Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum

Martes americana

Sometimes it seems our dermestid colony belongs more to the community of Missoula and the state of Montana than it does our own specimens; it’s a communal colony!  We are pretty willing to clean skeletons for schools around the district, and we are currently cleaning that gigantic bison skull (Bos bison) for Mt: Game Fish and Parks.  Yesterday a local schoolteacher dropped off the prepared body of an American Pine Marten (Martes americana) to be placed in the colony.  Articulating skeletons as a class project for middle- or high school students can be a really rewarding experience for everyone involved, and just last spring a local high school had us clean the body of a wolf for their class project.  I wish we had done something that cool in my high school science classes!