Spent most of the day typing in data from our deer and elk tooth collections, before packaging the teeth and shipping them off to the lab.

Also drove in to town to check my drop-off agencies to see if they had any more sets of teeth delivered.

Masked heeler got to come along. Her first time in the truck since 23 October. She was thrilled.

Came back to find an empty, chewed open package of jerky on the living room floor. Some of the older stuff that is too spicy for my tastes. Did a breath check on the little maskless heeler, and caught a whiff of spice. Her mother was watching.

When I did the breath check on the heeler mom, she refused to exhale. Absolutely would not breath while my nose was near hers.

Smart heeler.

Bet they're both going to be odiferous tonight.

Had previously spent several hours sorting the teeth by species, area and sex, and completing the gaps in the data fields stamped on each little manila envelope.

It's amazing how many folks don't know their own zipcode.

And even more amazing how many neglect to tell the lab what city and state they live in. Do they think there is only one Oak Wood Lane in the country, and we're supposed to know it's in Leithfield, Kentucky?

The point of the addresses is so the lab can send the hunters the age of their animal. That curiosity alone seems to get some folks to collect and submit the teeth. And then I hear about it the next fall if they never get notified. Even though it's usually their fault for not providing a complete address.

I assume they think we are so computerized that the gal at the University lab would instantly know their address by just the name and the hunt area. She can't, but I can. So I spend hours going through all the little envelopes, and looking up the incomplete addresses in my database.

Also need to repackage some teeth, from hunters who always manage to lose the envelopes I provide.

One of the leaders of our youth group has been promising to bring the teeth from his and his son's deer to one of our weekly meetings for more than a month.

Finally brought them in yesterday. Tied up in a large trash bag, the son's in the lowest knot, his in the knot above. I ripped it open this afternoon to package the teeth in envelopes, and found he had simply sawn off the tip of the jaws. Complete with fur and tissue.

Several weeks dead and unfrozen. Kinda aromatic. Quickly sealed his in an envelope and ripped open the lower knot.

Slimy maggots came springing out, on the desk and , yes, down onto the carpet.

Quickly set the mess down on the impermeable chair and dove down to pick out the squirmy maggots before they could wriggle down into the carpet.

Think I got them all.

Took the lot outside into the snow to pick them out, finally just extracting the two incisors we need for aging and leaving the rest to freeze in the snow.

Wonder if they'll survive frozen until next spring?

Finally got the teeth all sealed in envelopes, labeled, and entered in the database. And got the package to the post office just barely in time to get them out today.

Our youth group served as waiters at the Elks' family burger night again this evening. Heard one of the boys asking another what the gal was doing with a tray of drinks and money. You can tell he's lived a sheltered life if he doesn't recognize a barmaid when he sees one. Obviously doesn't watch much tv.

One of the patrons came up and asked me if I was working, or if we could take time to discuss a little pleasure.

You guessed it. The day I mail my teeth samples to the lab because I'm sure I've gotten all I'm going to get, he hands me another set of elk teeth that has been sitting in his garage for weeks. (Just now remembered to take them out of my pocket... knew this diary would be good for something.) So I'll mail them separately (and expensively) tomorrow.

One final note. Wife and I were relaxing on the bed, watching The 13^th Warrior with the two heeler sisters, when we noticed somebody was pretty stinky.

I reminded the wife about the two heelers getting into the spicy jerky.

Her response?

"Oh, great. So the two heelers that got into the jerky are sleeping with me?"

Yup. A sleeping bag on the floor won't be so bad tonight.