Things I never thought I'd be paid to look up

I really like my job. I realize that not too many people can say this with any real conviction, but I say it often and mean it almost every time.

I have a different task to occupy me almost every hour of the workday and while this sometimes induces chest-crushing anxiety, it mostly just keeps me hopping, engaged and chugging away. I've had the job where I spend my time watching the clock, willing the seconds to tick by, and believe me, this is better.

Anyways, yesterday, I was working through my to do list. And there, between "11 am interview, update Work Weekend 2010 list for teen and kid projects, deliver red and gold spray paint to Day Camp and email ICCP re: visas in progress," was this little gem:

• buy a stuffed beaver

An ever dutiful employee, I opened The Google and typed in "Taxidermy, Beaver" and then spent an hour combing through taxidermy web sites in search of a beaver that will suit our needs here at the BOC. You see, we teach a class called Beaver Ecology and we take kids out into the woods to see active beaver ponds, beaver lodges, beaver dams and beaver meadows. 


The only thing they don't see in the course of their grand educational adventure is, of course, an actual beaver. Have you ever seen a beaver, just in passing? No, you haven't. They're very shy. Now can you imagine a group of 15 third graders, even on tip-toe, using their very smallest voices, having any chance of sneaking up to see a beaver in action? Absolutely not. 


Hence yesterday's search. 


Taxidermied beavers, I'll tell you, cost a pretty penny. So I'm being extra thorough in my search, wanting to make sure we're getting one that has good teeth (their teeth never stop growing, so they have to gnaw their whole lives or risk the teeth growing back into their heads!) has a back feet (webbed!) that are easy to see, well-preserved ears (on the tops of their heads, like their eyes, so they can survey the scene above water without getting too much of their bodies out of the water,) and a nice glossy coat that illustrates the how the oil their skin produces creates a protective (almost waterproof) coating to keep them warm/dry in the water.

Look at all you've learned. You're lucky I'm in your life.

So the inspiration for todays post came when I found this on a taxidermy site:

I thought of the friends that came to my house and didn't want to leave...and had a moment where I wished I hadn't flung their offensive little corpses into the woods for the carrion.

But then I noticed the price tag ($65 per mouse, plus $10 more for the mouse perched on the trap itself,) and thought, eh. I'll just put it up on my blog. It'll have the same effect, I'm sure.

And now I'll post for you a few of my very favorite taxidermy sites. Some of them are worth a quick gander, just so you know what's out there and what kind of people populate this great world we live in, even if you don't have the good fortune to have a job that gives you a reason to interact with them.

http://www.huntnstufftaxidermy.com/
This one is my favorite site - just for sheer personality. Kenny (the taxidermist) is really letting it all hang out here, and I like that.

http://www.taxidermyandfreezedrying.com/taxidermy_freeze_drying_CONTACT.html
(This one is special because they also do FREEZE DRYING.)

Finally, I leave you with some images I'm sure you'll carry with you for a very long time:

and

and

Love,

Sarah