Is my mic still working?
Wow, you guys!
That first video was really awesome!
I don't even know what to say
other than thank you so much
for expressing your interest in what I'm doing here.
I am so incredibly excited about doing this
and working with you guys
to make this show
so totally awesome.
I was mentioned on the Scientific American website.
I mean... that's... pretty awesome.
So, anyway, you guys had a lot of questions
in the comments and on Twitter and on Tumblr and on Facebook
and I just kinda wanted to go through
and answer some of those questions that you had today.
@Arthur40TwoDent asked: Are you gonna have new episodes soon?
When are you gonna have new episodes? I need to know.
We're gonna have so many episodes!
We signed up to do at least 96 episodes this year on the Brain Scoop channel.
That comes out to being like 2 episodes a week
and we're gonna have all different kinds of formats;
we're gonna have tours of the museum and collections,
we're gonna visit researchers, we're gonna go on field trips,
we're gonna have history lessons about taxidermy,
we're gonna dissect things,
we're going to go bird watching,
we're gonna collect roadkill...
We're gonna do all the things!
Skylarkien on Tumblr asked: Did you kill all of these animals?
Sometimes they are animals that accidentally died during research projects,
sometimes they are animals that died in zoos or pet stores
or people who have exotic pets,
sometimes we get them through exchanges of other universities and museums,
sometimes they're donated by people who work for the State Department,
sometimes they're roadkill.
Sometimes a hunter will get something in the field
and he doesn't want to keep the skull of his animal,
so he'll donate it to us.
We get these animals by a variety of means,
none of which are us actually physically going out and killing them ourselves.
Aaron @Bowlbo92 asked on Twitter: What was the first animal you brainscooped?
You guys, I've been scoopin' brains since 2010.
In November of 2010 I first came to the museum
with a co-worker who was working in the prep lab at the time
and she said "Hey, do you wanna come and check out the lab sometime?"
and I said "Oh, that sounds pretty cool, yeah, let's go!"
So she brought me here and pretty much as soon as I walked into the lab,
someone handed me a scalpel
and a western jumping mouse
and said "have at it!"
And I have been here ever since.
Some anonymous person on Tumblr asked:
Do you need any special training to do this?
Yes, absolutely, you guys, these are dead animals we're talking about here.
They have all kinds of bacteria and diseases and parasites
and you don't even know what they have until maybe after you already have it.
In addition to all of the weird funky things that these animals may or may not have,
it may also be illegal for you to collect or possess their remains
even once they're dead.
So before you go out into the woods, picking anything up,
make sure to inform yourself of you local, state, and federal laws
concerning the collection and possession of animal remains.
If you guys are interested in doing this as a profession or a hobby,
I wholly encourage you to look into your local colleges or schools
that may offer classes in taxidermy and animal preparation.
Smileyshamrock asked: Are there lots of animal ghost?
Some of you guys on Twitter and Tumblr and Facebook have asked:
How big is this place?
Have you run out of space yet?
When the American Society of Mammalogists reaccredited us in 1985,
they said at that time we had run out of space.
Since then we have lost about 400 square feet of museum cabinet storage space
and we have gained about 3,000 extra specimens.
GodoftheC on YouTube asked: What are you gonna call your viewers?
I don't know! You decide!
Twitter user, I'm gonna butcher your name.
Your name is Bec, your user name is Bec-r-hodes? Hod-es? Hodes?
You wanted to know: What's the weirdest way someone has ever given you something for the museum?
One time our curator Dave was working in the lab on a weekend
and we're on the second floor.
And he heard somebody throwing pebbles at the window.
So he went downstairs to let them in
and instead of the guy saying anything to Dave,
he just shoved this plastic bag into Dave's arms and then ran away.
And Dave was like, I don't know what this is,
I guess I'll take it upstairs and look into the bag,
and when he opened it up, it was a bald eagle!
Which isn't good, because it is illegal for any private citizen to ever
touch or habour or sell or transport any part of a bald eagle, living or dead.
@WillTople on Twitter is wondering: Children.
What is the silliest thing they have ever asked you on a tour?
They always ask if everything is dead.
Is that dead? Is that dead? Is that dead? Is that dead?
Yes, you guys.
Everything is dead.
I hope that answers some of the questions that you guys you had today.
If I didn't get to your question, never fear,
we will probably be doing this again.
If you have more questions that you would like me to answer,
make sure to send them to the Twitter or the Facebook or our Tumblr
or leave them in the comments below.
Don't forget to subscribe,
my name is Emily and this is the Brain Scoop.
It still has brains on it.