Conservation Mouse Brown

11″ x 14″
Mixed media on paper

Critters are fun! Designing my conservation mouse was fun. When I grew up the only true conservationist were hunters and fishermen. Ecology was not a politically correct fad. Some persons consider Scorpions dangerous arthropods that need to be killed on sight. In the Missouri Ozarks they were harmless with a sting similar to a wasp. It has been suggested that they can be kept in a aquarium as interesting pets. I don’t think so! Even in my 30s my favorite thing to do in the Missouri Ozarks was to walk in the woods and turn over rocks. Never use your hands to turn over a rock! There are lots of interesting critters living under rocks. Never, never use your hands to turn over a rock! In the cabin when a scorpion was noticed strolling on the floor I would scoop it up in a glass and pitch it outdoors alive. My conservation mouse is named Brown because we are distant relatives of Browning the gunmaker and Browning the poet through my paternal great-grandmother Alice Lionberger Young(1869 – 1934). Ranger Mouse Miss Brown holds a Browning stun gun. Ranger Mouse Miss Brown was trained at the Rodent University of Missouri with a bachelor of science degree in E.C.S.Environmental Conservation of Spiders. She minored in scorpion studies. She was specially trained to handle scorpions without hurting them or being stung. She has a lot of experience, stunning and tagging scorpions for release. Mouse Miss Brown has the split ear trait of her ancestors.