Writer
Ben Y. Cammarata
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The Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian
A member of the Saints Cosmas and Damian Society pins money to the statues of the patron saints at the chapel in East Cambridge.
Needle Stabbing Rat
To embalm the rat, workshop participants stabbing their specimen all over its body, pumping it full of fluid, which eventually mixes with that's rat's blood and guts and leaches out.
Rat Embalming Workshop Table
The workshop is set up with six tables of four, toolkits laid out in front of each seat. Fluorescent lights beat down from the ceiling. It’s just like a high school classroom on lab day.
Embalmed Rats
At Harvard Museum of Natural History's Rat Embalming Workshop, participants embalm a rat, which they then take home with them.
Kwapis Picture
Mickey Alice Kwapis, the taxidermist who led the rat embalming workshop, says her work is a labor of love. “You wouldn't spend your days elbows-deep in a dead animal if you didn't really love the work that you were doing and really want to honor those specimens,” she says.
euthanized rats
The rats used for the workshop were raised and euthanized to be used as reptile food.
In Photos: The Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian
Every year, the residents of East Cambridge gather at the intersection of Porter and Warren streets to celebrate the Feast of Saint Cosmas and Damian, a festival brought by Italian immigrants from the town of Gaeta in 1926. The 98th annual celebration took place the weekend of September 8-10, and we sent a team of photographers to cover it.
octopus 3
Preservation of the octopus’ historic and artistic value, rather than precise scientific accuracy, guided the team’s effort.
Bird Brilliance: Exploring Harvard’s Ornithology Collection
Founded in 1859, Harvard’s Ornithology Collection has become the fifth-largest ornithological collection on Earth, boasting around 400,000 specimens and 8,300 species — over 85 percent of all known bird species.
