Pickle fork

Stan Gorodenski stanlep at extremezone.com
Mon Jan 7 23:24:36 EST 2002


I have not been following this closely, but I just noticed below that
you keep the butterflies in the killing jar until you are ready to mount
them.  I think this may be too long in the jar, and it may exacerbate
the problem you have, thus requiring the need for Pickle Forks.  I
always try to take my specimens out as soon as I can because I have
observed that it can cause some species (as defined by the Biological
Species Concept) to stiffen if they are in there too long.  

Stan

"Thomas P. LeBlanc" wrote:
> 
>      Thank you to everyone that replied to my Email regarding Pickle Forks.
> This up coming season will be my first year using envelopes and in the past
> I always put the butterfly (that I wanted to collect) directly into the
> killing jar from the net.  Then from the killing jar directly to the pinning
> board.   Reading Winters  Memoirs 5 I have been learning other methods for a
> bigger project that I plan to start this up coming season which will involve
> me using envelopes.  So, many of these methods are new to me and I am still
> trying to figure out why one would use some of these tools.
> 
>      So the Pickle fork is just a way of holding the butterfly without
> damaging it with my big fingers!!  I didn't pick up on it going into the
> thorax and being used as a handle.  I pictured it as being a tool that helps
> with the muscles or somehow physically helped fold the wings so you wouldn't
> have to touch the wings.   But, Winters , et al... suggest that "IF" the
> wings fold under the specimen instead of on top of the specimen ( has
> happened to me many times) the pickle fork would then be a quicker tool for
> flipping it around for proper placement into the envelope with the forceps.
> Got it!!
> 
>      My next question is to those that has used the pickle fork, does it do
> damage (being you poke it into the thorax) to your specimens if you plan on
> using it for a collection??  I would believe the more holes the hard to
> preserve for a longer timeframe.   Speaking of preserving (might not have
> reached this point in the book) but I have been told for a long time about a
> spray that preserves the specimens from predators.  I tried to get some from
> Ward's but they knew nothing of the kind.  Is this just the spray you would
> get at an art store or something special I need to do some more
> investigation on?   What does this spray do to longevity of the specimens in
> relation to just mothballs (or both spray and mothballs)?
> 
>      Thank you again to all those that respond and please let me know if I
> am still in left field with the pickle fork.
> 
> Thomas P. LeBlanc
> 192 Kent Blvd., Salamanca, NY 14779
> Email: leblanct at netsync.net
> .
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