UCSB Cheadle Center Natural History Collections (Vertebrate Museum) — Oddities & Curiosities in Santa Barbara

Entry No. 21 — the Santa Barbara file — filed under: oddities

UCSB Cheadle Center Natural History Collections (Vertebrate Museum)

Tucked under the bleachers of Harder Stadium, UCSB's research collection holds hundreds of thousands of specimens — taxidermied birds and mammals stored in tall metal lockers, reptiles floating in jars of ethanol, and pressed seaweed on cardstock. Staff once had to freeze and thaw the entire dried-vertebrate collection to kill off a dermestid-beetle infestation eating through decades of specimens.

The move: Email curator Greg Wahlert to arrange a walk-through of the vertebrate collection — open the metal specimen lockers together, find the shelf of snakes in jars, and see the toe-pad samples students pull from quails for genetic work.

Where: Harder South, Building 578, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.

#taxidermy #specimen jars #university collection #appointment-only #cabinet of curiosities

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: Official site · dailynexus.com

last checked: 2026-07-20