Farm animals 2

Farm animals 2

Hey everyone, this week, I thought I would show you another of my farm themed animal skulls, a ram. This guy is huge, and looks very good as pride of place in any photo or display, as, even though its far from the biggest, it is well bleached ( naturally by the sun) and symmetrical.

As you can see, it only has horn cores, not the keratin sheaths ( the same stuff that hair, nails and hooves are made of) as these are not fixed, and can slide on and off once the animal is dead. (see any of my articles about bird skulls, they generally have slide on beak sheaths)

also, its quite well bleached, which is what happens when bone sits in the sun, and is dried out by it, with only a few slightly dark patches, probably from contact with the ground or leaves sitting on it.



This skull was kindly gifted to me by Emma Kerridge, the chief education officer at Lackford Lakes, a nature reserve that is run by Suffolk wildlife trust, and where I volunteer on occasion. Emma does a lot of great work, creating workshops and activity days for children aged four onwards, and is privileged to be gifted with many skulls by members of the staff team, and donations from the public for use in displays, and occasionally we do trades if she wants a specific skull for a themed activity day.  Check out their website for dates and fantastic nature photos.

http://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/reserves/lackford-lakes