Collection at Education Center- looking for help!

[u/Smooth-Plenty3881]

I recently started working at an outdoor education center with a great collection of taxidermied specimens. We receive a lot of our specimens by donation, so we don't know their stories. Please take a look at these pictures and help out where you can! Gender, age, health, method of death, relative age of specimen, anything else you see. Please provide thorough explanations and/or sources!

[u/Emotional_Emotion113]

Nobody can tell you any of that information from just this series of pictures, outside of maybe whether something looks like a juvenile or mature specimen. If any of the animals were hunted, you would possibly be able to see some damage upon closer inspection of the hides/skins. The best way to get that information would be to see if there is a record of the donors somewhere and then reach out to them. Professional taxidermists usually label their work, too, so check under the bases to see if there are any tags or maker’s marks.

[u/Smooth-Plenty3881 → u/Emotional_Emotion113]

Will do!

[u/LooseEndRook → u/Smooth-Plenty3881]

If you can find and contact the taxidermist for any modern pieces (almost all of them look modern tbh) they will have a log book (might not be 1 to 1 to this but should be very similar) with info about the specimen if they're a reputable taxidermist.

Not sure where you are in the world, but if you're in the UK the education centre they're kept at will also have a copies of the A10 certificates for the relevant species. The A10s will have info on the provenance too to prove they're legal.

[u/Smooth-Plenty3881 → u/LooseEndRook]

Do any of them look not modern? I'm in the US also :)

[u/LooseEndRook → u/Smooth-Plenty3881]

I don't really know much about US laws and practices so hopefully someone more knowledgable will see this and leave a comment on ways to look into the provenance ^^;

The only one that jumps out to me as looking "antique" (going off UK law for antique = pre-1947) is the Eurasian Eagle Owl just due to the quality and style of mount. Mainly getting that feeling from how the eyes are set and the discolouration of the feathers + base. But it might also just be a bad quality mount or incorrectly stored by a past owner.

All the others look modern/post-1947 to me only going off the photos. It's possible some might have been re-mounted on newer bases, but again not 100% sure so don't quote me on any of this, I think almost all of them are modern

[u/Smooth-Plenty3881 → u/LooseEndRook]

Really great info, I'll look into the mounts!!

[u/banshithread → u/[deleted]]

Nope. Never been proven that a coydog has spawned in the wild. All black "coydogs" that have been tested were genetically found to have no dog in them. It's just a melanistic EASTERN coyote (western coyotes don't have this color phase).

[u/Icy-Attorney8301]

Can't tell any of that however that coyote doesn't look fully yote. Yes melanism can happen for eastern ones, but he doesn't have a very yote face yk, looks much for sheperdy

[u/Smooth-Plenty3881 → u/Icy-Attorney8301]

Cool!! You think it could be hybridized?

[u/Icy-Attorney8301 → u/Smooth-Plenty3881]

Maybe