Bone Collectors Are Not Sociopaths

There are some misconceptions about bone collectors I'd like to clear up.

Some people think that because someone chooses to collects bones, dead animal/insect specimens, or even taxidermy that something "clearly" must be wrong with them.

Not true.

Speaking for myself, I do it because of my lifelong passion for science and nature. And I admit I've had a morbid curiosity since a child as well. Both, thanks to my father.

I've been collecting bones from the very young age of 7 years. I still remember the very first time I decided I needed the bones of something I found. It was a tiny dead turtle skeleton in an ant pile. In perfect, beautiful condition.

Antisocial Personality Disorder results in what is commonly known as a Sociopath or Psychopaths. Personality disorders are chronic psychological disorders, which can greatly affect a person's life.

A tell tale a sign of a future serial killer is a child who delights in torturing and killing animals. NOT one who keeps found bones because they find it interesting.

One big difference between Jeffrey Dahmer and myself is that I'd NEVER harm an animal for pleasure. I haven't even eaten meat beyond seafood for over 16 years now. Mostly because of what horrors factory farmed animals are put through.

By age 10, Dahmer was "experimenting" with dead animals, some of which he'd killed - decapitating rodents, bleaching chicken bones with acid, nailing a dog's carcass to a tree and mounting its head on a stake.



Video still of dog head on stake in the backyard of Jeffrey Dahmer's childhood home in Bath, Ohio. (Still is from - Serial Killers: Profiling the Criminal Mind, 1994)

People who kill animals as adolescents often kill human beings not long after. Just as Jeffrey Dahmer did. I'm interested in seeing what happens to Tyler Weinman, the "Florida Kitty Killer", as an adult. But personally I hope he spends his remaining lifetime in jail and never gets the chance to kill again.

I don't share the personality characteristics of a sociopath. Believe me, I've unfortunately know at least a few.

When I was around 8 years old, a boy down the street was the only child in the neighborhood near my age. He showed frightening early signs in his personality of a sociopath. I remember coming over to his house and seeing him taking live lizards he had caught, cutting them open, filling them with live bees/wasps, and painting them fluorescent colors. Even at that age I knew there was something seriously wrong with him.

Studies have found that those killers who engaged in childhood acts of animal cruelty used the same method of killing on their human victims as they did on their animal victims. So I can only imagine what sort of bizarre serial killer he'd end up being.

His father let him shoot birds from their yard with a pellet gun. Which I also thought was very strange. Considering it was in a suburban neighborhood in Tampa.

I also was never a chronic bedwetter or obsessed with fire setting as a child. Those two things along with animal cruelty are three behavioral characteristics that are associated with sociopathic behavior. According to the Macdonald triad anyway.

So no worries, you can enjoy looking at my blog knowing I didn't torture or kill any animal in any way to get the bones for my collection.

Gift Bones - Part 2

Much of my bone collection is found, prepped, and cleaned by myself. Some is bought, and the rest came as gifts from exceptionally understanding friends.

One of my earliest bone gifts is a painted deer hip bone from my friend Jason. I got it from him about 22 years ago. I love how it seems to double as a mask.





Earlier this year my niece, Liz, surprised me with bone gifts. Some misc animal bones, a pile of small mammal jaws retrieved from owl droppings, and a cat skull. I like to believe I've been a good influence on her...heh



The cat was sadly hit by a car. She buried it, dug it back up, and glued the broken skull back together. I don't normally bury the road kill or hunted game I find. It can stain and rot the bones at a faster pace than using a "bone box".



But I think the distorted skull, missing part of the nasal cavity, and lack of row of teeth really adds to it. Plus the way the skull is stained really brings out the teeth.



My most recent gruesome gift is thanks to Amanda. She found this unknown bird species head on top of a car. I suspect that it was eaten by a larger predator bird by the way the back of skull and neck bones are exposed. I imagine as it ate the smaller bird, the head fell from the tree above.



It could have been caused by a cat as well. But they don't normally carry a bird on top of a car to eat. Rather, they'd want it in a safe hiding place. And cats are know to eat bird and small mammal heads entirely.

Amanda came out to visit me where I was selling my photos recently, and presented me with this lovely package that looked like two blooming flowers.



Inside was this:



As a "thank you" gift I gave her one of my dead bird prints. It may have been this one:



Thanks so much to Jason, Liz and Amanda for these uncommon gifts!

Stay tuned for more in this series of "gift bones" to come.

Gift Bones - Part 1

Much of my bone collection is found, prepped, and cleaned by myself. Some is bought, and the rest came as gifts from exceptionally understanding friends.

One of the single largest bones I own is this HUGE moose antler which was a gift from my parents. Which came originally from Canada or Alaska, from a male (bull) moose. It was on my wish list of odd items so I was very excited about this surprise gift!



It measures 41 inches across the back curve. And has a pretty good weight to it. Here is a self portrait with it to give you a better idea of how large it is.



Want to see something really fantastic? Check out The New Hampshire Locked Moose Antler Project. Which involved two moose carcasses found locked in eternal combat turned into a traveling educational taxidermy exhibit. Absolutely stunning. Such a fantastic way to honor these majestic beasts.

With the birth of this blog I started to get "hey do you want a...?." questions more and more often. And of course if it is bone related, I likely welcome what you have to offer. So I started to get some pretty interesting things showing up in my mailbox.

One night while I was out at a show in Gainesville I was located by my friend Will who had some fantastic gifts for me. I love the conversation he must have had with the door guy explaining that he had "something for someone inside".

"Can I just find my friend to give her something?"

"What is it?"

Will lifting the plastic bag with protruding bones.

"A horse skull and a shark jaw."

"Uhhhh sure."



This is one of those cases where I loved the way the horse skull was weathered and won't likely be cleaning it.



I especially love the cracking of the tooth enamel.





The shark jaw is 10 inches across so it wasn't a very big one. Anyone have any idea what it is from?




Thanks so much to my parents and Will for these uncommon gifts!

Stay tuned for more in this series of "gift bones" to come.