[Nhcoll-l] Mammal Specimen Preparation - Wire Recommendations

Tue Sep 16 14:03:32 EDT 2025

Hi Sam,

If you are short on time, I head down to our local hardware store (ACE here) and ask for the piano wire for crafts. You won't be able to bend the wire at all, but it comes straight, has lots of sizes, and works really well for mammal legs and tails. I really like it for our mid-size to larger mammals (minks, raccoons, badgers, etc), but I have used it for mice just fine too.
It is generally more expensive though, so I don't get a ton of it.

All of my metal coat hangers go for hanging mammal skeletons on our drying line. PC is right that they have not rusted yet. Just gotten messy.

cheers,
Beth

Elizabeth Wommack, PhD
Curator and Collections Manager of Vertebrates
University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates
Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY 82071
ewommack@<mailto:ewommack at berkeley.edu>uwyo.edu<http://uwyo.edu/>
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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Callomon,Paul <prc44 at drexel.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2025 11:40
To: Benjamin Hess <bmhess at umich.edu>; Samantha Getty <getty031 at umn.edu>
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Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Mammal Specimen Preparation - Wire Recommendations

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This will sound a bit home-made, but among the highest-quality bendable steel wire I’ve found is that used to make coat hangers. I’ve used it in many ways, and it’s a great balance of strength, whip and formability. It’s usually coated against rust, too.

PC

Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates

________________________________

Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia
callomon at ansp.org<mailto:callomon at ansp.org> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170

President of the American Malacological Society for 2027

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Benjamin Hess
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2025 1:34 PM
To: Samantha Getty <getty031 at umn.edu>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Mammal Specimen Preparation - Wire Recommendations

External.

Sam,

You can get coiled wire at a cheaper cost, but pre-straightened wire is a great savings of time/effort. Pulling wire is possible, but challenging with thicker wire. In the past, I had used the following as a standard in mammal preparation. Feel free to connect me if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,

Ben

·         Pre-straightened stainless steel wire (McMaster Carr - https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/127/4057/ )

·         Straight wire search - https://www.mcmaster.com/products/straight-wire/  (select

o    1-ft. Straight Length Wire (0.015 - 8908K87) --> for small shrews

o    1-ft. Straight Length Wire (0.026 - 8908K26) --> for most small rodents

o    1-ft. Straight Length Wire (0.045 - 8908K48) --> for medium mammals

o    2-ft. Straight Length Wire (0.045 - 8908K78) --> this seems to not exist now, but I used this for all longer tails. https://www.mcmaster.com/straight-wire/length~24/

o    I would recommend another thicker and longer wire for bigger items. Nickel Copper Alloy (Monel) wire is also good as it is non-conductive and non-corrosive. https://www.mcmaster.com/straight-wire/length~3-ft-/

On Tue, Sep 16, 2025 at 12:55 PM Samantha Getty <getty031 at umn.edu<mailto:getty031 at umn.edu>> wrote:

Hello all,

My name is Sam and I am the specimen preparator for the Bell Museum. We  have been struggling to find suitable (modern) wire for our mammal specimens. Our wire stash is decades old and is running low. Everything I have purchased to try is too flexible and does not pull properly. Does anyone have any recommendations on what type or brand of wire to use and where to source it?

Thank you,

Sam Getty

--

Sam Getty (she/her)

Zoological Museum Curatorial Research Associate

Bell Museum

University of Minnesota

https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/salvage-wildlife/

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