Magdalene Veen ([info]magdaleneveen) wrote,
@ 2006-12-09 01:56:00
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Entry tags:birds, california, dead things, feathers, owls, roadkill, roadtrips, taxidermy, wings

The Owl


Photo 874.jpg, originally uploaded by abneypark.

Those of you with sensitive or squeamish dispositions should avoid this particular Veenic monologue, as it deals with that awful girl's rather vexing fascination with biology, living or not...so...living.

On my overland voyage to San Francisco, I went through a stretch of I-5 just north of Williams, California, that seemed absolutely baptised by the myriad dooms of dozens of owls. Heads, wings, talons, feathers flopping and flirting with each zooming car.

As I am an avid collector of wings and feathers, and could not bear to pass up the chance to examine one of the beasts personally, I switched my hazards and skidded to the shoulder.

This particular owl, illustrated further in the photoset to which he belongs on Flickr, is in near-perfect condition (he suffers from a broken scapula so that one wing is floppy, and a few bloodstains. Other than that, nary a feather out of place) and appears entirely undecayed except that his eyes are simply hollow slits, which gives him a mask-like visage. He is, as you can see, still limp. And I cannot detect any odor from him whatsoever.

And that is why I picked him up and took him with me. He represents my best "find" in my experience with finding things of this sort, and I am now at a loss for what to do with him during the duration of my stay in hotels and other peoples' homes. Currently he is iced in a hotel bucket, swaddled in many protective layers of plastic.  I considered shipping him home to Daddy Veen for freezing until I can return, but ultimately, he represents such a lovely specimen in his entirety that I think I will use the money from this gig to have him properly preserved in a fitting attitude of owlishness. Perhaps with his eyes closed, as they appear now.

I have also offered him to a friend who is interested in taxidermy, but she will probably have trouble getting him back to the UK with her.

While I find the mounting of "trophies" to be rather tasteless, I had no part in the death of this creature, and see him as a fortuitous salvage rather than any sort of victory.

My warmest thanks to the wilderness and her bounty. I plan on collecting more more from that stretch of road on my way home, and there will be skulls and feathers for everyone.

PS: you are all welcome, and in fact encouraged, to turn me into decorative, morbid, or curious objects after I am dead. Anything else would just be a waste of raw material.


(9 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Amazing
[info]gorthos210
2006-12-09 10:38 am UTC (link)
What a find.

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[info]mistresslk
2006-12-09 10:59 am UTC (link)
Oh my Goddess, he is beautiful Veen! I myself have had the good fortune of being gifted thus by nature as well. An owl and two crows, beautifully intact and no blood. I have the wings and one foot from the owl (the tail feathers and other foot were given to others or my mother still has them), the wings, feet, head, and half the tail feathers from one crow (the other half of the tail feathers were given to my roommate at the time), and the head, feet and tail feathers of the other crow (the wings gifted to two close friends of mine). The bodies of all three were respectfully burried.

For a bit of background, if you're interested, I am Irish, Scottish, Cheyenne, and Cherokee. I was raised with the traditions of my Native American heritage (within my Southern Baptist upbringing oddly enough). Over the years I have discovered some things about myself and my calling or path. I have some psychic and healing gifts I inherited, as well as Shamanic abilities. 200 years ago, had I been born within the tribe, I probably would have become a Medicine Woman. As it stands I have chosen to follow a Pagan/Samanic path.

Looks like a barn owl from the heart shaped face. Connections to the heart Chakra, the moon, feminine power, the goddess... Daytime opposite is the Golden Eagle (the sun, masculine power, the god...). Quite a find indeed, from a spiritual standpoint or otherwise. Good luck finding someone to help you preserve him. **smiles**

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[info]montieth
2006-12-09 02:55 pm UTC (link)
Perhaps one thing you embrace in part is that the preservation of the shell of a being either in memorial form (with a plinth or headstone or plaque marking the remains) or as a stuffed mounted and preserved object, is that such acts place the item in a place of honor and bear witness to their existence and their majesty.

I'm reminded of the movie the Wind and the Lion with Brian Keith playing President Roosevelt. One of the aspects of Theodore as a real man was that he hunted and took trophies, but he also deeply loved the outdoors. He was a consummate naturalist on his trips to the Amazon and in the move he is shown describing how he wants his trophy grizzly stuffed and mounted. In the end of the movie, when the bear is finally brought to the white house, he dismisses his staff so that he may sit at it's feet and contemplate the being that stands before him. Perhaps this view of mine is apocryphal, but in many cases I think it replicates how many hunters feel. There is often a visceral masculine display involved, but several hunters I've spoken too express something else that's more mournful and yet thankful towards and about the animal they've harvested, a kind of respect and thanks to the animal. (More so the poorer the are). Perhaps this view of mine is apocryphal, but it's seemed to bear through my observations of my friends who hunt.

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(Anonymous)
2006-12-09 03:58 pm UTC (link)
PS: you are all welcome, and in fact encouraged, to turn me into decorative, morbid, or curious objects after I am dead. Anything else would just be a waste of raw material.Indeed, you're beauty deserves to live far past your time on this mortal coil.

(Reply to this)


[info]ninevah
2006-12-09 04:47 pm UTC (link)
You might be interested in this:

http://www.customcreaturetaxidermy.com/intro/intro.html

and this:

http://www.roguetaxidermy.com

(Reply to this)


[info]daemonwolf
2006-12-09 07:27 pm UTC (link)
Glorious find. I am incredibly envious.

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[info]robotangel
2006-12-10 04:08 am UTC (link)
you HAVE to let me photograp him.

owls are my love.

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[info]magdaleneveen
2006-12-11 03:30 am UTC (link)
He will be stuffed by the time you meet him, but yeah!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]wasteddream
2006-12-22 08:42 am UTC (link)
I call dibs on your brain and eyeballs!

Also, should you ever come this way again, i am taking you on a field trip to this place i know in berkeley where all your dissecting and collecting needs can be satiated. And there's a lovely tea shop around the corner, to boot.

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