Vulture Culture

There’s a lot of repeat questions from beginners on here, so I decided to compile a list of resources for folks who don’t know where to start. I want people to be able to jump into this hobby, but there's a lot of folks asking the same things without checking past posts, so this list should answer lots of those repeats. Feel free to direct people here for resources, too, or suggest tutorials you find valuable.

Wet Specimens:

Wet Specimen Tutorial (IMO, the best guide out there! very in depth and useful)

Wet Specimen Tutorial

Wet Specimen Care / Maintenance

Bone Cleaning & Articulation:

Bone Cleaning Basics and FAQ

Bone Cleaning and Articulation FAQ

Macerating Bones (*author’s note: OddArticulations is an extremely sketchy businessman who has acquired and profited from grave-robbed human remains. I personally am against financially supporting him, but this is one of the only well-written maceration guides out there.)

Dermestid Beetle Basics

Oxidizing Skeletons

Tanning / Taxidermy:

Tanning Basics

Detailed Tanning Tutorial

Washing Pelts

Bird Taxidermy Tutorial

Measuring Forms

Carcass Casting

Methods of Making Forms

Wrapping Bird Forms

Insect Pinning

Insect Pinning and Prep Videos

How to Pin Different Bugs

How to Pin And Spread Bugs

Other Preservation Methods

Dry Preserving (aka mummification)

Other Resources

Vulture Culture Discord Server!

Taxidermy.net - Forum full of guides, tips, photos, etc.

Youtube - Seriously, there’s videos for everything. I have learned a huge amount about taxidermy from watching tons of pros on YouTube.

Gotham Taxidermy - Reading list and free online resources for all facets of preservation

Social Media - Following other creators is very helpful as they often post process videos and tips or have Patreons with in depth tutorials.

Laws

Birds protected by the MBTA (USA)

North American Animals Protected Under CITES (USA & Canada)

Birds Protected By The MBCA (Canada)

Mummified bats and other bat remains are extremely easy to find at oddity shops, on Etsy, and even on Amazon. They’re popular and cheap - and that’s because they’re harvested en masse via environmentally destructive poaching.

Here is an excellent breakdown of bat specimen sourcing and the issues with it. Conservation orgs are calling for people to stop supporting this trade, and the environmental destruction and population reduction has been so rapid and extreme that conservationists are struggling to find ways to combat it.

Even if a bat specimen says it’s “ethical,” it is probably not true, as the above link proves. Don’t just trust “ethical” slapped on a listed item. If you’re wondering if a bat specimen you want to buy is ethical - most likely not. When in doubt, just don’t do it. I promise your life will not be any worse off with one less item in it!

While bats are currently at a huge risk, please consider other animals - especially pollinators (yes, bats are pollinators!) such as butterflies. If an exotic specimen seems a little too easy to get your hands on, it’s worth investigating why exactly that is.

Vulture culture is about appreciating the natural world, and if we don’t preserve it, there won’t be any natural world left to appreciate. Having these items is fascinating and cool, but the survival of ecosystems comes before any desire for collecting certain items. There will always be something else you can get without contributing to environmental harm, and as long as we ensure the continued survival of diverse cries, we can enjoy them as they exist naturally!

I just was doing yard work and found where I buried my hamster two years ago. I decided to keep her skull and reburied the rest but I touched the skull with my gloves and shovel. How should I clean the gloves and shovel? Wash them off with hot water and soap ?

I tanned a deer hide last winter (about 6 months ago). It came out really stiff, even with going back and washing it again and reapplying yhe solution. And now....it's dripping grease. What did I do wrong (obviously I didn't de-grease it enough) and can I save it?

Hello! I recently processed an opossum which my grandfather shot on his property and gifted to me, the poor girl was covered with fly eggs, so she wasn't viable for skinning and tanning, so I kept her paws, skull, kids (they were pinkies still, and were very dead because he froze her after dispatcing, im still sad about this and her death) and tail, which I need advice on dry preserving. How would I go about mummifying something this large? Id there any additional prep work on top of the standard process? Thanks in advance.

Was out in the woods today bone hunting and discovered some trees with bright blue spray paint on them with random names and such. Nearby was a bright blue raccoon skull. Anything I can do to restore it without damaging the bone?

I posted recently about a Tawny Frogmouth specimen that i have. I understand mainly how to get just the bones but i was wondering specifically about feet and talons as they have very tiny bones and claws. Should i macerate it with the rest of the bird or separate as to not risk damaging or losing when i get rid of the scum.