Whenever the museum gets donations or items return that were out on loan ...

April 12, 2016

Whenever the museum gets donations or items return that were out on loan, the specimens have to go through disinfestation. This ensures that no bugs get into the collections and damage specimens.

The museum uses an anoxic chamber, or a "bubble", to disinfest the specimen. This system pumps carbon dioxide into the bubble and pumps oxygen out, then sits for at least 21 days in the carbon dioxide. This ensures that insects that could infest the collections are dead. The bubble works much faster and is much safer on specimens than other techniques, like freezing.

Currently, in the bubble, there are taxidermy mounts that are part of the Speck collection, which was recently donated to the museum. There are also items from the old museum location in the bubble. There was a known dermestid infestation at the old location, so it's very important that these are treated before they are stored with the new collection.