Congo Museum

I opened some trunks and met some old friends last month.  The mounted Gabon Viper head (the snake with the longest fangs in the world) seemed much smaller than I remember after packing it away 25 years ago.  Then I discovered that I had two of them.   The larger one is larger than I remembered.  The mounted Cobra head made me recall what it was like to pry open the fangs when I mounted it. I got out a skull that I could not identify. I thought about it a while and first thought it was a Lungfish skull, but then realized it was a Soft-shelled turtle skull.

All this was part of getting our Congo Museum open in our basement. Poojah has mounted some African fabric on the ceiling to hide the sewer pipe. She is working on the display of the Aka Pygmy skirts made of forest materials. The 6 different basket types are cool.  Spears, axes and traditional instruments make up a large part of the collection.

We want this to be a hands-on experience.  The “Identify the forest animal by looking at its skull” activity is a real challenge. There might be a simulated spear the antelope experience. To keep the neighbor’s cat away from the blue birds in our yard we might offer a communal net hunt experience. This nonlethal technique will teach the cat to hunt elsewhere.

I am still working on mounting our Python skin.  Our fresh-water Puffer fish was mounted by a guy in Congo who skinned it and put sand inside to give it shape before drying it in the sun.  We have some impressive Tiger fish heads.  Our insect collection has unusual specimens.  The Goliath beetles are the size of your fist. The Tailless whip scorpion is a perennial contender for the coveted, “World’s most gruesome arachnid” award. We have two. Poojah collected both of them with a big can of Rambo (Our local version of Raid).  The museum is open by appointment so let us know when you want to visit.