Taxidermic specimens are insects in alcohol or stuffed animals. You can prepare these by hunting or finding dead animals. For birds, mammals, and sometimes reptiles, such as crocodiles, and maybe sharks, you can stuff the specimen. For mollusks, insects, spiders, fish, salamanders, frogs, toads and lizards, you can put them in special preservatives. Rocks and Minerals can be found very easily in mines, mine dumps, rock piles, caves, mountains and quarries. If you do not live near any of these you can wait for a trip, collect everyday use rocks such a coal and limestone, or go to a special rock shop or gem show. If you want to make your rock more shiny you can buy special equipment Fossils are the remains of ancient animals and plants which turned to stone millions of years ago. Fossils are commonly found in rocks such as limestone, sandstone, and shale. When you find your fossil, wrap it in newspaper and tape, to make sure it does not get broken. You can prepare you fossil with a toothbrush and dental tools. If there are no fossils in you area or you cannot collect them, you can also get them at rock shops and shows
