Living with Anteaters

Can you believe mom woke me up at the wee hour of 10PM to give me a bath? How rude. The water ran brown for a few rinsings. Mom said I needed it because my skin film would get washed away in the wild by rain and swimming. I told her that was... well mom says I can't swear in public but it's wrong. We anteaters get a natural orangey to rusty skin film from modified sweat glands. It's mostly on our belly and chest so we can rub on things we like and mark them as ours.

Well I went right back to bed once the ordeal was over so mom put the heating bad in with me and that was nice.

On the bright side everyone was up late watching the Olympics so when I did get up later I got to go to my window and go outside for a bit.

Two tails in the window

Jake loves me and always comes running to sit in the window with me.

Looks like a long way down

Where's my stepping stool?
Mom usually puts her leg there for a boost down

The flash is so not cool
sleepy walking anteater

On the fence

coming down the tree

I'll get in and you push me
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Now mom has a note:

For those that asked before now that Pua has been out, no she didn't appear to smell Kamena.

Now there were a few people that admitted they though my wanting to preserve his bones was creepy or disturbing. I appreciate your views and wouldn't try to change your mind. However I will state my views more clearly as to maybe open a few minds for those that actually think it some sort of atrocity to shun us over.

I do not think an animal's spirit is trapped in their body after death so what happens to it will matter little if any to them. The only reason certain funeral practices are excepted is because they are common.

Is there any real reason to say that putting their body in a big oven, burning it to a crisp and then putting the remains in a little box to store on a shelf is any better than to save and preserve the bones? It could be seen as a waist of resources as buried in the garden it would at least feed the garden.

But buried and let to rot away could also be seen as a waist. In ancient Egypt they mummified people and pets, at least important ones. We all know what that entails. I can only imagine the disturbance it would make if I chose to mummify a pets, lol. Oh my, wait, I found a place that does that http://www.summum.org/mummification/pets/ Interesting. I still find the freeze drying idea more appealing personally http://www.pet-animalpreservation.com/ Though I don't think I'd spend the money.

Anyway any choice is a religious choice, something we do to help heal and feed our soul. Whatever feels right to us. If we all chose to preserve our pets remains in whatever ways we'd over run by dead pets. But personally I've always been fascinated by bones. Oddly so have my anteaters(noncooked like the elk teeth and deer jaw I had found). Elephants pay respects to old elephant bones. I thought it would be a shame to waist a good "specimen". In this way I will preserve a part of him for myself and he may be able to aid in some educational programs eventually.

As to keeping a claw for a pendant. Many native cultures keep such things as claws for ornamentation as a way to respect and feel closer to that animal and nature.

In the end this is just what I want to do and not for any unseemly reasons. We donated Stewie's body to the vet school and I do have a cremated dog in a decorated urn box. Can't rightly say for sure what I will do next time but hope that is a long way off.

Now I apologize for that and we wont have need to mention him for awhile as this process will take time.

For those curious minded here is a link to a preserved tamandua skeleton at a museum which is what we are going for http://www.dundee.ac.uk/museum/zoology/skeletons/2070.JPG