Today, Sunday, from about 1:30PM to about 3:00PM, we once again visited the Killbuck Valley Museum, Holmes County's best kept secret. It is located on Front Street in the village of Killbuck, southwest of Millersburg, and just north of US62. Always an amazing place to visit, there are bird mounts varying in size from Ruby-throated Hummingbird to Great Blue Heron. The bird mounts are from a collection of the late Clarence Zuercher, a local taxidermist. The mounts were basically all harvested in the 1920's thru the 1940's. On most mounts are the original tags with explanations that tell when, where, and sometimes why. An example is an immature Bald Eagle with this description given: "Shot by the late Leo Boyd, on his farm near Berlin in 1927; was found eating one of his lambs. This is the only known record of an eagle shot in this area". At the museum, everything from King Rail, to Least Tern, to Snow Buntings, to 3 American Bitterns can be found. A Green Heron on a nest with two eggs, is surrounded by 6 other Green Herons. Hawks and owls were definitely his favorite subjects. All are well represented and most have different ages of young birds with them. With 7 adult Great Horned Owls are some babies displayed in a Noble Knight cigar box with this tag: "Nestlings of a Great Horned Owl taken Feb 18, 1931 near Berlin, four days old". Some of the unbelievable specimens are: 6 Snowy Owls, 6 Short-eared Owls, 9 Eastern Screech-Owls, 11 Barn Owls, 8 Barred Owls, 3 Long-eared Owls, amazingly 1 Great Gray Owl, and 1 out of place Northern Hawk Owl. Other interesting mounts are 2 Northern Goshawks, 1 Swainson's Hawk, and even a Northern Gannet. 22 adult Red-tailed Hawk mounts are accompanied by many young birds, with this explanation of why there are so many: "A dollar bounty was paid per head from 1914 to 1920 for each of these Red-tailed Hawks". This is a great place to visit to see how birding used to be! The Museum is natural history oriented with other mounts such as mammals and even 2 Hellbender Salamanders. An unrivaled Indian Artifact collection is here, along with a vast mineral and rock collection , and Mastadon bones. The Museum is open May 1 thru October 31, Saturday and Sunday from 1:00PM to 4:00PM. This hidden gem is an all volunteer operation and will gladly accept any donations for your visit. No matter what, it is well worth it.


Bob and Denise Lane / Damascus, Mahoning County

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