Coronavirus, Covid 19 Discussion and How It Has Affected Your Daily Life Chat Thread

[FortCluck]

What is it from?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

"Flesh-eating beetles?"
... Are they dangerous?

Not in the slightest. They only eat immobile/dead tissue, making them less dangerous than your average biting housefly maggot. But they eat fresh meat as their primary diet. They're very commonly used to clean bones and other parts for taxidermy.

Aside from having a bit of a smell (they smell like a bug colony, not like dead things, crickets smell the same way) they're actually extremely pleasant to own. They live in puffy white cotton batting that they dig holes through. The adults are small, shiny and black with tiny white spots. They CAN fly, but they never do. The larvae are tiny to moderately sized and fuzzy/soft like tiny grey caterpillars. They move like a caterpillar too, with that same rolling motion and the fuzz on them makes it obvious.

We feed them a little bit of whatever meat we're eating before we season/cook it, or we let them clean fresh bones when we process animals.

The only risk of keeping them is if they escape and you have a lot of organic matter lying around they could eat it and make a little wild colony. But because they're so immobile that's not a big risk. We just keep their cage screened and are careful handling the bones when we take them out to make sure there's not live beetles or larvae that can escape.

What is it from?

:O A domestic rabbit. They look a little more tame when they're just the tops sitting out, or from younger rabbits, but this was a sub adult, about 5 months. The lower jaw really changes the presentation and the way it's floating like that is really cool.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Some of the other ones I've cleaned with them. A chicken, and a series of rabbits of various ages. (Two of the rabbis skulls were recovered from compost and are missing parts, showing the internal structure dramatically.)

Spoiler

 

[FortCluck]

Not in the slightest. They only eat immobile/dead tissue, making them less dangerous than your average biting housefly maggot. But they eat fresh meat as their primary diet. They're very commonly used to clean bones and other parts for taxidermy.

Aside from having a bit of a smell (they smell like a bug colony, not like dead things, crickets smell the same way) they're actually extremely pleasant to own. They live in puffy white cotton batting that they dig holes through. The adults are small, shiny and black with tiny white spots. They CAN fly, but they never do. The larvae are tiny to moderately sized and fuzzy/soft like tiny grey caterpillars. They move like a caterpillar too, with that same rolling motion and the fuzz on them makes it obvious.

We feed them a little bit of whatever meat we're eating before we season/cook it, or we let them clean fresh bones when we process animals.

The only risk of keeping them is if they escape and you have a lot of organic matter lying around they could eat it and make a little wild colony. But because they're so immobile that's not a big risk. We just keep their cage screened and are careful handling the bones when we take them out to make sure there's not live beetles or larvae that can escape.



:O A domestic rabbit. They look a little more tame when they're just the tops sitting out, or from younger rabbits, but this was a sub adult, about 5 months. The lower jaw really changes the presentation and the way it's floating like that is really cool.

What do you do with them

 

[ChocolateMouse]

What do you do with them

Right now? Nothing. My etsy shop isn't functioning yet and I'm not sure I wanna start it up during a national breakdown of the post system... Plus I am building up my stock still. But the plan is to craft them into jewelry, ornaments, or cast them into resin and sell them.

Some people really like bones for the aesthetic. Some for spiritual reasons. (The skull with a cord through it for example; that's my personal skull talisman and typically sits hanging above my altar. It's got a bit of a story and strong spiritual representation to it.) There's a lot of people who are into tabletop roleplaying games who play necromancers and like the idea of having real bones or animal skulls in their dice. Some people use them as costume pieces, etc. They're a big conversation piece to some people too.

So, basically the plan is to craft with them and sell them. But that's going to look different for each bone. Like small skulls are delicate and cast into resin better. Medium skulls make good jewelry or ornaments. Big skulls like the one that's bleaching are too heavy for jewelry and would make great bookends, wall hangings or other decorative pieces.

 

[featherhead007]

Very interesting. Kinda a dead hobby though, ya think? I'm kidding.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

That was a terrible joke. XD

 

[FortCluck]

That was a terrible joke. XD

A terribly terrific joke

 

[FortCluck]

sorry to change the topic, but my house smells deliciously like fresh watermelon!! Dehydrator cranking! thanks Fort Cluck

On that recipe it says to wait till it breaks... it won’t do that until you let it cool. I’d say 18 hours then cool on a rack or a plate

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If the US postal service is important to you. Please call your congressman and your two senators to complain. Postal processing machines are being removed from distribution centers around the country.
I'm supposed to be shipping eggs to a few different places in the next few days. I'm afraid to now because they may not arrive in a timely manner.

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/how-have-productive-phone-call-your-legislators-office