A couple days ago I was ecstatic to find my starling skull had survived the trip from Idaho to Michigan :D My parents have a cherry tree in the back yard which is often plagued by those pesky birds and I would constantly have to go out with a pellet gun and scare them off. Any that were killed were fed to the cats (silly things, having their person hunt for them. So lazy!) This had been the last to be shot before moving to Michigan so I grabbed it before the cats had eaten it and stuck it in a small ant mound and left it for about 2 weeks.

For those that weren't familiar with how small their heads were, I snapped a shot next to an American quarter for size. Everything is clean off of it, especially the brain cavity, but the ligaments upon the jaw were left so I can still gently articulate it <3

Now before I get any "You killed it??" It was a clean kill, through the throat and out the eye (another reason why I kept it. I couldn't believe the shot!) so it was dead instantly. No pain, no suffering, and it went out with a croup full of cherries.

If anyone is wondering, here's what a starling looks like:
http://birdsofnorthamerica.birdhous.....s/Starling.jpg

Noisy messy critters that sound like a rusty rake being drawn over concrete when vocalizing normally. They mimick sounds in an odd way. You can hear their "songs" here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Starling
(go to "Description" and belove that it should say "voice"

Invasive and descructive, these birds are classified as a nuisance in the Americas as they are not native and drive native species out. I only shot them when they were eating the fruit trees (along with squirrels. Robins, chickadees, and sparrows would be chased off by me or the starlings)