I picked up an almost intact dog skeleton from the side of the road. One of my students spotted it from her bus window! I need help with preservation and wiring it together. Any suggestions? I did put the skeleton in a laundry bleach bath for approximately six hours and left it outside to dry. My husband varnished the bones, but now it has a mildew problem. It may be too late for the proper preservation of this skeleton, but you never know what I might find this school year. Thanks for your help.
—Susan, Myrtle Beach, SC
I must admit I haven’t had any experience in preserving and mounting skeletons, but it was a fascinating topic to investigate. I found two websites on the topic of cleaning and bleaching bones, both of which recommend hydrogen peroxide as a bleaching agent: The Boneman and Cleaning and Preserving Animal Skulls.
Mounting the skeleton appears to be a challenge. How to Mount a Small Skeleton has some step-by-step directions. I’m wondering if a museum curator or naturalist at a nature center would have any suggestions for you on how to mount the skeleton for display.
You mentioned the possibility of finding other specimens. I’d suggest you contact your state Game Commission or local animal control agency to learn about any permits or licenses you would need to collect or possess roadkill or other remains of wild animals.
My middle school students were fascinated by skeletons, too. These specimens can provide excellent learning opportunities for observations, comparisons, and classifications. Our school had purchased some smaller ones preserved in blocks of Lucite. The bat and turtle were the most popular ones, and our collection also included a mouse skeleton because many students (as well as some adults) have a misconception that mice have no bones. I usually had a few skeletons and bones on the “museum table” in my classroom, along with other interesting objects for the students to explore. The students would look at them with magnifiers or under a stereomicroscope and were surprised at how vertebrate skeletons are so similar in structure. The high school biology teacher had a nice collection of specimens (legally acquired) he would share with us, too. I also know teachers who tap into the resources and collections of local colleges and wildlife centers. You can expand your collection electronically with sites such as the Skull Site and the eSkeletons Project.
Students like to share what they find themselves, but I’d set some parameters as to what kinds of things can be brought into the classroom. I learned this the hard way when a student brought back a baby shark she found on the beach several hours away from the school. When she opened the cooler—before I knew what was in it—the stench was overpowering! My students were also very eager to bring in baby animals they thought had been abandoned or orphaned, especially rabbits and birds. I would commend them for their concern and then urge them not to remove them from their surroundings. I included these parameters in the syllabus at the beginning of the year so parents would also be aware.
Did you see the article Roadkill Data Analysis: Using Spreadsheets to Integrate Math and Science in the March 2009 issue of Science Scope? It describes a project in which students gather data about roadkill (without removing it) and upload the data to a regional database. They can then pose questions and explore the data.