#clean culture

[ryllen]

no, but pinecones is really beautiful isn't it ?

#perfect kind of flowers for fae kind who probably feels that flowers die in 0.1 sec bcs of their long life #imagine making mal a pine cone flower wreath and he is so happy with it; that if yuu ever think of selling it king mal mal would order it #for every house in the valley; so everyone has one in their house as new kind of briar valley culture & tradition fhsdh #twst #twisted wonderland #sebek zigvolt #twst yuu #twst mc #twst grim #fanart #i wonder if sebek can see the pinecones as beautiful too #well sebek is weak at subjective thing like art; he might only be able to see things as it is #but he might take on some things from poet or romantic genre books; so i wonder what he sees #i know a fellow who absolutely can't see what i see; i feel like his brain is like a white digital sci fi cube that is clean #and looking so minimalistic it looks like it can only process logical things like numbers #it's so weird that some people don't actually process things by imagining a lot of other things visually in their mind

[skull-hoarder]

I'm finally done

The 3.74 meter reticulated python is finally finished, I am extremely proud, I feel like a peacock

There were probably more than a thousand pieces and I still have a 2.5 meter burmese degreasing and two other snakes in the freezer waiting to be cleaned and articulated

#vulture culture #dead things #animal skull #dead animal #animal bones #bones #bone processing #bone cleaning #dead snake #snake skeleton #bone articulation #articulation #taxidermy

[reasonsforhope]

"Discarded shells from restaurants and hotels are being used to restore damaged oyster ecosystems, promote biodiversity and lower pollution in the city’s bays...

Nestled in between the South China Sea and the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong has been seen historically as an oyster hotspot. “They have been supporting our livelihood since ancient times,” says Anniqa Law Chung-kiu, a project manager at the Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Hong Kong. “Both oysters and their shells are treasures to humans.”

Over the past five decades, however, the city’s sprawling urban development, water pollution, as well as the over-harvesting and frequent seafloor dredging by the lime industry – which uses the crushed shells to make construction material – have destroyed Hong Kong’s oyster habitats and made the waters less hospitable for biodiversity.

The more oyster colonies falter, the worse the problem gets: oysters are filter feeders and purify water by gobbling up impurities. Just one Hong Kong oyster can filter up to 200 litres of water a day, more than any other known oyster species. But decades of rapid industrialisation have largely halted their water-purifying services.

The depletion of Hong Kong’s natural oyster reefs also affects the ability of local farmers to sustainably cultivate their oysters in a healthy environment, denting the reputation of the city’s 700-year oyster farming tradition, designated by Unesco as an “intangible cultural heritage”.

Inhabitants of the coast feel abandoned, says Ken Cheng Wai-kwan, the community leader of Ha Pak Nai on Hong Kong’s Deep Bay, facing the commercial city of Shenzhen in China. “This place is forgotten,” Cheng says. “Oysters have been rooted here for over 400 years. I ask the question: do we want to lose it, or not?”

A group of activists and scientists are taking up the challenge by collecting discarded oyster shells and recycling them to rebuild some of the reefs that have been destroyed and forgotten in the hope the oysters may make a comeback. They’ve selected locations around the island where data they’ve collected suggests ecosystems still have the potential to be rebooted, and there are still enough oyster larvae to recolonise and repopulate reefs. Ideally, this will have a positive effect on local biodiversity as a whole, and farming communities.

Farmers from Ha Pak Nai were among the first to hand over their discarded shells to the TNC team for recycling. Law’s team works with eight oyster farmers from Deep Bay to recycle up to 10 tonnes of shells every year [over 22,000 pounds]. They collect an average of 870kg every week [over 1,900 pounds] from 12 hotels, supermarkets, clubhouses and seafood restaurants in the city, including some of its most fashionable establishments. About 80 tonnes of shells [over 176,000 pounds] have been recycled since the project began in 2020.

Restaurants will soon be further incentivised to recycle the shells when Hong Kong introduces a new fee for waste removal – something that is routine in many countries, but only became law in Hong Kong in July and remains controversial...

Preliminary data shows some of the restored reefs have started to increase the levels of biodiversity, but more research is needed to determine to what extent they are contributing to the filtering of the water, says Law.

Scientists from the City University of Hong Kong are also looking to use oyster shells to increase biodiversity on the city’s concrete seawalls. They hope to provide tiny, wet shelter spots around the seawall in which organisms can find refuge during low tide.

“It’s a form of soft engineering, like a nature-based solution,” says Charlene Lai, a research assistant on the team."

-via The Guardian, December 22, 2023

#oyster #oyster farming #sea shells #seafood #hong kong #ecosystem restoration #biodiversity #ecosystem #water pollution #clean water #cultural heritage #marine life #marine animals #marine science #good news #hope

[bones-bones-bones]

Reblog for a bigger sample size :^]

#vulture culture #bones #bone collecting #skull collecting #skull cleaning #taxidermy #poll

[pianokantzart]

Princess Peach wanting to take a walk through Brooklyn alone to explore, and Mario & Luigi trying to talk her through everything to be wary of is the funniest mental image in the world, actually

#going from the happy clean friendly sunshine world of The Mushroom Kingdom to Brooklyn!??!? #absolute cultural whiplash

[blackbearmagic]

Got off work early today and decided to check out a nearby antique store. I'm glad I did!

Because I found this:

The green price sticker said $35. That's USD, by the way

I went up to the owner and said "Hey, that moose rack you have back here... The sticker says it's $35. It's that correct?"

"Oh yeah," he said. "I would've marked it for 60 or 75, but it's got that part that's sawed off, so I took some off the price. That seem fair?"

"More than," I told him, and continued to shop around.

When I approached the counter a bit later to check out, the owner put a gorgeous little fox skull in front of me.

"If you're getting the antlers," he said, "I'll throw this in for free."

I can only hope I thanked him enough for the kindness.

So anyway, that's how I got a gorgeous rack of moose antlers for thirty-five frickin beans.

#vulture culture #the bear roars #gotta figure out how the hell to hang this #needs to be cleaned first tho #there's lots of dried flesh stuck on

[seabeck]

Another comparison. It’s slightly longer and just generally denser. Man I hope I can find the skull next time!

#vulture culture #not gonna whiten it #it’s clean enough and I like the natural look

[jaketeachesdeath]

A Brown Hare kindly gifted to us by @ian_rosie what a great addition to the collection

31/01/24

#vulture culture uk #vulture culture #oddities #taxidermy #bones #skull #skull collecting #animal skull #curiosities #bone cleaning

[pacificremains]

Behold my beautiful scrunched child

Blackbelly lamb skull, failed to thrive

#lamb skull #sheep skull #pathological skull #pathology #beetle cleaned #vulture culture #skull #oddities #failed to thrive

[shadyufo]

The weather is warming up ( sorta...80 degrees here one day then 40 the next lol ) so it's time to get some skulls and bones cleaned! Got about a dozen buckets and totes worth out to whiten/get soapy baths so far!

A lot of these will be in my Etsy shop soon!

#animal skulls #bones #animal bones #vulture culture #bone cleaning #skulls #rabbit skulls

[adhd-culture--is]

adhd culture is realizing that 90% of your struggles is a war between body energy and brain energy. either your body is tired and your brain wants to work, or your brain is tired and your body wants to run a marathon.

#meds are scary if it weren’t for physical exhaustion and back pain they’d have me doing shit 24/7 #mentally i’m ready to solve the da vinci code but my back is killing me bc i cleaned my toilet #neurodivergent #nd #neurodiverse #neurodivergence #adhd culture is #mod durdle

[nuppu-nuppu]

Do you guys have any tips on how to take care of yourself and your environment when you’re kind of at a low point where you have no energy to do anything...pls help

#this is embarrassing #but i have been sleeping on a bed with no sheets for the past month #because I’m just too tired to get clean ones #and it’s super hard to take care of myself #my house is a complete mess #is this neurodivergent culture #neurodivergent #actually neurodiverse #actually autistic #actually neurodivergent #adhd #pls help #I’m so ashamed of myself but i need help so that’s why i am asking #also for moral support

[gothicdolores]

What kind of utensils do Yautja use? Asking for a friend.

I feel they would slurp and sup on soups and such from shallow bowls or regular ones (their mandibles look like they’re made to hold a bowl comfortably yknow?) but it would also make me ridiculously sad if they miss out on the concept of SPOONS. I love spoons man. Tho it is funny to think of them gingerly stuffing a tiny spoon right up their mouth holes.

#yautja #I am SUPER comfy w the concept of them largely using their hands to eat bc they keep their hands clean as most cultures do #outside of western society yall are filthy wash your hands before you eat #and yet I have to get to bottom of this! forks! sporks! spoons! where are they

[bonespired]

How to degrease bones? (With the easiest and cheapest method!)

Bone cleaning is quite a journey - and honestly degreasing is the part I find a tad confusing. Questions like: how long it will take? Does it work in cold water as well? Is it done? Is it doing anything at all?

As a beginner bone collector, who also doesn't want to put a huge amount of money into it and finding an acceptable way to clean bones is essential. Mainly because of the challenge, - tbh it is quite enjoyable for me to create quality bones with a less amount of investment, it just makes me feel like I really worked for it, I love these challenges - but mostly because it is already difficult to make my family accept this kind of a hobby of mine. Not many people are fond of keeping rotting animal parts at home, I can tell you that! If this hobby turns out to be stinky and expensive, that is definitely a no from family members. And even though I am an adult, making my own money, my husband does have a saying about the family funds - because we are both responsible for this family - so it is important for me to keep things at a reasonable price.

There are many ways to degrease bones and you have to pay a price for it either way, be it about the time period the degreasing takes or the used materials. You can degrease bones chemically, using liquids like ammonia or acetone, but personally, I dislike these, because:

it requires some effort to put your hand on this stuff, they can be hard to come by

they can be harmful to your health (ammonia is not nice to work with)

they can be expensive, and we already have to buy H2O2

they have to be stored and get rid of properly - you cannot just let these go down in your sink

and some materials can be straightforward and dangerous - read about some pros are using stuff like petrol for degreasing and while it does the job, petrol is extremely unstable, highly flammable and tend to blow up easily, so super no!

So, I go with the safest and also the cheapest solution: dish soap.

Dish soap is something that is easy to come by, can be super cheap and the water system is well prepared to clean grey water, so you can pour dish soap into your sink. However, it can take time to degrease your bones. While ammonia or acetone can be done with degreasing under a day (depends on the size of the skull and species of the animal), dish soap takes a lot longer: days at the best, months at the worst. But this is also the easiest degreasing method for beginners.

But there is another big question: how do you know your degreasing is working (and when it is done)?

When I started to even think about degreasing I went online, read about dish soap and was happy because everyone has dish soap at hand, so I picked a pot, filled it with cold water, pour the dish soap in, put the bones in and yay, magic was done! But things are not this simple.

The first days everything went fine: my water had fat oil drops at the surface and a visible white cloud came out of the bones, so a clear sign of the degreasing is working. But this stage went down quickly, like a matter of days - and I thought okay, degreasing is done, time to pull the skulls out and whiten. But my whitening never turned out white, rather like light grey and first I blamed my peroxide because of it, then my bones. These are findings from nature, probably they are stained, right?

I started to be doubtful when my cat skull turned out to be sticky after whitening. That never happened before, so another research later I came to the conclusion the cat that I thought are fully degreased is actually not degreased. But it didn't do a thing in the pot anymore. So what did I do wrong?

I used cold water. Apparently cold water works, but only for a while. It cannot really pull out the grease that is hiding deep inside the bone - that's why I stopped seeing white cloud after a matter of days, falsely thinking I am done. I needed warm water in the long run - if I simply use warm tap water that just runs cold way too quickly. It can be done with warm tap water as well, but that takes even longer. So, I bought an aquarium heater.

I looked after the fat oil drops in the water. They appeared on the first day, so I thought they will keep appearing until I am done. Turns out they don't? Rather the water slowly goes more opaque and murky with time, but no more fat drops don't matter how hard I am looking for them. This makes my job significantly difficult because oil drops are easier to spot and tell based on them if the degreasing is working or if I am actually done.

I am just super imapetient. I want my skull done and perfect as soon as possible. But it just doesn't work like that. I am working on this cat skull for 3 weeks now and it is still going: I had to macerate it, then degrease it, then whiten it, and then go back to degreasing and all I wanna do is glue it together and post fancy pictures of it. Won't happen for a while, time to accept that.

But how this opaque water progress looks like? I was so confused about is it clear water, is it dirty water, is it done, whether the water is warm enough or not, so I started to document the process.

This is the freshwater stage. I just changed the water and quickly snapped a pic of it, making it my reference piece. I can clearly see all the details of my bones, even if my dish soap is yellow, colouring my water a bit - but I can see through the water without any problem. My heater can do 36 Celsius degrees max, otherwise, it cooks the fish in the tank, so I put that on max, hoping it will be enough. About the temperature: I did read about 46 Celsius or even more than 50 Celsius for water temperature, but the aquarium heater cannot reach those degrees, because the main goal is to keep fish alive and no fish stays alive in 40+ water. I could use a bucket heater, but for me, that is harder to get and I really don't want a setting that takes a lot of space/costs a lot of money, so an aquarium heater it is.

Another thing I am not comfortable to put my bones in more than 50 Celsius degrees. This is my personal choice, but I really wanna avoid any chance of accidentally cooking my bones, and 50 seems to be too much heat.

I looked back at it an hour later and snapped another pic: and look, we start to get blurry details! No oil drops on the surface, but something definitely makes the water murky: my water is not hot enough to cook the bones, so it cannot dissolve or take any kind of damage in my bones, so this stuff must be grease! Seems like the heater works!

Checked the bones that evening as well and the water is definitely even more opaque!

And this is the next day: I can barely see my bones anymore, so definitely time to change the water.

Conclusion

If you think you are done with your bones, but they:

have yellow spots or wax on them

stick to your hand like you glued them

are shining here or there

have a waxy feeling

smells

Then your degreasing is not done. The good news is you can always go back to degreasing, doesn't matter if you whitened the bones or not.

The cheapest version of degreasing is the dish soap version and you will need warm water for it! It can be a good idea to get an aquarium heater because that will help you to macerate carcasses during the winter as well and quickens degreasing too. You can work with warm tap water, but that takes even longer.

But the dish soap method really takes time! Seems like this part is the longest one in skull cleaning. So even if it seems like my degreasing is not over and my method works, I can also see I won't have a pretty white cat skull anytime soon.

The bones are bathing for the third day in a row now and they seem to release the same amount of grease, so no sign of clear water yet. Also, when I pull the bones out of the water I can still see yellow spots on it - that is grease, sweeping to the surface and I need to get rid of that.

And how I will know my degreasing is done? My water stops being opaque. I can decide when to pull my bones out - do I want to fully degrease it or I decide to end it sooner because I want some discolouration, preserving am roe natural look.... that is up to me. Ideally, I wanna do a full degrease, but I just wanna preserve my bones perfectly to have quality art references that will be with be for a long time, so I try to go for a full degrease and will see how long that takes.

So just take your time, change your water as needed and enjoy the process :3 You cannot harm your bones this way, so happy experimenting!

#vulture culture #degreasing bones #skull degreasing #animal skulls #degrease #degreasing #dead animal #oddities #bone cleaning

[blackberryhound]

Quick shoutout to taxidermists and those who work with deceased animals whether it be spiritually or otherwise. I can see the love and care put into every cleaned skull or mounted pelt and it really shows how much one cares about the animal.

#it’s almost half past midnight and I’m thinking of how absolutely #amazing it is that people have gained the skill to preserve and create life after death #like I’ll never have the ability to completely stop people #from harming wildlife or save every animal from a roadkill accident but #I can clean this skull I found on the side of the road and honor it’s memory and that’s what matters #taxidermy #vulture culture #I just love animals man

[hmtaxidermy]

Finally! After a week of work, this behemoth is clean. All that’s left is a nice whitening.

Any guess on what she is?

Whitetail as a size ref!

#wip #european mount #taxidermy #vulture culture #taxidermist #cw dead animal #tw animal death #tw dead animal #cw animal death #skull #bone cleaning #animal skull #oddities