Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Lost Taxidermy

 It makes me sad and angry when museums neglect their collections.  I feel that institutions have a responsibility to the past, present, and future through the artifacts they hold.  If they are unwilling or unable to take good care of a collection, they should hand it off to someone else.
Tags: history, nature, news
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  • 6 comments
rhodielady_47

rhodielady_47

March 6 2012, 09:52:19 UTC 9 years ago

In Lumpy's case, I'd say he might be past the point of no return. Considering how old Lumpy must be, the pelt is probably so brittle that it might just fall apart into dust and bits of fur just by being moved.
I wonder how old Lumpy is? A century?
I agree with you that this is simply WRONG and should NOT be allowed to happen.
:(


ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

March 6 2012, 18:13:02 UTC 9 years ago

That's a call for an expert in preservation and restoration. Based on what I know of such things, however, I'd consider options like enclosure in a nonreactive atmosphere such as argon; that works for some types of item. While unreasonable for a whole collection, exceptional measures are justified for preserving irreplaceable items such as samples of extinct species.
rhodielady_47

Re: Well...

rhodielady_47

March 7 2012, 01:30:01 UTC 9 years ago

Now the Argon atmosphere thing might just work. At least I think it might keep the pelt from decaying any worse.
:]
sundart

sundart

March 6 2012, 11:47:16 UTC 9 years ago

While some situations of this nature are surely due to negligence, I bet you most of them are due to museums not having the funding they need to take care of what they have. Keep in mind that the objects, art, and artifacts on display are a tiny fraction of what they own.
ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

March 6 2012, 18:13:42 UTC 9 years ago

That is true. This does not make it acceptable.
paka

paka

March 6 2012, 17:36:12 UTC 9 years ago

But, most museums are underfunded. The question of turning over collections then becomes "but to whom?" and at some point, can neglected, underfunded, decaying collections still grab people and fire their imaginations because they're still available?