FORMER DENTIST LOVES THE BEETLES; RETIREE COLLECTS LORE ON INSECTS, INDIANS.Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer Kent Christenson can show you beauty in a dung beetle dung beetle: see scarab beetle. dung beetle Any member of one subfamily (Scarabaeinae) of scarab beetles, which shapes manure into a ball (sometimes as large as an apple) with its scooperlike head and paddle-shaped antennae. They vary from 0. - a critter that got its name because it rolls cow excrement excrement /ex·cre·ment/ (eks´kri-mint) 1. feces. 2. excretion (2). ex·cre·ment n. Waste matter or any excretion cast out of the body, especially feces. into balls, which it buries and uses as a nest to lay its eggs. The larvae Larvae, in Roman religion Larvae: see lemures. , which eat the dung around them, eventually hatch, pushing up the earth as they struggle to reach the surface. The creatures received special status in Egypt, Christenson said, because they represented rebirth. From his collection of mounted and preserved beetles, some with large antennae and sharp-looking pinchers pinch·ers pl.n. Variant of pincers. that would make most people cringe, Christenson points out the dung beetles with green or red shiny shells. ``These are some of the most beautiful. They're like jewels,'' Christenson said. They are just as beautiful for the history that surrounds them as for their color, Christenson says, and he collects nuggets Nuggets can refer to several branches of interest:
see specimen artifacts. . ``I've never met somebody with so much information,'' said Sandy Hildebrandt, who as director of the Stagecoach stagecoach, heavy, closed vehicle on wheels, usually drawn by horses, formerly used to transport passengers and goods overland. Throughout the Middle Ages and until about the end of the 18th cent. Inn Museum often turned to Christenson for his expertise in Chumash history. ``The Chumash themselves come to him for information. He's been adopted by two Chumash groups. He works with all the museums around town. Anybody who needs information knows his name.'' Christenson has found plenty to keep him busy since he retired from his Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. dentistry practice. In fact, if he could, he'd find more time. He has made collecting facts and artifacts on the Chumash his full-time occupation. ``I started getting into it 15 years ago. Now, that's all I do,'' Christenson said. ``I could enjoy doing this every day, all day long. But my wife wants me to do other things.'' Still, Christenson, 59, has more time for his hobbies with three children out of the home and the fourth already 14. Christenson said he has always been a passionate collector. He began collecting bugs when he was 8, after the father of one of his childhood friends showed him the basics. Since then, he has learned his own tricks. One of the best places to find interesting bugs is in swimming pools at vacation spots, said Christenson, who occasionally gives lessons around the community on collecting and preserving bugs. He became fascinated with American Indian American Indian or Native American or Amerindian or indigenous American Any member of the various aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of the Eskimos (Inuit) and the Aleuts. culture during childhood visits with his grandfather, who had a general store near a reservation in Utah. ``The Navajo Indians would camp out nearby sometimes, and they had all sorts of beads and things,'' Christenson said. ``When I was a boy, I bought Navajo wedding baskets with the little money I had.'' As his collection of artifacts grew, the possessions weren't enough. He began gathering information about traditional clothing, weapons and cooking equipment and made imitations himself. When a Chumash Indian friend was asked to release one of the first condors bred in a program to save them from extinction, Christenson made a Chumash ceremonial outfit for him. Even Christenson's business card shows his commitment. ``Indian Culture Demonstrations,'' it says. Under his name, ``Keeper of the Way'' is inscribed in·scribe tr.v. in·scribed, in·scrib·ing, in·scribes 1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface. b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. . Christenson has gathered so much of interest over the years that he has sold some of his collections and given others to local museums. Numerous cases of butterflies, such as bird-wing butterflies in vibrant blue and green, and Chumash Indian garb are among his collections exhibited in several rooms in the Stagecoach Inn Museum. He even trains docents at the museum, giving them the kind of information only Christenson could supply. ``The classes just love to be here when he's here. He's a wonderful storyteller,'' Hildebrandt said. ``I know he knows a lot. But then you go on a walk with him and he tells you about butterflies, animals, insects. Really, it's quite shocking.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--ran in SIMI SIMI Sea Ice Mechanics Initiative SIMI Search for Intelligent Monkeys on the Internet SIMI Students Islamic Movement in India SIMI Society of Irish Motor Industry SIMI Smallholder Irrigation Markets Initiative and CONEJO editions only--color in SIMI only) CHRISTENSON (2--color in CONEJO only) Kent Christenson, an insect collector and history buff, shows some of his butterflies on display at a Newbury Park museum. Michael Owen Baker/Daily News |
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