Vulture Culture - Dead Things Enthusiasts Unite!

[Fimch]

Wanted to stop by to share a humorous story of mine.

(Tw// obviously conversations of dead animals and bone collecting)

Found a decomposed common blackbird and being the ornithological nerd I am, I just HAD to have it's skull. I go to seperate the head from the spine when a middle aged women comes out of her house and I pause, acting as if I'm just observing, practically being a vulture waiting for them to leave.

Nope! They come to look as well!! This stranger is now standing next to me also staring at the skeleton as if it's the most interesting normal thing to strike a coversation over. Just me (barely an adult awkward trans kid), an older lady and a rotting corpse.

I'm making awkward conversation, explaining the species and trying to get them to leave when I just say 'screw it' and explain to them my intentions and hobby. I'm just staring at the ground trying to explain to the best of my abilities that "oh yeah I was standing here because I plan on ripping apart a dead animal like every normal Saturday morning, haha you know, masculine urge and all..."

"Oh my son collects bones as well!"

...APPARENTLY this IS a normal Saturday for her because I share a singular braincell with her apparent son and I'm just standing there as she chuckles. She bids me farwell, I claim my prize and walk home confused over what transpired.

Tl;dr:
Ripped the head off of a dead animal in front of a middle aged mother but they were cool with it.

[bloodclot]

woah....


i had no idea there was a topic for this....i have found my place.

i started collecting bones when i was finding deer skulls and skeletons in the woods behind my partner's house. just straight bones.

i began finding more and more. even one in his garden, it was a rabbit mandible.. how weird.

it felt like death was drawn to me. not in a bad way, but natural kind of way. im a girl who likes to hunt for all sorts of mushrooms, in a nerdy way! but i always found myself finding bones instead.

i currently own part of a bear skeleton, over 10 deer skulls, lots of complete mandible sets, many different skeletal pieces from deer.. a raccoon skull with complete mandible...

but my all time favorite.

ive been wanting one for a long time now...

a cat skull.. complete mandible .

my mother found it... behind our house.

ive been talking about how much ive wanted to find one of thoe for a long time now!!! and my MOM finds one behind our house when im not home. it's a beautiful piece.. sort of sad. but the best piece i own so far.. maybe the smallest but oh well! i got it soaking on my porch for good measure.

bones make me feel very different. its natures way of keep ones spirit on this earth, in my eyes at least.. a piece of that creature , the only piece of that creature could become an ornament naturally and easily. when you care for that piece, that bone, skull, whatever it be, it's almost like caring for what is left of that animal and keeping it around without causing it pain in any way. cleaning it up, making it beautiful again, even re-articulating it, to me it's giving respect to that animal.

[Catsplat18]

I'm aware this thread has been dead for WELL over a year, but I'm gonna post anyway. I've recently started working on a project! It's a possum, and it's my first time working with a large body. Until now all I've really worked on is neonatal kittens, but doing so I've learned a thing or two about decomp and things like that!!!

I'm over the MOON for this little guy!!! He has very light, soft fur for a possum. He means a lot to me, and I love him so dearly. I'm starting to tear up over him :') he's the cutest thing and i'm SO glad I've found him. My friend and I have named him together, because me and my group all love him THAT much! His name is Mister Patches, Duke of Snuggletown. We all call him Mister Patches for short, though. I'd love to post pics of him when he's done!

I NEED AN UPDATE

Also the local weird shop near me has a fetal sloth. $4500. It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen and I know once it sells I will never see one again. But... definitely out of my price range.

[KingSpinosaurus]

Oh I'm VC all the way! My most prized skulls are a bear, Muntjac and dolphin! I live in Romania where most stuff is fair game as long as it isn't poached or doest have blubber on when you take it (dolphin case). The Muntjac is the only one that isn't from within my country as we do not have those.

[Catsplat18]

My boyfriend got me a human scapula for my birthday! I was not expecting that at all. When I opened it I didn't even realize it was a human bone because it seriously wasn't even a possibility I was considering. I asked him what animal it was from and when he said it was human I burst out laughing in disbelief and surprise. He's a keeper.

Oh I'm VC all the way! My most prized skulls are a bear, Muntjac and dolphin! I live in Romania where most stuff is fair game as long as it isn't poached or doest have blubber on when you take it (dolphin case). The Muntjac is the only one that isn't from within my country as we do not have those.

That's so cool that you can have cetaceans there! They have some of the most fascinating anatomy of any animal.

[Eveningsdawn]

My boyfriend got me a human scapula for my birthday! I was not expecting that at all. When I opened it I didn't even realize it was a human bone because it seriously wasn't even a possibility I was considering. I asked him what animal it was from and when he said it was human I burst out laughing in disbelief and surprise. He's a keeper.

Where in the world did he get a human scapula!

I'm back on the website after like, ten years, and delighted to see a VC thread. I'm both someone who buys skulls and someone who does their own processing -- my prize skulls are my first, a badger, my biggest, a spotted hyena (CITES legal!), and the first skull I processed myself, a young sheep. I have the spotted hyena one tattooed on my thigh because I'm so fond.

My husband and I raise rabbits for food, so I have a fair bit of bone-processing experience; though some of the skeletons go for stock and many of the hides go back into the ground, I've got several piles of white bones for my husband to use for crafts, a few tanned hides, and some preserved feet.

[Catsplat18]

My boyfriend got me a human scapula for my birthday! I was not expecting that at all. When I opened it I didn't even realize it was a human bone because it seriously wasn't even a possibility I was considering. I asked him what animal it was from and when he said it was human I burst out laughing in disbelief and surprise. He's a keeper.

Where in the world did he get a human scapula!

I'm back on the website after like, ten years, and delighted to see a VC thread. I'm both someone who buys skulls and someone who does their own processing -- my prize skulls are my first, a badger, my biggest, a spotted hyena (CITES legal!), and the first skull I processed myself, a young sheep. I have the spotted hyena one tattooed on my thigh because I'm so fond.

My husband and I raise rabbits for food, so I have a fair bit of bone-processing experience; though some of the skeletons go for stock and many of the hides go back into the ground, I've got several piles of white bones for my husband to use for crafts, a few tanned hides, and some preserved feet.

Welcome back! Where do you live? Rabbits are extremely rare as food here in the U.S. and I think that's a real shame -- they're environmentally sustainable, easy to keep and breed, multipurpose, and of course, delicious. I really wish I could buy some in a grocery store here. No rabbits for dinner, but at least most states allow you to buy human bones without issue, haha. There are several websites you can buy them off of. There's one called The Bone Room which used to be a mom-and-pop shop but after the founder died they had to sell their store, so I can't visit them in person :( They still have an online store, though, which is where I assume my boyfriend ordered from, since they're based in my state.

[PandoraDiskenth]

Been on CS since 2009 and NEVER KNEW there was a VC thread!! T^T
Sooooo bookmarking this for updates, I love hearing about other people's lucky finds.
I have a few skulls on my altar. My favorite being a Coyote skull, I also have a femur for a coyote too. Then I have a red fox skull and a most of a front leg, intact with claws and everything <3 I also have 2 field mice I found at my job one day working security at a plant and I semi-processed those myself after the ants had their fill. Then for Christmas one year I snagged a racoon skull for my hubby and those are sooooo cool! My dream is to have a nice sized Ram skull to carve, maybe a longhorn steer and a full body Axis deer mount ><

[Eveningsdawn]

Welcome back! Where do you live? Rabbits are extremely rare as food here in the U.S. and I think that's a real shame -- they're environmentally sustainable, easy to keep and breed, multipurpose, and of course, delicious. I really wish I could buy some in a grocery store here. No rabbits for dinner, but at least most states allow you to buy human bones without issue, haha. There are several websites you can buy them off of. There's one called The Bone Room which used to be a mom-and-pop shop but after the founder died they had to sell their store, so I can't visit them in person They still have an online store, though, which is where I assume my boyfriend ordered from, since they're based in my state.

I live in Massachusetts! There's a healthy community of rabbit breeders, mostly for show but a significant subgroup for meat. We feed our family pretty happily from our two does (Gorse and Larder) and our buck (Eggplant). They're VERY hard to find in grocery stores.

I feel like (for me) the vibe introduced by human bones into my collection would not be good -- I have actually gotten rid of two hides because of Bad Vibes so I am starting to develop a sense farewell goat! farewell coyote! But I'd love a horse hide. They're expensive!