I have taken a Whitetail Doe on a kill permit in March with twin fawns, and even then they were less in size than a subway sandwich and their skin was still kinda translucent. Not anything I would want mounted, but maybe a biologist would want it in a jar of formaldehyde (sp).
Tony
I also have the kids dissect fetal pigs...the skin is so thin and weak that I am sure that sewing and mounting the skin would be an impossibility.
I had a couple of whitetail and armadillo fetuses courtesy of a nephew in my freezer for awhile. Kept forgetting to take them to my classroom after I got the formalin in. Kinda got rid of them after the ice storm last Jan knocked out our power for 12 days and the wife discovered them. :)
I do...8^)
In all seriousness, mine came from a pregnant whitetail doe roadkilled in April a few years ago.
It barely fits inside the 1-gallon jar and I think I still have it’s twin in the back of the freezer somewhere…8^) (joking) Both were doe fawns.
Like others, got the idea from junior high science classes. Can remember sitting board in class for hours and staring at the preserved twin fawn specimens. Was fascinated by them at the time. They were hairless and white in color and both fits in one jar.
Later in life acquired a fully developed (hair, spots and all) road killed whiteatil fetus and preserved it in formaldehyde purchased from a drug store (I think that is where I got it).
Anyhow - either people were totally freaked out by it or were fascinated like myself. Trust me - they make a he!! of a conversation piece from both sides.
Eventually, lent it to a buddy and never got it back before moving from the area.
Then a few years ago on April 11th, co-worker buddy seen a doe get road killed while driving to work and I went and cut them out. As said, the smallest one barely fits inside a 1 gallon jar.
At that time couldn’t find any formaldehyde and was told it could no longer be purchased over the counter, so tried distilled alcohol. The alcohol worked ok for a while, but recently looked at it and the preservation is not doing so well.
Have no idea how formaldehyde is purchased now-a-days. Anyone have a source, or a source of the “Formalin” Salagi is speaking of???
Thanx
Thanx for the info, and anyone else that can enlighten.
I moved residence about 8 months ago, and think I know where I stashed it. Will try and dig it out and take a photo and see if anyone here knows enough about the subject to advise if it can be salvaged.
;^)
Tony
Good thing I don't teach English! Didn't word that the best did I?
zbone I get the formalin I use at school from a chemical supplier (usually Flinn Scientific). Don't know if it is available "over the counter" or not.
You do need to inject the alcohol if you use it, and be sure everything is completely submerged. I didn't do that with a snake and it got rather aromatic rather quickly!
You are one sick puppy, dude. LOL!!
GG
Stay safe out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Totally cool looking....
they were about the size of your hand.
I like the worm in the bottom of mezcal....doesn't make it right, so what would it taste like?
JBone
Tooo Funny...8^)))
Hey Rex - Did you happen to get a chance to ask your friend why yet??? Thanx, and the reason I asked is because I happen to be going through some hunting gear the other day and ran across my pickled fawn. It is not in as bad a condition as I last thought it was and am sure it can be salvaged. The alcohol is a little cloudy and interestingly, the fawn seems to have shrunk, cause it now seems a whole lot smaller in the 1-gallon jar than when I tried to fit it inside. Seems some of the alcohol inside as evaporated also.
What I'd like to do now is break the jar open, rinse it off and repickle it in fresh alcohol, although don't know how hazardous too my health it would be messing with something like that. Any suggestions???
If I think about it, will try and take a picture and post it.
Anyhow, as said, I think it can be salvaged and re-jarred with fresh clear alcohol. It’s be pickling in that jar probably close to 10 years now.
I emailed my friend and am including his response in this post. He preserves insects in the vodka but I would think that the same principles apply.
"Most isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) is 70% so it will make the insect specimens very brittle and it seems to really leach the color out of them. It also does weird things if you try to dilute it down to the proper concentration, so it just isn't the best choice.
Dr. Stephan Sommers, who used to be the curator of entomology for the ISU Museum told me that 35-40% alcohol works best, without making them so brittle that they might break inside the collection container. He recommended the vodka because most (all the cheap ones) are 80 proof, which equates to 40% alcohol so the concentration is good. He also told me that most vodkas are distilled using various tannins from plants and they tend to work well for color preservation. So basically, even the cheapest vodka is nearly perfect, right out of the bottle.
I found that after they have been preserved for a while, some color usually leaches out and tints the original vodka they were preserved in. What I do is give them about a year in the original vodka before I change it out with fresh; then they will be preserved in a crystal clear medium for years to come".
So there you go. I hope that helps.
I dread thinking about opening that jar lid though…8^)
After completing his mission someday, will post a new photo.
There other thread is recollecting on best quotes, etc.
this has to be the dumbest thread category winner.
hands down
Maybe they rut earlier in parts further north.
He also responded one day to a deer kill and found a doe with a dead fawn. There was another farther away. When he got to that one, he was shocked to find that it was still alive! He put it in his jacket and they took it to a deer rehabilitator. How's that for a rude introduction to the world?!
>>>>-------->
I first saw those coffee tables when he moved into the blue building with archery shop off of BranchHill-Guinee Pike.
I asked him how he managed to get the fawns because they would not have spots by season?
That's when he told me about the road kills.
With the fawns so late in Gestation they looked normal and not under developed.
The coffee tables looked cool as hell.
I found the skeleton of a cow elk with s complete skeleton of the calf with its head in the pelvis. It took me awhile to figure out what the heck was going on. Coyotes never got to it.
that's been my experience.
