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With being so close to the museum, we finally took the time to go and visit. It is an amazing place, and the amount of work that has gone into displaying all the different mounts is staggering. This is definitely one for the bucket list.
The May Museum is Colorado Springs’ premier bug museum! You name the bug and we’ve probably got it. The museum is located at the base of the beautiful Rocky Mountains in between Colorado Springs and Canon City. Our museum houses one of the largest private displays of tropical bugs in the world! We have:
7,000 Insects, That’s a lot of bugs! We have everything from giant tropical insects and spiders to thousands of colorful butterflies and moths. Our museum is home to squishy beetles, gigantic spiders and deadly scorpions, all perfectly preserved. Families and school groups have been visiting our museum for decades. With this large of a collection, there’s a bug for everybody!
John May was self-made – by age 13 he had two men working for him during the Great Depression. Learning to make the custom cases, and figuring out the stands, he displayed his father’s exotic insect collection in tents and pavilions everywhere, and fed his family through the admissions/donations. In 1947 and with just a little bit of money, he made the concrete blocks for his museum and started a campground to support it. Self-taught, he won a Colorado Supreme Court water case vs the US Army, which secured his operation’s future.
John worked 16–18 hours, almost every day, and would rather fix than purchase new. He’d purchase an entire Camp Carson barracks and reuse every board, or place the winning bid on a “lot” at the fort, and find uses for every discarded item. From re-welding a cracked bulldozer chassis, to creating 6 reservoirs, to converting a coal-fired furnace to fuel-oil, to trading specimens with missionaries in Indochina, he learned any skill and thirsted for knowledge.
James May personally collected insects wherever he was, starting as a boy in Brazil, then in Africa after serving in the second Boer War, as a ranger and game warden in the Riding Mountains of Manitoba, Canada, and during travels all over North and South America. He also traded extensively with other naturalists world-wide.
The tools of his trade and techniques for collecting included:
James May traded extra specimens, canned food, ammunition, and other commodities via air mail or ship. On display at the museum, you will see open cigar boxes with typical examples from all corners of the world, some countries whose names and governments have changed several times in the last hundred years. Shifting political environments, tightened shipping regulations, and extinction due to deforestation and pesticide usage have all contributed to the uniqueness of this collection, never to be duplicated in modern times! Each specimen was placed in carefully folded paper triangles (or rolled tubes for stick insects) to prevent rubbing the color off wings or damaging delicate antennae and legs. They were not considered museum quality unless the location and date caught was included.
Film cans were ideal for long term, airtight storage. In addition to the air storage, insecticide was used in the preservation process.
Large tin boxes were used to restore the natural flexibility of the specimen prior to pinning. Blotting paper was placed on the bottom of the box with the specimen(s) resting on it. A heavy tea towel, soaked in water with a few drops of carbolic acid and then rung out, was then put over the top of the box and the lid replaced tightly. After eight hours to several days at 70 degrees F, the creature relaxed enough to set.
Special insect pins were needed for spreading onto the setting board. These pins are resistant to rust and corrosion and are very sharp and narrow. Their fine tips were even used for labeling purposes by dipping them in ink to record the details on tiny labels.
Every case in the collection was hand built by James' son, John May, who started at age 13 after learning from a German cabinetmaker how to make airtight seals.
The May Museum is the answer. Located a few miles south of Colorado Springs, the museum houses a world-class collection of arthropods, mainly tropical insects, from all over the world. It is a multi-generational legacy that has been in its present location since the 1950s and showcases extraordinary varieties and types of arthropods. All ages can find delight as well as an educational opportunity in the museum.
Over the decades, thousands of families, school groups and tourists have visited and delighted in the amazing variety of nature here at the May Museum. The museum is located on Golden Eagle Ranch, a thousand acres of wilderness area. It is home to all sorts of wildlife, and miles of hiking trails where you can experience nature firsthand on hikes.
The May Museum is open from May 1 to October 1 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily.
For more details about our adventures click on the links at the top of the page.
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