Methods of Collecting and Preserving Vertebrate Animals

METHODS OF COLLECTING AND PRESERVING

VERTEBRATE ANIMALS

BY

Rudolph Martin Anderson

(Second Edition Revised)

Price, 50 cents

Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Taxidermy

Taxidermy (from the Greek for arrangement of skin) is the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals (especially vertebrates) for display (e.g. as hunting trophies) or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. A person who practices taxidermy is called a taxidermist. Taxidermists may practice professionally for museums or as businesses, catering to hunters and fishermen, or as amateurs, such as hobbyists, hunters, and fishermen. To practice taxidermy, one should be very familiar with anatomy, sculpture, and painting, as well as tanning.

The preservation of animal skins has been practiced for a long time. Embalmed animals have even been found with Egyptian mummies. Although embalming incorporates the use of lifelike poses, it is not technically considered taxidermy though. The earliest methods of preservation of birds for natural history cabinets were published in 1748 by the French Academician Réaumur, and four years later, techniques for mounting were described by M. B. Stollas. By the eighteenth century, almost every town had a tannery business. In the nineteenth century, hunters began bringing their trophies to upholstery shops, where the upholsterers would actually sew up the animal skins and stuff them with rags and cotton. The term ‘stuffing’ or a ‘stuffed animal’ evolved from this crude form of taxidermy. Professional taxidermists prefer the term ‘mounting’ to ‘stuffing’ however. More sophisticated cottonwrapped wire bodies supporting sewn-on cured skins soon followed.

In France, Louis Dufresne, taxidermist at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle from 1793, popularized arsenical soap (utilising the chemical Arsenic) in an article titled, Nouveau Dictionnaire D’Histoire Naturelle (1803–1804). This technique enabled the museum to build the greatest collection of birds in the world. Dufresne’s methods spread to England in the early nineteenth century, where updated and non-toxic methods of preservation were developed by some of the leading naturalists of the day, including Rowland Ward and Montague Brown. Ward established one of the earliest taxidermy firms, Rowland Ward Ltd. of Piccadilly. Nevertheless, the art of taxidermy remained relatively undeveloped, and the specimens that were created remained stiff and unconvincing.

The golden age of taxidermy was during the Victorian era, when mounted animals became a popular part of interior design and decor. For the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, John Hancock, widely considered the father of modern taxidermy, mounted a series of stuffed birds as an exhibit. They generated much interest among the public and scientists alike, who considered them superior to earlier models and were regarded as the first lifelike and artistic specimens on display. A judge remarked that Hancock’s exhibit ‘will go far towards raising the art of taxidermy to a level with other arts, which have hitherto held higher pretensions.’

In the early twentieth century, taxidermy was taken forward under the leadership of artists such as Carl Akeley, James L. Clark, Coleman Jonas, Fredrick and William Kaempfer, and Leon Pray. These and other taxidermists developed anatomically accurate figures which incorporated every detail in artistically interesting poses, with mounts in realistic settings and poses. This was quite a change from the caricatures popularly offered as hunting trophies. The methods of taxidermy have substantially improved over the last century, heightening quality and lowering toxicity. The animal is first skinned in a process similar to removing the skin from a chicken prior to cooking. This can be accomplished without opening the body cavity, so the taxidermist usually does not see internal organs or blood. Depending on the type of skin, preserving chemicals are applied or the skin is tanned. It is then either mounted on a mannequin made from wood, wool and wire, or a polyurethane form. Clay is used to install glass eyes, which are either bought or cast by the taxidermist themselves.

As an interesting side note, with the success of taxidermy has come the sub-genre of ‘rogue taxidermy’; the creation of stuffed animals which do not have real, live counterparts. They can represent impossible hybrids such as the jackalope and the skvader, extinct species, mythical creatures such as dragons, griffins, unicorns or mermaids, or may be entirely of the maker’s imagination. When the platypus was first discovered by Europeans in 1798, and a pelt and sketch were sent to the UK, some thought the animal to be a hoax. It was supposed that a taxidermist had sewn a duck’s beak onto the body of a beaver-like animal. George Shaw, who produced the first description of the animal in the Naturalist’s Shunga Miscellany in 1799, even took a pair of scissors to the dried skin to check for stitches. Today, although a niche craft, the art of taxidermy - rogue or otherwise, is still thriving.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING

Introduction; Care of specimens in the field; Types and topotypes; Tools and supplies.

CHAPTER II

COLLECTING MAMMALS

Shooting; Trapping; Catching animals alive; Poisoning mammals; Bait; Labelling specimens; Field catalogue; Determining sex of mammals; Measurements of mammals.

CHAPTER III

SKINNING MAMMALS

Small mammals; Labelling; Cased skins; Standard study skins; Poisoning the skin; Filling the skin; Laying out specimens for drying; Preparation of skulls in the field.

Large mammals; Opening cuts; Skinning horned heads; Heads for mounting; Special work on the head; Hoofed mammals; Large mammals with short hair; Curing flat skins; Hide poison.

Speed and efficiency in technique

Mammals requiring special treatment; Bears; Seals and walruses; Beaver; Muskrat; Porcupine; Hares and rabbits; Flying squirrels; Bats; Skunks.

Pelting skins.

CHAPTER IV

COLLECTING AND SKINNING BIRDS

Collecting birds; Mounted birds and bird skins; Collecting birds in the field; Preliminary treatment of the fresh bird; Measuring fresh birds; Colour records.

Skinning birds; Tying up wings; Poisoning bird skins; Cleaning the plumage; Filling a bird skin; Brooks’ method of filling bird skins; Bills and feet; Wrapping a bird skin; Skinning birds with large heads; Wings and feet of large birds; Making skins of large birds; Brooks’ method of making duck and goose skins; Dill’s method with waterfowl skins; Treatment of owl skins; Treatment of fat birds; Beck’s method for sea birds; Temporary preservation of water bird skins; Relaxing and making up salted skins; Degreasing old skins; Remaking old bird skins; Skinning downy young birds; Determining sex of birds; Determining age of birds; Stomach contents; Temporary preservation of fresh specimens; Drying skins of birds and small mammals; Packing specimens; External and internal parasites; Directions for collecting animal parasites; Animal diseases.

Collecting birds’ nests and eggs.

CHAPTER V

COLLECTING REPTILES, AMPHIBIANS, AND FISHES

Reptiles and amphibians; Methods of capture; Methods of preserving; amphibians, preserving colour.

Fishes.

CHAPTER VI

COLLECTING SKELETONS

Preparation of rough skeletons; Special points regarding skeletons; Cetaceans; Bird skeletons; Fishes, reptiles, and amphibians; Packing skeletons; Cleaning skulls and other bones; Cleaning skulls and bones with aid of dermestid beetles; Degreasing bones; Treatment of teeth; Incisor teeth of ruminants.

PERMITS FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES

REFERENCES

Illustrations

Figure1.Ventilated collecting case with gauze-bottomed trays

2.Fibre collecting case for pack-horse work

3.Biological Survey model trap for small mammals

4.Figure-4 trap

5.Eskimo deadfall trap

6.Biological Survey cat trap

7.Measuring total length of a small mammal

8.Unprime areas on skins of pocket gopher and chipmunk during moult

9.Skinning tail of a small mammal

10.Skinning head of a small mammal

11.Wooden and wire stretchers for cased skins

12.Cased skin of rufous-tailed chipmunk, showing dorsal and ventral aspects

13.Making opening cut for study skin

14.Skinning legs of a small mammal

15.Sewing up mouth of a shrew

16.Making artificial head for a small mammal skin

17.Making artificial body for a small mamal skin

18.Filling a study skin of a small mammal

19.The baseball stitch used for sewing mammal and bird skins

20.Pinning out a small mammal skin for drying

21.Examples of well-made, small mammal skins

22.Measurements of a large mammal for mounting

23.Opening cuts for skinning large mammals

24.Skinning a horned head

25.Method of wiring a rabbit skin

26.Drying bat skin with wings partly spread

27.Opening cut for skinning a bird

28.Severing tail from body of a bird

29.Bird skinned to base of bill

30.Detaching body and cleaning skull

31.The inside of a bird skin with flesh removed

32.Skinning wing of a large bird

33.Tying wing bones in natural position

34.Turning head skin back over skull

35.Making artificial body for bird skin

36.Adjusting artificial body in bird skin

37.Finished bird skin, showing method of tying mandibles and of attaching label

38.Wrapping a bird skin with cotton

39.Corrugated drying-board for bird skins

40.Skinning large-headed birds

41.Examples of well-made bird skins

42.Making up an owl skin

43.Determination of sex of birds by dissection

44.Determining maturity of birds by the skull

45.Shell of western painted turtle, showing where cuts should be made to remove plastron or lower shell

46.Ligamentary skeleton of small mammal cleaned and dried for packing

47.Hyoid bones of a dog, with cartilages of larynx

48.Skeleton of porpoise, showing pelvic bones

PREFACE

This first edition of this book was prepared in 1932 to fill a long continued demand from different classes of persons in various parts of Canada for information as to how to skin or preserve mammals, birds, fishes, and other animals. It is hoped the book will stimulate an interest in the National Museum prospective collectors. For the benefit of trappers, travellers in new regions, and others, information regarding the finding and catching of specimens is also given. Anybody who desires to collect specimens of animals of any kind is advised to read the whole of the introductory chapter before attempting work. There are many methods, but experience has shown that some do not give permanent results and, therefore, the author has given only those methods that have been found practicable in his experience, and in the revision has cited several later developments and improvements.

The manner of making up small mammal skins, and to some extent bird skins, was demonstrated in the laboratories of the National Museum of Canada by Mr. Charles H. Young, collector-preparator specialist, and all drawings were made by Mr. Claude E. Johnson, artist of the Division of Biology. Mr. Clyde L. Patch, chief taxidermist and herpetologist of the National Museum, made a number of helpful suggestions in the preparation of the second edition.

Major Allan Brooks, D.S.O., of Okanagan Landing, and Mr. Hamilton M. Laing, of Comox, British Columbia, are to be thanked for reading and criticizing parts of the manuscript, and for helpful suggestions. Thanks are also due to Messrs. H. E. Anthony and James P. Chapin of the American Museum of Natural History, New York; Mr. Herbert Lang, of Pretoria, South Africa; Dr. Glover M. Allen, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; Mr. Wharton Huber, of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia; Mr. Colin C. Sanborn of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; Professor E. Raymond Hall, formerly of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, and later Director of Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas; Professor Homer R. Dill, Director of Museum of Natural History, University of Iowa; Mr. L. L. Snyder, Assistant Director of Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, and Dr. C. H. D. Clarke, Fish and Wildlife Division, Dept. Lands and Forests, Ontario, Toronto; and Messrs. E. R. Kalmbach and Charles H. M. Barrett of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C., and particularly to Carl Akeley, Father of modern taxidermy, for personal advice and communications not published; and to Dr. G. S. Whitby, formerly Director of Division of Chemistry, National Research Council, Ottawa (1937), for information on neutralizing formalin for preserving animal specimens.

The author is also under recent obligations to Mr. C. R. Twinn, Entomologist, in charge of Household and Medical Entomology, Division of Entomology, Science Service, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, and to Mr. C. H. Bayley, Textile Research Laboratory, Division of Chemistry, National Research Council, Ottawa, for personal communications and recent publications regarding the use of DDT as an insecticide and repellent in various fields. Dr. Harrison F. Lewis, chief of Dominion Wildlife Service, Department of Mines and Resources, Ottawa, has supplied the latest information on collection permits for scientific purposes in Canada.

METHODS OF COLLECTING AND PRESERVING VERTEBRATE ANIMALS

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING

INTRODUCTION

The detailed and systematic study of animal life, which has advanced rapidly during recent years, necessitates extensive collections of specimens. The lower forms of life are most numerous, both in species and in individuals. Insect life is abundant in most parts of the world and the science of entomology now lists its species by hundreds of thousands. Improved vessels and new methods of deep-sea dredging have brought to light multitudes of new forms of marine life. Among the vertebrates, or back-boned animals, birds have always been evident to the most casual observer and the ornithology of civilized regions was scientifically studied at a comparatively early date. Collectors are continually bringing out new facts in regard to geographic distribution in all lands, and many new subspecies or geographic races are still being described from North America.

In field collecting, the first important thing is to catch the animal, and to do this it is helpful to know as much as possible about what animals may be expected to occur in a given area. Under References (page 145) are given titles and notes on a number of manuals and faunal lists which may be useful to a collector. Most of them will not be in small libraries, but a local naturalist will usually have some of them, and most good manuals and scientific papers give citations of other publications in the same field. Where possible, a collector should read every available publication on the area before he goes into a new field.

Mammalogy, or the study of mammals, though going far ahead in some lines, lagged for a long time behind other branches of systematic zoology. The anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the human race have been studied from remote antiquity and the results and technical names have been applied to the framework of the lower orders, but the lesser species were generally neglected. The principal reason for this backwardness is that, except for the larger mammals which are used for human food, or for their hides and fur, and others that are obvious pests, the majority of species of wild mammals are secretive in their habits and are seldom observed or taken unless vigorous and intelligent methods of trapping are used.

Miller (1929, 405)¹ attributes the recent development of mammalogy to two factors, an awakened interest in the nature and history of the life that now exists in the world, and the finding of a technique by means of which the study can be successfully carried on. The interest was aroused by the studies of Charles Darwin and the stimulating controversies that have never ceased to grow from his writings, and the technique was worked out by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, chief of the Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture, from 1885 to 1910.

The invertebrates (animals without a vertebral column) are more numerous and generally more easy to preserve than the vertebrates, but cannot be treated at length in this bulletin. However, as thorough field studies of vertebrates involve the collection and preservation of specimens of invertebrates, the student is advised to study a good textbook on ecological laboratory methods (Wight, University of Michigan, 1938, and others).

Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects (McDunnough, 1928) may be obtained by application to the Dominion Entomologist, Science Service, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa. Small molluscs may be preserved in ethyl (grain) alcohol, but acids in some kinds of denatured alcohol (methyl hydrate) are apt to dissolve the calcium in the shells if they are immersed for any length of time. Large shells are usually cleaned of animal tissue and dried. Marine invertebrates of other orders, as well as land worms, slugs, etc., are generally preserved by immersion in alcohol or formalin, unless intended for histological or special biological investigations, when other methods may be used to prevent shrinkage of delicate tissues. The strength of the preservatives must be carefully regulated for the different classes of specimens (See section on "Preservatives, page 128).

The progress in the study of mammals may be judged by the fact that only about 150 species were known in North America a little over 100 years ago (Harlan, 1825), whereas the latest complete check-list (Miller, 1924) gives 2,554 forms inhabiting North America. Richardson (1829) listed 82 mammal species from British North America, and Tyrrell (1888) 137 species and varieties from Canada, whereas the latest Catalogue of Canadian Recent Mammals (Anderson, 1947) lists 594 species and subspecies of mammals known to occur north of the southern boundary of Canada, in addition to 2 introduced species and 49 of hypothetical occurrence.

The fact that a very large number of forms have been described and listed does not mean that our knowledge of them is complete in any case. Often a form has been described and named that appears to differ from all others, but only very few specimens may have been observed, and we are almost entirely in the dark concerning the extent of its range, its life history, economic value, or significance in the fauna of the country. All the larger mammals of Canada on account of their value as food or as fur producers, or because of their predatory habits, are without doubt known in a general way, and there is small probability of any new species being discovered. There are, however, local differences in some forms, due to geographical environment, that are worth studying, and few of our museums have really adequate numbers of specimens from the various regions. The differences in many cases are not readily apparent until specimens from different regions are brought together. With the advance of civilization and settlement most of the larger forms of animal life are rapidly disappearing all over the world, and many forms have become totally or nearly extinct within the memory of people now living. The necessity of obtaining adequate representatives of these rapidly disappearing animals for purposes of record and scientific study in the future is well recognized, but the haunts of the larger and rarer mammals are generally remote and comparatively inaccessible. The collecting of specimens becomes, therefore, both laborious and difficult. Few public museums have the resources for continuous and thorough work along these lines. Even the notable collections of such famous institutions as the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution are largely due to the generous aid and contributions of private individuals outside of the technical staffs.

A considerable number of expeditions are made each year by sportsmen and big-game hunters into remote parts of the country, at considerable expense for equipment, transportation, and guides. Though many of the finer trophies are preserved and brought home, records are often lost and the trophies lose interest after the passing of the individual hunter. Many intelligent sportsmen, who enjoy the chase for its own sake, are coming to a realization of the scientific and economic waste involved, and by taking a little additional thought and care are providing the museums of their country with specimens that will be priceless memorials in time to come. For Canadians, or for sportsmen who enjoy the privilege of hunting in Canada, the National Museum of Canada is the legitimate repository of the zoological specimens they gather and which are not desired as personal trophies. Such acquisitions will be kept safely, the records preserved, and the specimens made available for scientific and educational purposes.

The small mammals of any district, with the exception of the commoner species of mice, squirrels, etc., are less well known than the larger mammals. Even the commonest forms may belong to local races of widely ranging species, and the particular forms inhabiting many regions are not definitely known. The smaller mammals, as a rule, are preyed upon by the larger carnivorous mammals and birds, and have developed secretive habits as a necessity for the preservation of their lives. The greater number of the small mammals are nocturnal and although their presence may be detected by different signs, such as the tracks in dust, mud, or snow, the animals themselves are rarely seen unless special methods are adopted for capturing them. It is safe to say that in any locality of varied topography there are to be found several species of small mammals whose very name and existence are unknown to more than one person in a thousand. Some small mammals are so secretive, and so very local in their habitats, that they may even elude for a long time the observation of a close student of natural history. For this reason there is a chance to discover new forms or species, and as so few districts have been studied thoroughly, there is an opportunity to obtain new records almost anywhere.

Though the study of the larger mammals, valuable commercially for flesh and skins, for purposes of sport, or for æsthetic reasons, is of obvious importance, and has been pursued in more or less sporadic ways from remote antiquity, the importance of the smaller, less conspicuous species is rapidly becoming recognized through the researches of modern science.

Many species of mammals that have no direct economic value as food, or for their fur or hides, are nevertheless often of enormous indirect importance. They must be recognized as beneficial or detrimental to the interests of man and if the latter, means must be taken to combat them. Ground squirrels, prairie dogs, pocket gophers, and other rodents have caused direct damage to grain fields, running into millions of dollars annually in some parts of the country. Rabbits, hares, and field mice frequently cause great damage to fruit trees and young forest trees. Coyotes, wolves, and mountain lions take a large toll of sheep, cattle, and horses, and large sums have been expended for bounties in combating them. House mice and rats are well-known destructive pests, and have been known to carry the germs of diseases to man and the domestic animals.

In addition to the obvious reactions on human enterprise of the species commonly classed as vermin, there are other relationships that are not so well known. Though it is commonly known to farmers, trappers, fur dealers, and naturalists that there are wide fluctuations in the numbers of various species of wild mammals and birds from time to time, the extent of such variations and their causes are not so well understood (Elton, 1924, Anderson, 1928, 1929, 1942). Many plagues of various species of field mice or voles have been recorded from North America, Europe, and Asia. In Arctic America lemmings and mice regularly reach the peak of abundance about every 4 years and this is followed by a rapid wiping out of nearly all the small rodents by disease. Arctic foxes and snowy owls increase in proportion to the lemmings and mice and fall away very soon after the depression in rodent life. The common snowshoe rabbit or varying hare has a very noticeable cycle of abundance, which reaches the peak about every 10 years. Muskrats and grouse show a similar but less-marked cycle, and various animals that prey on the others, such as lynx, red fox, mink, marten, etc., have parallel periods of abundance and scarcity. The small rodents have some local effect in settled regions, mainly in injury to agriculture, but in the wilderness their fluctuations have a tremendous effect upon the fur trade. As Elliot Coues once wrote: They have one obvious part to play, that of turning grass into flesh, in order that carnivorous Goths and Vandals may subsist also, and in their turn proclaim, ‘All flesh is grass’ (Jordan, 1929, p. 397).

The inter-relations between these different forms of life present still deeper and more obscure problems, which unfortunately have not received the attention they deserve. Pathologists have devoted most of their time to the study of diseases that affect mankind directly, and have discovered the relation of mosquitoes to yellow fever and malaria, of certain of the trypanosomes to sleeping sickness, of hook worms and other biological agents to other pathological conditions, and of rats and ground squirrels to the spread of bubonic plague and other diseases. It is also known that certain species of snails are secondary hosts to species of flukes that live in the bodies of various kinds of wild and domestic mammals, and that many kinds of parasitic worms and their allies infest the internal organs of other animals,