Hawk Skeleton
I found the body of a hawk in the parking lot of Mooresville Middle in November 1998. I took it home and placed it in my "rot box" and left it undisturbed until May 1999. I defeathered the body and cleaned the bones as well as I could before putting the remains in a lye solution, which cleaned the bones even better. I removed the skeleton from the solution, rinsed it in water, and secured it in a frame in the desired position. At first, the skeleton is loose and moves at the joints; but after a day or two, it stiffens into the secured position and the frame can be removed. Part of one scapula was missing and one femur was broken all the way through. I spliced it with a steel nail inserted in the ends. I used PVC pipe glue to secure loose joints. I took these photos with an Olympus D-200L Digital Camera in high resolution, macro mode with flash. With more work, I can improve the contrast.
ronaldpatterson@windstream.net
