Collection of Stomachs 



In removing the stomach (gizzard) of birds, first sever the intestine and 

 if necessary tie with a strong cord. If either gullet or esophagus contains 

 food it should be removed along with the stomach; otherwise it may be cut a short 

 distance from the entrance to the stomach, leaving only a stub for convenience 

 in attaching an identification tag (figs. 1 and 2) . It is important that a crop 

 or gullet containing food be kept v/ith the associated stomach. In the case of 

 reptiles it is well to save the entire digestive tract. This should be folded 

 into more or less symmetrical loops and then enclosed in cheesecloth. It is some- 

 times impracticable to save the entire stomach contents of deer, elk, moose, and 

 of other large herbivorous mammals. For these it is advisable to open the stomachs 

 and remove about one quart of the contents. If this is taken from the anterior 

 stomach, or rumen, samples should be selected from several points in the mass, or 

 the entire contents thoroughly mixed, before removing the part to be saved. Be- 

 fore doing this, however, the larger and more diagnostic bits of food should be 

 taken out. The sample, along with these larger and more diagnostic fragments can 

 be placed in the cheesecloth bag or wrapping, and then handled in the same manner 

 as a stomach. Some statement as to the actual or approximate quantity of material 

 in such stomachs should be made on the tag or on the schedule. 



Recording 



The essential data are the name of the animal (scientific name, if known), 

 sex, approximate age (juvenile or adu-tt-)-, -date and hour of day, locality, method 

 of capture (whether shot or trapped, and, if the latter, what kind of bait, if 

 any, was used), and finally the collector's name and number should be carefully re- 

 corded for each specimen (fig. 3). 



Whenever time and opportunity permit, and where special local ecological 

 studies are undertaken, the so-called essential data should be supplemented by de- 

 tailed notes on all environmental features that are likely to affect food habits. 

 Recording the kinds and abundance of foods available, the nature of the cover, the 

 status of the associated animal species, the weather conditions, and like data will 

 help materially in examining the stomach contents and in interpreting the findings. 



A serial, or collector's, number should be assigned to each stomach and the 

 data pertaining to each should be recorded under corresponding series of numbers 

 in a catalogue or on a convenien+ schedule. If the stomachs are identified only by 

 a serial number on the tag and the data are recorded separately, the numbered tag 

 should also bear the collector's initials (fig. 1) . Care should be taken to corre- 

 late the information recorded in the schedule (fig. 3) with the number attached 

 to the stomach to which it pertains. In other words, the number on each stomach 

 tag should correspond with a number on the schedule or catalogue. Each collector's 

 numbers should form one continuous series and should not be repeated, regardless 

 of the number of stomachs collected or the periods covered. 



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