it was retrieved by the department of wildlife for necropsy. I feel a little bad that the predator lost their kill, but I’m glad I got to prepare her.