Then I put in bleach
and water until I could get all the bones of the two birds out.
People and birds have the same divisions, the same bones on the
right and left and the same single bone backbone.Bald Eagle Skeleton by Kristen
I wrote to Mr. Larson and asked him how he put the eagle skeleton
together. Here is his reply in his own words:
"Isn't that eagle interesting? Actually I should say, aren't those eagles interesting? This is because there are parts of two birds there, and I am sorry to tell you again that someone shot those birds with a shotgun. The pellets from the gun damaged parts of the bones to the point where I could not use them. So I took bones from one eagle and bones from the other.
The way I did that was to put
the eagles in plastic pails with a lid for a year and let the
flesh decay. Then I put in bleach
and water until I could get all the bones of the two birds out.
People and birds have the same divisions, the same bones on the
right and left and the same single bone backbone.
When the bones were clean enough, I piled all the right side bones on the right and all the left side bones on the left. I took the middle bones and slid them down a piece of wire and glued them. Then I did the little circular eyes and the head. I found that the lower long bone in the eagle I decided to use was smaller than my other parts eagle. So I had to saw the bone across and take a slice out of it. If you look very closely at the right leg, you will see a line around the lower big bone. That is where I glued them together.
The rest is all sewn up with dental floss. It was all a great deal of fun, except again for the fact that people killed them without rhyme or reason.
I drew out the shape of an eage on plexiglass and cut it out. I did the wooden frame from which it all hangs. I am very pleased to learn from you that it is still there."
