Owl Wings and Coon Tails (Part II)

     I was teaching in New Iberia at the time. I got to school one morning and the electricity was out, the whole school dark.  I was on early duty so I made my way down to the office to pick up my walkie talkie and find out how we were going to handle this situation.  The principal decided to put all the students in the cafeteria where a big wall of windows would allow us to see until we figured this out.  The kids were excited as they got off the bus because we might get to go home early.  The teachers were excited as they got out of their cars because we might get to go home early.  The power company was called and we all sat around waiting for, hopefully, good news.

     Suddenly, my walkie talkie squawked to life and my principal's voice told me to report to the football field.  This request made absolutely no sense, but I headed that way wondering what in the world could be going on.  There was a group of men, most from the power company, gathered on the side line and they parted to let me enter their circle. My principal stepped forward and said, "I know you like to collect stuff for you students.  Do you want this?"  And there lying on the ground was the most beautiful owl I had ever seen. It was huge! One of the electricians explained that the owl had swooped down to catch a mouse and then flown directly up into the power lines, electrocuting itself and throwing the school into darkness. He pointed out that the mouse was still in the owl's talons with its tail curled up the owl's leg.

 "Do you want it?", my principal asked again. Of course, I thought, but what do you do with a dead owl/mouse?  I didn't want to pay to have it stuffed! "What about just a wing?" one electrician offered. "Perfect", I said.  He grabbed a pair of clippers and I found myself walking back into the building carrying an owl wing.

     Needless to say when James got home that afternoon to find an owl wing in the refrigerator, he thought I had lost my mind.  But a quick search on the Internet located directions for DIY taxidermy. We layered Epsom salts, owl wing, and more Epsom salts in a pizza box.  Then sealed the box with tape and put the it away for several months.  The wing was perfectly preserved.  It has since passed through the hands of hundreds of middle schoolers and never lost a feather. It was a perennial favorite of most of my students (not so much the girls).

Fast forward many years and my nephew, Carson, is a real nature buff.  Recently a friend of my dad's brought him a raccoon's tail (a fresh raccoon's tail) to give to Carson.  Out came the Epsom salts and in a few month's Carson will have a new addition to his nature collection.

 

Every child I ever taught was fascinated by Mother Nature; most adults are too.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein

I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright. ~Henry David Thoreau

Love ya'll, Shelli