Mike Kesselheim makes friends with a live box turtle at the local Department of Conservation visitors center.

Students in Dr. Orel’s Museum Studies class this semester (Object and Collections Management) have been investigating the local fauna of Northeast Missouri in preparation for an exhibit on “Rural Roots: People and the Land” for the Ruth Towne Museum on campus next year.  They have spent some time in the Biology Department preparing specimens for display and visited the Northeast Regional Office for the Missouri Department of Conservation. (Warning: Photos of creepy/crawly creatures below)

Mike Kesselheim and Kathleen Dusseault admire a stuffed (not taxidermied!) squirrel at the Department of Conservation Visitors Center.

In both the Biology Department lab and the Department of Conservation Visitors Center students had the opportunity to work on getting over their nerves with some of the creepier members of the local animal population.

Students select specimens from Truman State University’s collection of dead snakes and other road-killed reptiles.

Corin Hoke listens to instructions on how to inject specimens with formaldehyde as part of the preparation process. Dr Chad Montgomery and Dr. Laura Fielden, both in Biology, led this workshop for the class.

Jo Ratley shows off a snake, part of the living collection at the Department of Conservation Visitors Center just south of Kirksville.