I found Sunflower at a park in the middle of the day. She had likely been hit by a car, so I scooped her up to get her out of the sun and brought her home. I was with my friend who likes sunflowers when I found her, so that's why her name is sunflower.
Since I was beginning to feel much more confident with my process, I decided Sunflower would be a good squirrel to try and articulate fully. When I cleaned her after decomposition, I put all her vertebrae in order in a container so I knew exactly where they went. This way I can study each individual and be able to order them on sight without having to seperate them all when I clean.
![A plastic container with squirrel bones sorted in order and filled with hydrogen peroxide](https://i.imgur.com/lYAdxat.jpg)
![The entire spinal column of a squirrel in order](https://i.imgur.com/iSNEYfQ.jpg)
I have been studying Sunflower's bones for a while in preparation for a full articulated skeleton. It will be a big task, but I am very excited to do it.
![The cervical vertebrae of a squirrel](https://i.imgur.com/U9VtSuG.jpg)
Here I will discuss all the specific details of a squirrel skeleton, to hopefully aid anyone in the future who plans to do a project like this with a squirrel.