[Nhcoll-l] Bear Cub in a Jar

[Dirk Neumann]

Hi Susan,

the colouring is normal - what you can see there is basically lipids, 
haemoglobin (if there are open wounds) and other substances of low 
molecular weight diluting from the specimen into the storage fluid. If 
the soft stain of the fluid is bearable for your purposes, leave it as 
it is, as it will balance further leaching from the specimen. If you 
(continue) to exchange the fluid, you will continue the process (it 
should stop if the equilibrium inside the fluid is reached).

Sealing the jar: if this is a screw-on lid, you can enhance it e.g. with 
parafilm. If this should be some sort of permanent seal (which would be 
easy to realise), then bee-wax candles are a good and reasonable 
alternative to produce a good (air tight) seal (use the candle and 
carefully melt the wax around the neck of the jar to close the gap to 
the lid - this also works with flanged jars, but the wax on the flange 
of the beaker should be evenly spread and still hot and fluid, when the 
lid is placed onto it).

I would avoid rinsing it with Isoprop at this stage (if it is in 
ethanol) already; surely would cause more harm than improving the 
current status of the specimen.

And yes, John is still around and may have careful comments on my 
straight-forward offers ;-)

Hope this helps
Dirk

Am 17.03.2020 um 18:41 schrieb Susan Gallagher:
> Hello List,
>
> Question on final preparation of a wet specimen. This is for 
> educational use only ('m at a nature center, not a museum.)
>
> Nearly two years ago my center received a dead black bear cub, around 
> 3.5 kg.
>
> Since then, and on the advice of John Simmons (John are you still on 
> this list??) I shot it up with a full bottle of Everclear, then put it 
> in a plastic bag full of ETOH (like marinating meat) and left it in a 
> refrigerator.
>
> Well today I took it out, squashed it into a jar, and it looks 
> fantastic! No odor really other than alcohol, and no slippage of the 
> fur. Just one tiny spot that looks a little raw, probably from the 
> cub's original injury.
>
> I'd like to seal him up in the jar in clear liquid, as colorless as I 
> can get it.
>
> The liquid I drained him from was slightly brownish, like weak tea, 
> and he still has some of that liquid coming out of him.
>
> Should I rinse him first with water? Or with isopropyl alcohol? Then 
> fill the jar with ETOH?
>
> Also any advice on sealing the lid? The jar I have had actually been 
> donated by someone on this list who had been looking to re-home some 
> 3-5 gallon glass jars a while ago. It came with a screw-on metal lid 
> with a waxy paper insert.
>
> This doesn't need to last forever. Education collections generally do 
> not.
>
> Any advice appreciated. We have several wet specimens here that make 
> great learning motivators for kids. And we also have lots to teach 
> kids and visitors about black bears, so I think this will make a great 
> teaching tool--if I can make it look as "acceptable" as a dead baby 
> bear in a jar can be for the public.
>
> Thanks for your time in helping a long-time list lurker.
>
> Sue
>

-- 


Dirk Neumann

Tel: 089 / 8107-111
Fax: 089 / 8107-300
neumann(a)snsb.de

Postanschrift:

Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Storage
Münchhausenstr. 21
81247 München

Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/sektion/ichthyologie-home/

---------

Dirk Neumann

Tel: +49-89-8107-111
Fax: +49-89-8107-300
neumann(a)snsb.de

postal address:

Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Storage
Muenchhausenstr. 21
81247 Munich (Germany)

Visit our section at:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/sektion/ichthyologie-home/

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