My Strange and Unusual Hobby

My unusual hobby is "bone collecting." Yes, I am a a collector of bones. No not the hoarder type, mine is specialized and limited to things found in nature. Some may think it is a strange hobby to me it is art. I am old enough not to care what others think.

A hawks skull in a abolone shell

**Let me make it abundantly clear that killing creatures is not something I do, all the creatures were already deceased and are found artifacts.

For me being out among nature is relaxing. It clears the mind and causes my focus to shift. I seem to notice everything with the exception of the occasional snake who is well camouflaged and surprises me. Once when I was walking in the woods with my dog I walked to within 10 feet a coyote sunning itself in the grasses! I was more worried about my dog and getting her turned around before she spotted it, she now stays home.

Into the woods

Some of the skulls and bones I have found wandering the woods include raccoon, possum, bobcat, wild boar and fox. Many many deer mandibles. Leg bones, vertebrae, digits or toes, teeth and so on. I searched an area once that was a bit scary and found a alligator poached out of season it was missing only the head and feet. Poaching makes me really angry and sad at the same time, particularly if it is only about the money!

I have the skulls of 3 cows struck by lightening while sheltering under a tree during a bad storm. They are proudly displayed on my porch. My farmer friend called me to say I was free to come on his property to retrieve any bones I wanted. Mind you the bones had been there a couple of years and were bleached from the sun. I ended up taking a 32 gallon trash can full of various cow bones and made sculptures from them along the path leading to my house. It's rural so most people would never know and those that do would hightail it off the property!

2 of the 3

Hunters usually have sites where they dress their kill leaving a nice supply of bones from the previous year. Those sites are prime hunting ground for me. Sometimes I drive slowly along the rural roads, stop the car and start walking into the woods. After years of doing this I know the signs of a good area to search.

Other artifacts collected throughout the years are unique leaves, shells, lichens, wood mushrooms, stones, glass fragments, metal, arrow heads and flints. I enjoy the hunt and finding the treasure.

Sampling of my collection

Do you have an unusual hobby (no not porn! keep it clean) that you want to comment on? What is it?