Years ago we entered a long abandoned house. Up in the attic in one of the end windows was a long dead cat. It had died stretched out in the sunlight, probably sick or starved. The bottom side was all skeleton but the top was mummy like leather. One of the most fascinating things I have stumbled across. The wife allowed me to take it home so long as I hid it from the children (don’t ask). I kept it for several years, showing it to those who were intersted to see it after hearing the description. Somewhere in the haze it disappeared into the void.
fusiliersays
Don’t these people watch “Antiques Roadshow?” That’s patina and it increases the value of the piece immeasurably.
(Turpentine and 0000 steel-wool should work fine, followed by some amber shellac and a couple light coats of biled linseed oil.)
David: That’s a crazy story. Now I’m thinking we should have saved the many bat carcasses that we’ve found over the years (in a cardboard box, a bag of compost additive, one of my boots…). My lovely wife could have built a display cabinet for them, and we could have them in the living room! There must only be three drops of water in a bat’s body, because they never seem to “rot” in the stinky, icky way that one tends to associate with dead mammals.
fusilier: We big fans of patina as long as it doesn’t gross out the guests too much (which probably rules out the display cabinet idea). This old house is full of strange “character”, which is part of why we love it.
I work in a state department of health lab doing research on rabies and I probably handle more dead bats in a week than the average person will see in a life time. Let me just say, bats definitely rot. If I never have to smell another dead bat again well… I can’t say I would cry about it.
But on the plus side, I have a ton of dead bat photos.
RickU says
Pharynguloid?! I’m a Pharyngulite.
David says
Years ago we entered a long abandoned house. Up in the attic in one of the end windows was a long dead cat. It had died stretched out in the sunlight, probably sick or starved. The bottom side was all skeleton but the top was mummy like leather. One of the most fascinating things I have stumbled across. The wife allowed me to take it home so long as I hid it from the children (don’t ask). I kept it for several years, showing it to those who were intersted to see it after hearing the description. Somewhere in the haze it disappeared into the void.
fusilier says
Don’t these people watch “Antiques Roadshow?” That’s patina and it increases the value of the piece immeasurably.
(Turpentine and 0000 steel-wool should work fine, followed by some amber shellac and a couple light coats of biled linseed oil.)
fusilier
James 2:24
Phi (Nic McPhee) says
David: That’s a crazy story. Now I’m thinking we should have saved the many bat carcasses that we’ve found over the years (in a cardboard box, a bag of compost additive, one of my boots…). My lovely wife could have built a display cabinet for them, and we could have them in the living room! There must only be three drops of water in a bat’s body, because they never seem to “rot” in the stinky, icky way that one tends to associate with dead mammals.
fusilier: We big fans of patina as long as it doesn’t gross out the guests too much (which probably rules out the display cabinet idea). This old house is full of strange “character”, which is part of why we love it.
Rabbit says
I work in a state department of health lab doing research on rabies and I probably handle more dead bats in a week than the average person will see in a life time. Let me just say, bats definitely rot. If I never have to smell another dead bat again well… I can’t say I would cry about it.
But on the plus side, I have a ton of dead bat photos.