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Monday, November 12, 2012

Decorate A Woodland Christmas Tree

       I've have always loved Christmas trees that are inspired by nature. This lovely, natural Christmas tree and display is staged at the old Watkins Family Farm, in Lawson Missouri. All of the buildings on the farm were dedicated as historic landmarks in 1966. I took a family walk at the mill during a Christmas holiday in 2011.
A "woodland" Christmas tree was on display
 at Watkins Mill, 2011. It features different types of fowl
indigenous to Missouri.
The bird's nests are real and I assume these were collected after the birds
abandoned them for the season. The staff also trimmed the tree with bird
feathers, cotton, and pine cones.
I believe the birds to be actual taxidermy. Many folks do not
 know that taxidermy is not made using the "actual"
 skeleton and internal organs of a dead animal. Taxidermy
 is formed around a plastic or resin mold, using the
feathers or furs of an animal. This can make a difference
to those people who are a bit squeemish around
 objects they believe to be intact specimens. These
birds are intended for educational purposes, not just
decorative ones.
You can view more photographs of Watkins Mill here.
I tiny blue bird nests within the pine boughs of the Christmas tree
 at Watkins Mill State Park.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks Anne, but I just took the photos. The tree was decorated by the kind folks at Watkins Mill. They are very dedicated to the care of the museum there. I love their displays too!

    ReplyDelete

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