First, I am far from an expert on preparing articulated skeletons, but I do have some experience from past projects I’ve done, and I wanted to prepare a mink skeleton for an entry into the Professional Division at the 2017 World Taxidermy Championships in Peoria, Illinois. I have entered this category at previous shows and find it interesting, educational, and challenging. Like the walls of your home, a skeleton is the main structure that forms and supports the anatomy of an animal and when you learn by starting at that point, you are ahead of the game in understanding anatomy.

Larry Blomquist had asked me to consider doing an article on the basic process hoping to get others interested in the skeleton category at the World Show competition. I love competing and being a small part of that great show has rewarded me in many ways. Through my contribution of showing how I prepared my articulated skeleton, I’m hopeful this Professional Division category will have many more entries in 2019.

Putting your children to work in your business, even for the summer, is one of the most underutilized TAX-SAVING strategies today. Plus, the skills they learn will form habits that last a lifetime, specifically, life skills like money management and building a strong work ethic. If they can master the art of saving at a young age, they will have more prosperity and less angst than the rest of us later in life. Here's how to do this legally.

Porgies are in the family of Sparidae and genus of Calamus, which includes 13 different porgies. Our pretty porgy we are going to paint is a whitebone/chocolate (chip) porgy. Calamus Leucosteus is the scientific name of this pretty critter that we caught so many of that day on the Mattanza. Related to sheepsheads and other porgies, they all have similar teeth in their mouths that pick and crush the small crabs and shrimp as well as other small reef-dwelling bottom creatures. Porgies gather in schools at times and when located, they are easily caught in a large quantity, so regulations are needed to manage healthy numbers to keep them around. Whitebone porgies are very prevalent so a limit of 20 per person makes them a great target for some great eating. They are small in comparison to jolthead porgies, with a record of 23 pounds 4 ounces, whitebone porgies average 1-2 pounds and 10 to 20 inches. Sometimes the many porgies look alike as the knobbed, jolthead, and whitebone have similar shapes and markings.