If you are avid in your pursuit, perhaps you may want to get more than one copy. Sometimes, the New York Museum of Natural History has replicas of Mastodon tusks for sale. These bring images of an earthy, no-nonsense approach that some find quite exciting. And, rashness with them is not recommended. Sometimes people hurt themselves under the best of conditions.
Live animals are taboo.
In any event, a trip out of the city does bring up the problem of taking care of cobras, kangaroos, Flying Wombats and the like in your absence so, all in all, I can't recommend that approach. Electrical tools are reliable, unless the electricity goes off. One must take rolling blackouts into consideration, especially if you live in California. Battery operated is your best fallback option. A sander, as the nice person who wrote earlier suggested, is a piece of equipment every girl should own.