[Nhcoll-l] EXT : The Dangerous Museum

[Krista Fahy]

Hi Chris,

Working alone in the Vertebrate Department one afternoon, I see the Cal Fish and Wildlife truck pull with a large road kill mountain lion. After getting the specimen tagged and weighed I was faced with getting the 130lb animal into our walk in freezer where we typically hang animals of that size/shape so they don't freeze to the floor. After jerry-rigging a harness for the cat I manage to hoist the animal up and just finish tying it off to the post underneath when the entire rigging gives way and pins me underneath the animal and on top of the assorted marine mammal carcasses bagged below. Shouting (actually shrieking a bit) to no one in particular, I finally wriggle out while suffering many dolphin snouts to the behind. I manage to re-secure the animal and get myself cleaned off since the head was totally smashed and bloody.  Slightly traumatized, I returned to my desk and resumed whatever I was working on when 20 minutes later I start to get a little itchy. Then a lot itchy. ACK! I was crawling with fleas and several ticks happy to have found a new warm host.  Needless to say clothes were flying and I was lucky to be working in the lab alone.

Krista

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Krista A. Fahy, Ph.D.
Associate Curator of Vertebrate Zoology
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
2559 Puesta Del Sol Road, Santa Barbara CA 93105
(p) 805 682 4711 x155 | (f) 805 569 3170
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