On Fri, 17 Nov 1995, Kelly Cassidy wrote:
> > If you do find a specimen, record the locality (state, county, nearest
> > town), the date, and your name. It's best to do this at the time,
> > because once it gets put in the freezer, you may forget. Put a piece of
>
> To which I would add:
>
> Most birders these days have a deLorme atlas. If at all possible,
> record the Township/Range and Section or information that allows a
> more precise location than the nearest city. Habitat information,
> even if it's as general as 'conifer forest' or 'agriculture' is
> also very useful. And, as Mike Donahue said. RECORD ALL OF THE
> COLLECTING INFORMATION AS SOON AS YOU PUT THE CRITTER IN A PLASTIC
> BAG!!
When I used to pick things up for the University of Nebraska Museum, I
put the note listing all the information in the bag with the specimen.
This really keeps one from losing it. Also, you could use those fancy
bags which you could write on. Also, remember that the three-bag rule
may apply--my mother always required three bags around the specimens, and
for the short-tailed shrew that my parents inadvertently trapped, it was
three bags, a coffee can and another bag (looked too much like a mouse
for her taste even though she saw the teeth).
There was a thread on OBOL about four months ago about this after
a possible booby was left on the beach at Seaside. Common sense is
needed--I really advise against picking up raptors; this is where you can
get in real trouble. When my brother was in parasitology class, they
were told to go out and get road kills, but no raptors for the obvious
protectionary reasons. Turn the specimen over quickly if it hits your
window and there should be no problem.
And for those listening--the only bird in my freezer right now is
a chicken--I've gotten boring in my old age.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray Korpi "It would have been very gratifying to have gone
Wk: Clark College down to the Pacific . . . but the rainy season had
Vancouver, WA now regularly set in, and the air was filled with
Hm: Portland, OR fogs and rain, which left no beauty in
address: rkorpi at clark.edu any scenery, and obstructed observations."
--John C. Fremont at Ft. Vancouver
November 10, 1843