thejunipertree (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thejunipertree) wrote2008-08-12 12:30 am
thejunipertree) wrote2008-08-12 12:30 am
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I don't have much call to use this particular icon all that often anymore, as it is of Charlie and she is long past.
However, I finally knuckled down and completed one of the animal preservation projects I'd been talking about for a while: namely, the jugging of Charlie.
I'd been saving her body for some time because I wanted to do something with it. What, I wasn't all that clear about, but I knew I wanted to preserve it in some manner. Taxidermy is pretty much straight out because I don't have the facilities to perform it in my apartment (and I think Middle Brother would be slightly put out, even at the idea) and I didn't want to strip the flesh to save the skeleton.
The next best idea for preservation was jugging. I bought a wee glass bottle with a pleasing shape from an arts and crafts store, after much wembling over what she would actually fit into. It had been so long since I held her that I was unsure of her size. Then, I had to thaw her out; this was probably what disturbed me the most out of all of it.
Then came the actual jugging. Her body seemed so very small compared to Aristotle; I don't remember her being so wee. She was a bit stiff and kinked in some place and the neck of the bottle was rather narrow, but after some finagling and careful manuvering- I managed to get her into a good position. Filled the bottle with ethyl alcohol, corked it, and put it up somewhere high where it wouldn't be disturbed until I could get some wax to seal it with (The Engineer brought me home some sweet red wax mixed with plastic that should do the trick).
The curvature of the bottle highlights her shape and magnifies her features, so they're more visable than if it were just a regular glass jar. And her time in the freezer did not mar any of her markings, which is also good.
I wish I had the space to get into full-on taxidermy, though. I would love to be able to get the rats into some sort of clockwork ensemble or actually be able to do what I want with Baby (the elderly marmalade cat), once he finally passes. But living in a small apartment isn't really the ideal place to be doing things of that nature.
Sometimes, in the midst of all these thoughts, I stop and wonder if there is actually something seriously wrong with me. I see it as honor, the making of something beautiful and/or creative out of their bodies. And yes, getting to keep them with me, albeit in a different form, instead of hiding them away in the ground or committing them to flames and ash. But, the reactions of other people I talk to about this would have me believe I'm more than a bit warped for even wanting to do so.
Eh. Regardless of what anyone says, I reckon I'll continue doing what I please. This is largely how I am in most aspects of my life, after having spent so many years trying to please almost every single person around me. What makes this any different?
However, I finally knuckled down and completed one of the animal preservation projects I'd been talking about for a while: namely, the jugging of Charlie.
I'd been saving her body for some time because I wanted to do something with it. What, I wasn't all that clear about, but I knew I wanted to preserve it in some manner. Taxidermy is pretty much straight out because I don't have the facilities to perform it in my apartment (and I think Middle Brother would be slightly put out, even at the idea) and I didn't want to strip the flesh to save the skeleton.
The next best idea for preservation was jugging. I bought a wee glass bottle with a pleasing shape from an arts and crafts store, after much wembling over what she would actually fit into. It had been so long since I held her that I was unsure of her size. Then, I had to thaw her out; this was probably what disturbed me the most out of all of it.
Then came the actual jugging. Her body seemed so very small compared to Aristotle; I don't remember her being so wee. She was a bit stiff and kinked in some place and the neck of the bottle was rather narrow, but after some finagling and careful manuvering- I managed to get her into a good position. Filled the bottle with ethyl alcohol, corked it, and put it up somewhere high where it wouldn't be disturbed until I could get some wax to seal it with (The Engineer brought me home some sweet red wax mixed with plastic that should do the trick).
The curvature of the bottle highlights her shape and magnifies her features, so they're more visable than if it were just a regular glass jar. And her time in the freezer did not mar any of her markings, which is also good.
I wish I had the space to get into full-on taxidermy, though. I would love to be able to get the rats into some sort of clockwork ensemble or actually be able to do what I want with Baby (the elderly marmalade cat), once he finally passes. But living in a small apartment isn't really the ideal place to be doing things of that nature.
Sometimes, in the midst of all these thoughts, I stop and wonder if there is actually something seriously wrong with me. I see it as honor, the making of something beautiful and/or creative out of their bodies. And yes, getting to keep them with me, albeit in a different form, instead of hiding them away in the ground or committing them to flames and ash. But, the reactions of other people I talk to about this would have me believe I'm more than a bit warped for even wanting to do so.
Eh. Regardless of what anyone says, I reckon I'll continue doing what I please. This is largely how I am in most aspects of my life, after having spent so many years trying to please almost every single person around me. What makes this any different?
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