I’m so grateful I made it to the new @BellMuseum earlier this year to soak up some natural history before lockdown. This image of a taxidermied softshell turtle is a detail shot of a large diorama of a shoreline (scroll left) You can see the very tip of this turtle’s snout in the lower lefthand corner of the second photo. I live in central Minnesota so lots of my road trips take me past Lake Pepin, the location that this diorama depicts. The way they captured the high water mark strandline (sticks and debris left by tidal action) is spot-on and exactly replicates the way the shore of this lake looks in person. The way the real sticks in the front of the diorama (bottom right) blend into the painted sticks of the backdrop is totally convincing. I have always had an affinity for softshells and this diorama was one of my favorites as a kid (and still is today) It makes me so happy this antique diorama got moved to the new museum so it can inspire and educate a new generation of children. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #NaturalHistory #BellMuseum #LakePepin #Strandline #Shore #Shoreline #SoftshellTurtle #Diorama #TaxidermyDiorama #Taxidermy #ReptileTaxidermy #TurtleTaxidermy #SoftshellTurtleTaxidermy https://www.instagram.com/p/B_A1ZfxnxsZ/?igshid=1bm2474z4cilx
