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Collecting DOR specimens for museums
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by Snakeman1982 on October 22, 2006
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Hey Everyone,
Well I haven't written on this site much in the past couple of years but I finally got some time and noticed an interesting observation. I recently noticed a post by Wally Vickers saying that he has seen 25 DOR cottonmouths on one stretch of road in the past two months. That is terrible and this sort of situation is common and sad to see.
However, one thing that could be good for the snake or other organisms is to not let its body go to waste. There are a lot of valuable information that can be taken from DOR amphibians and reptiles. Molecular data, dietary information, and even morphology (that's what I study) can all be examined from preserved specimens. Most of the museum herpetologists that I know try to get the most out of every dead organism they find, so that the organism's death doesn't go to waste and their life becomes more valuable.
I believe that field collecting dead organisms is something that most of the members on this site, and field herpers, could really benefit scientific collections with. It may also allow the herper to meet interesting Ph.D herpetologists and get your name out there. I urge as many people as possible to collect DOR specimens and try to deposit them in museums. It can be a very valuable contribution to science and is actually a large part of what many scientific publications arise from (my own included).
Every dead specimen I come across I take tissue (e.g., muscle, scale clippings, liver) and put that in 95-100% ethanol. Then I place the specimen itself in 10% Formalin and preserve it for a couple days. After that I put it in 70% ethanol and submit it into a large museum (every state should have at least one good collection, usually associated with the larger Universities). It may be hard to get these chemicals, however you can freeze the specimens and then bring them to a museum later on when you have time and they will preserve them.
There are proper ways to collect, preserve, and store specimens and maybe a collection manager or curator can show you how to do it properly if you are depositing a lot of specimens there. This of course would certainly add to your herpetological knowledge and you may have fun sharing adventure stories with other herpetologists while you are at the museum.
The information that you want to jot down when you are collecting specimens are: Species (common and scientific name), Date and Time, Collector (your name and accompaning persons), General locality data (state, county, city, roads, kilometers to nearest intersection), GPS coordinates and elevation (if able), size (snout-vent length, head width, etc...), general habitat information, and any interesting comments or natural history notes.
This information, along with the specimen, is incredibly valuable and some of these specimens can actually be published as county records, if the species has never been recorded in that county. Or if you find a new diet item in that species that has never been recorded, you can write that up as well. So there is a chance to get published in a scientific journal, like Herpetological Review, which gets read by most of the herpetologists around the world.
Anyway, I think that the herp community can really make excellent contributions this way and help the death of the animals we love so much not be wasted. I really hope that the members of this site will take an initiative to cooperate with museums.
Robert
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RE: Collecting DOR specimens for museums
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by Cro on October 26, 2006
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Robert, very good information!
In the past I collected quite a few road-killed reptiles in West Texas and other States that went to the Dallas Museum of Natural History.
I usually carry a bunch of zip-lock bags and an extra cooler with ice or dry-ice so that I can collect dead animals for museum use.
As far as the chemicals, that museum advised me to preserve the specimins in ethenol ( golden grain, or everclear, or 180 proof plain vodka ), and they later transferred them to the formalin solution. That was many years ago, though.
Now days with overnight shipping via UPS or FedX you might be better using dry-ice or frozen ice packs and an insulated box and not fooling with the alcahol. Check with the Museum first and see what they prefer. They might even give you a box of specimin jars and tags and formalin to use and take with you on trips.
( I can think of better uses for the golden grain, anyway, LOL ).
I have also picked up many other dead animals along the roads that went to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History for use in their educational displays. I have collected road-killed bobcats, turkeys, egrets, hawks, raccoons, song-birds, otters, beavers, alligators, and many smaller snakes and amphibians that were used by the museum taxidermists.
Note that collection of these types of animals might require a Salvage Permit from your State Game and Fish Department, and even possibly a Federal Permit for the Hawks and Owles. Check with the Museum and your Game and Fish first. A Museum might be able to put you on their permit as a Research Assosiate, if you are willing to bring dead animals back for them.
As a teen, I once snuck a dead bobcat into my mom`s freezer until I could take it to the Museum, and she found it frozen there, and was none to happy, but thats another story........
Best Regards JohnZ
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