Jan 5 2009 - pheasant, bat

I woke up a few times in the middle of the night because I heard things, but I was only spooking myself out. There were, however, three wasps that I have had to kill, but they haven't been a major threat. They seem to be sluggish- drunk, almost. There was also a beetle next to me on my pillow when I woke up, and even when I put him on the floor to smash him, he still managed to crawl around. I put him out of his misery. I wonder if being out here makes you want to kill things. Or maybe it's about survival.
On a lighter note, I'm wearing flannel and boots, and I made coffee, and packed myself a lunch. Tonight I get the car, and today, I learn how to taxidermy a pheasant. Carrie said they get all the animals from out of state, except the fish are raised here in Missouri. The Pheasants are from North Dakota, and the deer are supposedly hairer and thicker skinned if you get them from more nothern parts of the US.
I'll add more words and maybe some pictures to this later, if I feel comfortable taking some in class.

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Class was great. Carrie got me at 8:30, and I put my lunch in the refrigerator, which already had some lunches in it... and a few carcasses.
The instructor, Chip, was kind, friendly, and patient. He was also hilarious... it is nice to know he has a sense of humor about everything- it really took the pressure off of things.
We started by watching a demo of starting a Pheasant mount that Chip did himself. He did a bit at a time, and sent us to start our own birds. It turns out, it's really not that gross. There's not a lot of blood, or guts, especially with birds. It's a lot like dealing with a chicken breast before its cooked. My pheasant is really pretty. Well, they all are. The hardest parts were making sure you didn't cut through the skin, and turning everything inside out. The grossest part was scrambling the brain and getting it out with a Q-Tip.
The fleshing machine was a spinning brush that takes the fat off of your skin. That's as far as we got today. The pheasant looks pretty much like regular one does, but today was definitely labor-intensive. Click HERE and HERE to view more graphic images.

"'Vent' is another word for 'butt.' If somebody calls you a 'vent,' it's not a nice thing. It's not like 'yeah! I'm a vent.'" - Chip

I got my car and went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and had a nice dinner in the cabin.
AND
There was a bat in my cabin and Julie and her husband came to get him. They scooped him up in a foldgers can and sent him out into the night.