Since this is the week of Thanksgiving, I figured I'd show off some stuffing and an obligatory photo of a turkey- or three:
There's quite a reliable spot for Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) along Chatham Wildlife Sanctuary. I saw about nine there last week, though they should be hiding soon if they're at all wise to the time of year. Then again, it's only gotten cold in the last couple of days.
In the meantime I visited the (closed to the public) Illinois State Museum's Research and Collections Center, as part of a field trip for Vertebrate Zoology class.
Above is the backbone of a Northern Right Whale. This skeleton was previously owned by the University of Illinois in the 1800s before its donation to this museum. We were actually allowed to hold one of the vertebrae.
Out in the hallway, I found this Platypus as part of a display. I thought it was impressive, until we were let into one of the main storage areas:
That's a lot of animals.
There was even a Walrus, and this is a HUGE head, by the way. I did not realize how big a Walrus is.
In addition to all the stuffed animals (taxidermically speaking), they also had jar after jar of specimens, including the Ornate Box Turtles above.
Notably, I finally found my Kirtland's Snakes. Hopefully I'll see them alive at some point! (However, with the current snake epidemic going around this part of the world, that grows less likely every day. For more information, google Snake Face Disease)
This strange fanged animal is a species of Chevrotain or Mouse-deer, possibly the Water Chevrotain of West Africa. I had no idea these existed. They apparently are among the smallest hoofed mammals in the world, and considering that's a possum next to it, I'm not surprised at this fact.
Where else are you going to find a drawer full of moles?
This drawer contains more bats than I've seen in the last two years!
We were then allowed into the bird collection, where stuffed birds of every feather lined the shelves and filled the cabinets and drawers. I hope this isn't the only glimpse of a Snowy Owl that I get this year (although, based on the current predictions, it probably is.)
Whoever posed this Great Horned Owl did an admirable job.
In this drawer, the dozen birds all lined up in a row are all extinct. They are Passenger Pigeons, and I can honestly say I'll probably never see so many Passenger Pigeons ever again! This is a sight very few people will ever seen, as this collection is private.
Thankfully, the birds shown here are not extinct, although they came pretty close. Whooping Cranes are surprisingly tall when seen this close up. Hopefully I see more Whooping Cranes at once than the half-dozen stuffed ones here!
I'm 99.99% sure I'll never get this close to a Whooping Crane ever again!
Adding to the amazement was this Rail you can see in the bottom right... oh, and the Condor in the back, which I believe is the California Condor. None of this is anything you ever see normally!
After the amazing wonders of the bird collection, we ventured into the insect department. A local beetle identifier told us about his work, and I examined his Tiger Beetle collections, above.
We moved on into the Geology section. Above is a section of the largest meteorite to ever strike in Illinois in recorded history, the Tilden Meteorite, which struck near Tilden, Illinois in 1927.
They also had a moon rock, seen here inside a plastic sphere. All states were given moon rocks back in the day, but Illinois, unlike several other states, has held on to its moon rocks.
Several fossils were present, including this impressive Ichthyosaur fossil.
The back wall also had petrified logs like this one. Overall, it was quite an experience, and while this collection is not open to the public, it still amazes me to see all of this under one roof!
Also, on the way out, we heard some sort of noise coming from behind a door. It turns out that one of the botany researchers practices traditional Chinese songs in his spare time. It was such an unexpected noise that I couldn't keep from laughing purely from the novelty of the thing. To the best of my knowledge, it was excellent singing for what it was, but as I know nothing about traditional Chinese songs, I have no idea. That singing was the second-to-last surprise of a surprising day.
Also, as a slight Fifth Orchid, the last caterpillar of the year (an unknown species) was crawling on the wall as we came out. Thanks to Tony Rothering for setting this visit up and thanks to our guide, whose name I have forgotten, for showing us around!
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