Lynx Skeleton on Display in Library

In 2009, Dimond High School received a lynx carcass donated by a former Dimond Social Studies teacher Jason Ott, who got it from a friend who was a trapper.

It was donated so that Dimond students could help put it together for a learning experience.

Seven years later the lynx skelton has finally been put together and is now displayed at the Dimond Library.

“I remember that the lynx’s bones was for the Anatomy class as a class project to put the lynx back together,” said Julie Romo, a science teacher at Dimond.

Laurel Stutzer, a retired science teacher at Dimond, helped her Anatomy classes to put the lynx’s bones back together and put the lynx on display at Dimond.

Stutzer explains why she wanted started the project.

“I was part of a staff/student team who articulated the whale and porpoise in the library and loved what I learned. I was offered the Lynx by a fellow teacher. It was a good project for Anatomy and of course our mascot,” Stutzer said.

“We did it in parts. It took so long because I had to work with small groups in my garage,” she said.

According to Igaramkin’s April 2009 issue and Stutzer, there were many stages in finalizing the project.

The first stage of getting the lynx together, is that the class had to clean off the flesh from the bones.

After the bones were cleaned, they had to be boiled individually, Cleaned again with a rough sponge and placed in ammonia for months to leach out fat, Stutzer said.

Once the bones were in ammonia, they were to put  dried for another several months and then soaked in hydrogen peroxide to bleach them.

Then the  Anatomy class was put in different groups to articulate the bones.

When the Anatomy class finished working on the Lynx’s bones, the skeleton was put together by using, screws, wires and glue.

Stutzer explains her thoughts about the project.

“There were no directions the first year or even photos to help guide us, then I found a good book.  The little wrist bones called carpals were the hardest to put together.

“My husband was instrumental in putting the final touches on the case, building it, painting, etc. Can you find the fake bone? We lost one piece,” she said.

Now that the Lynx is reassembled, it is now on a display in the Dimond library.

Suzanne Metcalfe, the Dimond librarian, explained why the Lynx skeleton is in the library.

“I think that the lynx skeleton fit perfectly in the library, since there is enough space to have it in there.

“The beluga whale and the dolphin skeletons are in the library as well, that they were also a project that the Dimond students articulated.

“They were the projects that Ms. Stutzer also took part in, and I think that it was just perfect to have the lynx skeleton in the library too,” she said.

Students can now enjoy the lynx skeleton at the Dimond Library.