Yesterday afternoon Rebecca, Laura, William, Sean and I "prepped" some small mammals we recently caught in the field. This involves skinning and stuffing said mammals and mounting them until they dry and are ready to be added to the specimen collection. The two mammals you see (beautifully prepped by the above research team), left to right, are a shrew (Blarina brevicauda, in the Order Insectivora) and a white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus, Order Rodentia). We did this in the midst of a room full of General Biology I lab students, most of whom were fascinated by the process. It was exciting to see so many students really get into this. I've done it on so many occasions that I'd forgotten how remarkable it was the first time.
[Note: Google eyes added by Rebecca this afternoon.]
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