Lions Travel to Belfast
October 6, 2010In today’s news
You may have read in the newspaper recently that a science teacher at Nokomis High School was looking for homes for 24 mounted animals that were donated to them by the Smithsonian Museum. Belfast Area High School art teacher, Chuck Hamm and high school administrative assistant Marcia Ames teamed up knowing it would be great to have the lions live at their school. After all, their school mascot is the lion. The lions are now temporarily living in the music room until a glass case is arranged for the lobby of the school.
Those of you that know Chuck know he has traveled to Tanzania on photo safari trips so he has a special interest in educating the students about the majestic animals. Not to mention what a terrific model the lions will be for drawing classes.
You can read more at the Belfast High School webpage by clicking here and the Bangor Daily News article by clicking here and the article in Village Soup by clicking here.
Photos included in this post were taken by Chuck Hamm.
Drawings by Jon Loxtercamp and Emma Hamm
me arts ed 
The lions look beautiful. I have had experiences with taxidermy specimens that were full of toxic elements such as arsenic powder, originally used in taxidermy to deter insect infestations. Have the lions been checked for that problem?
Boy, the photos with the lions and students at their easels look more like a college studio than a high school! Congrats on your wonderful art program.
Regarding chemicals. I’m honestly not sure about the lions’ toxicity. I WILL check on that though. They have been on display without glass for years. We will be placing them in floor to ceiling glass, therefor eliminating airflow and exposure to the public. It’s mostly for the protection of the specimens themselves, however, I believe it will prevent any public threat regarding possible or perceived contamination. Glad it’s been brought to my attention.
These DID come from a reputable taxidermy team, the Jonas brothers, out of Colorado, and they were on display in the Smithsonian. I expect that means they are of very high quality.
Great question Molly!
I would imagine that is something that the teacher at Nokomis would know about as well. Perhaps the students he works with in the taxidermy course have done some research on the topic also.