Writer
Ben Y. Cammarata
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The Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian
A member of the Saints Cosmas and Damian Society pins money to the statues of the patron saints at the chapel in East Cambridge.
Embalmed Rats
At Harvard Museum of Natural History's Rat Embalming Workshop, participants embalm a rat, which they then take home with them.
Needle Stabbing Rat
To embalm the rat, workshop participants stabbing their specimen all over its body, pumping it full of fluid, which eventually mixes with that's rat's blood and guts and leaches out.
Rat Embalming Workshop Table
The workshop is set up with six tables of four, toolkits laid out in front of each seat. Fluorescent lights beat down from the ceiling. It’s just like a high school classroom on lab day.
euthanized rats
The rats used for the workshop were raised and euthanized to be used as reptile food.
Kwapis Picture
Mickey Alice Kwapis, the taxidermist who led the rat embalming workshop, says her work is a labor of love. “You wouldn't spend your days elbows-deep in a dead animal if you didn't really love the work that you were doing and really want to honor those specimens,” she says.
In Photos: The Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian
Every year, the residents of East Cambridge gather at the intersection of Porter and Warren streets to celebrate the Feast of Saint Cosmas and Damian, a festival brought by Italian immigrants from the town of Gaeta in 1926. The 98th annual celebration took place the weekend of September 8-10, and we sent a team of photographers to cover it.