<div dir="ltr">Shortly after I slashed through the scent glands of my first skunk specimen (having spent the previous half-hour cautiously castrating him) my boss rushed into my preproom claiming "You're poisoning all of us!" and threw the specimen into the courtyard -- where it happened to land on the main air intake of the <i>entire</i> Science wing of the University...<br>
</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr">Steve Halford (<a href="mailto:halford@sfu.ca" target="_blank">halford@sfu.ca</a>)<br>Museum Technician (Retired) <br>Department of Biological Sciences<br>
Simon Fraser University<br><br></div></div>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 3:54 PM, Steve Sullivan <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ssullivan@naturemuseum.org" target="_blank">ssullivan@naturemuseum.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Commuting to work with my wife one snowy morning she yelled, "Stop!" When I<br>
did, she jumped out of the car and crawled under a nearby truck only to<br>
emerge with a huge, snow white possum in perfect condition. Since I was<br>
currently in need of such a specimen, and considering the preservative<br>
effects of the cold, we decided this was good luck and continued on our way<br>
to work. By the time I arrived at the museum, I realized that the possum<br>
was more fresh than I had assumed since it's parasite population had<br>
transferred from the back seat to my body. After a good scrub, I skinned<br>
the specimen and found that it had been killed by a single BB to the ear.<br>
This was ironic since just up the block from where the specimen was found, a<br>
sign proudly proclaimed that this community was a "Nuclear Weapons Free<br>
Zone."<br>
<br>
---Steve<br>
<br>
Steven M. Sullivan | Senior Curator of Urban Ecology<br>
The Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum<br>
<br>
Museum|2430 North Cannon Drive|Chicago Illinois 60614|<a href="http://naturemuseum.org" target="_blank">naturemuseum.org</a><br>
Collections|4001 North Ravenswood Ave.|Chicago Illinois<br>
60613|<a href="http://projectsquirrel.org" target="_blank">projectsquirrel.org</a><br>
P <a href="tel:708-937-6253" value="+17089376253">708-937-6253</a> | F <a href="tel:773-755-5199" value="+17737555199">773-755-5199</a> | <a href="mailto:ssullivan@naturemuseum.org">ssullivan@naturemuseum.org</a><br>
<br>
A century of memories and lessons from the Passenger Pigeon at<br>
<a href="http://passengerpigeon.org" target="_blank">passengerpigeon.org</a><br>
<div class="im HOEnZb"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: <a href="mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu</a><br>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu</a>] On Behalf Of <a href="mailto:dinoceras@juno.com">dinoceras@juno.com</a><br>
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 9:19 AM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a><br>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] The Dangerous Museum<br>
<br>
Hi all,<br>
<br>
I'm working on a talk for visitors to our museum that's all about the types<br>
of dangers (dangerous objects, substances, activities, etc.) we sometimes<br>
encounter in our work behind-the-scenes in collections. It's meant to be<br>
informative, not to mention---entertaining. I'm starting with how we get<br>
objects to the museum, preparing & conserving them, handling them, etc. If<br>
any of you have any stories or images you are willing to share along these<br>
lines, please contact me. I'd love to hear about what you've had to deal<br>
with from disease-carrying rodents to nasty stuff on clothing & herbarium<br>
sheets, and everything in between.<br>
<br>
Thanks in advance,<br>
<br>
Chris Chandler<br>
<br>
Curator of Natural Science<br>
Putnam Museum<br>
Davenport, IA<br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:dinoceras@juno.com">dinoceras@juno.com</a><br>
<a href="tel:563-324-1054%20x226" value="+15633241054">563-324-1054 x226</a><br>
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