Fortunately, this time was not wasted and could be used to continue repairing the swordfish specimen. But before that, she still had some natural history knowledge to teach.
She neatly cut open the skinned bird body and took out the stomach and crop from the body.
A strong stench filled the entire room, and it was difficult to block it even with masks on. The apprentices frowned and covered their noses.
"It stinks, right?" Sonia said, "When we are making specimens, if possible, we should dissect the specimen's stomach, crop, cheek pouches and other food storage organs, so that we can know their main functions
What is the food? This has reference value in understanding the animal’s habits and habitat.”
She carefully cut open the crop and poured out a pile of dark food fragments. The food in the crop was relatively intact, and it could be seen that there were insects and plant seeds.
"Everyone can take a look and see what kind of seeds and insects there are." Sonia used tweezers to break away the food fragments.
Then she cut open the stomach pouch. The strong stench of semen made the students who were already closer move back. However, Sonia pushed the contents away on the enamel plate as if she didn't smell it.
The food in the stomach has become semi-mushy, and it is almost impossible to see the contents clearly. However, after pushing it away and looking carefully, you can still see some undigested food fragments.
"Look, everyone, how many kinds of insects and plants can you see?"
The "apprentices" gathered around the two enamel basins, trying hard to hold back the foul smell and carefully identify them.
"There are beetles, but I can't see what kind."
"That's right." Sonia nodded and fiddled with the remains of the beetle.
"snails!"
"This is too easy, the snail shell is very complete." Sonia smiled.
"cricket."
"You can tell from its legs."
The apprentices all talked about many types of insects, but no one could name the plants. No wonder, even if these seeds are not digested, they are still in a semi-rotted state, with very different colors and shapes.
It's not easy to see big changes. Sonia herself didn't recognize much of it.
If you use the owner's microscope, you should be able to distinguish more details. However, microscopes from optical factories are still in short supply, and even "non-productive departments" such as the Natural History Museum have to wait in long queues to make purchase requests.
The one configured in Sonia's laboratory was obtained by Lin Hanlong through the back door in the name of a "birthday gift".
But Sonia didn't intend to take the sour and smelly contents back to the research laboratory - she had too many things to do at the moment and couldn't care less about studying the blue magpie.
"This seems to be an animal limb." Valentina suddenly said. She used tweezers to pick out a small piece of bone-like object from inside.
"It is indeed an animal bone." Sonia looked at it carefully. "It should be part of the limb bones of some kind of amphibian or reptile. I can't tell which one specifically. But judging from the food items of other corvids,
, it should be a lizard or a frog,"
"Then it eats a lot of miscellaneous food."
"Yes, corvids have a very diverse diet. Although they mainly feed on insects and other animal foods, they also eat plant fruits, seeds and grains. Common types of animal foods include kowtow beetles, beetles, locusts, and grasshoppers.
Flies, katydids, crickets, beetles, lepidopteran larvae and other insects also eat spiders, snails, worms, fireflies, frogs, lizards, nestlings, bird eggs and other small invertebrates and vertebrates."
Sonia effortlessly recited the information she read from "Ornithology". Of course, she did not follow the text exactly - she had dissected many corvids and confirmed this statement through experiments. The blue magpie is a
There shouldn't be much difference among corvids.
Finally, by identifying food fragments and residues, they calculated that plant fruits accounted for 33.8%, amphibians and reptiles accounted for 32.4%, insects accounted for 22.5%, other small birds accounted for 7%, and 4.3% were unidentifiable.
After explaining the feeding habits of the blue magpie, it was almost time for the swordfish to be moistened. Sonia asked them to bring the swordfish specimen over again. The wet cloth had just been untied, allowing the air to slightly dry the moisture on the surface.
Xiaowen brought Sonia a tool box. Sonia touched the fish skin in various parts and felt that it had softened. She said: "When we repair the specimen, we first need to restore the specimen to its original state. We need to repair the broken areas.
, the sunken areas need to be refilled - if the filling shows signs of mold and insect infestation, remove the old filling and refill it.”
After saying that, she began to repair the specimen. Repairing the specimen was a complicated task. She first adjusted the bracket structure inside the fish body according to the damage of the specimen, and then sprinkled defatted kapok with camphor powder to fill the damaged and depressed areas.
Then use small nails to pin the cracked edges of the skin - this step is particularly difficult to do because the skin will gradually lose water after it softens, so many damaged areas must be temporarily clamped and fixed with special wooden boards.
Sonia had to use special paper to "patch" areas where the leather was damaged and could no longer be stitched with leather staples.
"As long as possible, it is best not to use the patching mode." Sonia said, "Whether it is leather or paper, its strength is different from that of fish skin. The shrinkage rate is different when it is dry and wet, and it is easy to break."
"Wouldn't it be okay if we had swordfish skin?" an apprentice said, "They are both swordfish skins, so the shrinkage rate is the same."
"You're right, but we don't." Sonia agreed.
"Our master is the fishery company. You can talk to him. Leave the fish skin..."
"According to what you said, it would be easier to just catch a new swordfish."
"Besides, fishery companies don't peel skins. It's the job of fish processing plants."
…
Sonia signaled everyone to stop discussing it. While waiting for the skin to dry, she was going to start making the Taiwan Blue Magpie.
She put on her gloves and carefully took out a glass bottle with a black skull on it.
"This is an antiseptic paste, a highly toxic preservative. It is also a commonly used preservative when we prepare specimens. Its active ingredient is called arsenic in Chinese. It is actually an arsenic-containing compound. It is very toxic! If you accidentally touch it
Your lips, you will see God in less than a minute."
As she spoke, she opened the lid, carefully took out a bamboo spatula, and scooped some out of the bottle. A strange smell emitted from the air.
Sonia unfolded the bird feather skin and carefully applied antiseptic paste to the inside of the bird feather skin. Then she let it dry for a while and then began to make it.
"The second important step in making taxidermy is to make a bracket. The material of the bracket is this kind of galvanized iron wire, which is soft enough and has a certain strength." Sonia picked up a pile of Australian galvanized iron wire, "This is
Australian iron wire is galvanized and has certain corrosion resistance, so it is specially used for our specimen preparation."
She said: The choice of wire should be based on the size of the bird. Generally, it is appropriate to support the entire bird specimen. The wire is too thin and cannot support the body of the bird, and it is difficult to shape the specimen. The wire is too thick to build the bracket.
It takes a lot of effort to put on and style.
"... Small birds use No. 26 to No. 24 wire, large birds use No. 8 to No. 10 wire, and No. 20 to No. 10 wire is commonly used. As blue magpie is a relatively large small bird, we can choose No. 20.
"
Sonia said as she took out a roll of wire and a sharp-nosed pick from the wire. These Australian tools came from the bottom of their hearts and felt that they were useful.
"We first build the specimen's stand. Before building the stand, we must first have a basic plan: what is the posture of the specimen. For birds, there are two most basic postures: standing and flying. If
By subdividing it, more can be distinguished. For specific postures, you can refer to museum paintings; you can also decide based on the condition of the skins taken. Today we will make the simplest standing posture."
Sonia picked up the wire, measured the size, and cut off three pieces. She used a file to file both ends of each wire.
"The cut wire ends will be sharper. They need to be polished in advance to avoid puncturing the leather when wearing the model - and may also puncture your hands." She said, picking up a piece of wire:
"Generally, three wires are used to build the scaffold. The first one goes from the head to the left foot, and the ventral side of the specimen is facing up at this time." She picked up the bird feather skin and gestured. "The wire should be 3 to 4 centimeters longer than the bird's beak.
The feet are 5 to 6 centimeters." She began to thread the wire through the leather, "The movement should be gentle and don't use force. Otherwise, the skin will be easily punctured."
After threading the first wire, do the same with the second wire, from the left wing to the right foot; and the third wire from the right wing to the tail.
"This wire should be 5 to 6 centimeters longer than the tailbone. For species with particularly long tail feathers - such as the Taiwanese blue magpie, the wire at the tail should be made into a 'Y' shape."
Sonia threaded the three wires, carefully held the middle of the three lead wires with her hands, and gently straightened her wings and feet to make both sides symmetrical. Then she bent the wires from the middle. Sonia quickly handed her a
Tie a short wire from the middle, then separate and organize.
Although it has not been filled yet, the leather feathers supported by the wires are "hanging" on the bracket in a weird situation, but it can already be seen that it is a bird.
"Even if the bracket is ready, the next step is to fill it." Sonia said, "After the bracket is put on, it must be filled quickly. You cannot wait for the feathers to dry completely. The bird's feathers are still slightly moist now. If
Once completely dry, it will be difficult to comb and shape the bird's feathers."
For filling specimens, in the past, straw was used to make animal specimens in Fangcaodi. The effect was not very good, and it was easy to corrode, moth-eaten and mildewed. Straw was also easy to damage the leather, and the fullness and stability of the filling were also poor. So now it is used instead.