Image: The mechanical scorpion display in situ (The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London)
Display cases from 1980s Creepy Crawlies gallery also offered, with collection required from South Kensington.
The Natural History Museum’s giant, interactive scorpion display is being given away for free on a public platform usually reserved for free furniture and household items.
The scorpion, which has been a fixture in the museum’s insect gallery for decades, is part of a clearout as the institution undergoes major renovations.
Museum project manager Alysia Calderwood, who listed the items on the platform, writes that the scorpion display has a proximity sensor that triggers the scorpion sculpture to move its claws and tail. The listing says replacement parts and moulds will be provided.
The mechanical display was designed to give visitors an up-close look at scorpion anatomy and behavior.
A series of display cases including insect specimens, and insect showcases, described as being from the 1980s, are also on offer to anyone who can pick them up from the South Kensington location.
It is one of a series of items being given away which previously sat in the museum’s Creepy Crawlies gallery, which is currently closed for renovation and is scheduled to reopen as a new gallery in autumn 2027.
The Natural History Museum is currently undergoing a major transformation project ahead of its 150th anniversary in 2031. The £550 million redevelopment includes refurbishing existing galleries and reopening Victorian-era spaces that have been closed to the public for decades.
The London museum is one of a handful of UK museums disposing of items on Freecycle, which means they are free to anyone who can pick them up.
Hampton Court Palace is currently offering a series of humidity control cassettes, Tate Britain has listed a catalog of Tate magazines and office stationary, while Tate Modern has listed a visitor facing desk.
The items are all available to view on the ‘Museums UK’ Freecycle page.
