Event: Eternal Creatures, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth, January 23 2010
They specialise in surprises from the bottom of the sea suspended in jars of preservative pickle and a taxidermy trail taking in winged terrors and multi-legged beasts, so Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery's occasional forays into their devilishly weird natural history collection are always worth a look.
Wild About Plymouth, the family-friendly natural history group at the Museum, will be revealing how scientists keep dead animals beautiful for the good of future generations in this open day, inspired by 500 hovering labels in Dail Behennah's current show at the centre.
"We'll have pinned, pickled and stuffed creatures of all shapes and sizes from the Museum's natural history collections out on display," says Acting Keeper of Natural History Jan Freedman.
"We've got some really interesting specimens for people to look at including pinned beetles and butterflies, stuffed birds, animal skeletons and pickled marine creatures.
"We'll also be running fun activities including having a go at preserving a replica marine specimen and pinning and labelling replica butterflies."
Visitors can drop in at any point during the afternoon, and future events run by the group include workshops during the half-term holiday and a range of talks and creative sessions.
Runs 12pm-3pm. Admission free (children must be accompanied by an adult). Visit the Wild About Plymouth events page or call 01752 304774 for more details.
