When
you arrive at my studio with your trophy there are
a few basic things you may need to know. The following
is a list of things I will need from you:
* Hunting license or permit number and tag or
seal if applicable
* Date of harvest and location of harvest
* You will need to pick a position to mount
your mammal or bird in
* You will need to select a base and habitat
for your mount
* You will select any glass cases or additional
cabinet bases to compliment your mount at this
time
* You will need a 30 percent deposit
* Final payment is due within30 days of notification
of completion
The following is a brief description of the actual
mounting process. This is meant to give you a
better understanding of how your trophy is handled
and processed.
The taxidermy process begins with tagging your
trophy to identify who the owner is and the address
and phone number. With mammals the first step
is hide preparation, the animal is completely
skinned the eyes lips and nose are split and ears
turned the toes and feet are completely turned
inside out. The hide is thoroughly fleshed to
remove any excess fat and meat. At this point
a special waterproof tag is attached to the hide
to identify it. This tag stays attached through
the tanning process and remains intact until mounting
begins. The hide is then double salted and dried.
The hide can now be safely shipped to a tannery
for tanning.
While the hide is at the tannery the form, eyes
and assorted supplies are ordered. The form consists
of a urethane foam and is ordered from a detailed
set of measurements from the original carcass.
Once we have the hide back we can test fit it
on the form and make any final size adjustments
and alter the pose if necessary.
The actual mounting process can now begin. The
form must first be prepped to accept the skin.
A slot for the lip skin is cut and the nose is
ground out to the proper anatomy. The surface
of the form is sanded and prepared so that the
hide paste will glue the skin to the urethane
foam. If it is a horned or antlered mammal the
horns can be set at this time. The ear cartilage
is removed from the ears and a plastic ear liner
is inserted and glued in place. The hide paste
is applied to the form and the skin is slipped
over the form. The hid is adjusted and roughly
taxied into place. Sewing up all the seams is
the next step. We now turn our attention to adjusting
the face and tucking the eyes, nose and lip skin
into place. For the next week the mount is checked
daily and any final adjustments are made while
the mount is drying. After about 3 weeks the mount
is dry and can be finished. Epoxy fillers are
used around the eyes and nose to rebuild shrunken
anatomy. Paints are then used to restore the natural
fleshy tones of the animal.
Birds
The process for birds begins with skinning the
carcass. The thigh bones and wing bones are left
intact to be used later in the mount. A specially
made wire wheel is used to remove meat and flesh
between the feather tracts. The skin is separated
from the head by carefully cutting around the
beak or bill. In most cases an artificial head
is used due to unnatural shrinkage of the original
head. When the skin is thouroughly fleshed it
is washed and degreased. The skin is then tumbled
in corn cob grit to dry and fluff it. After the
feathers are completely dry the skin is preserved
using borax. A urethane from and foam neck are
used inside the skin. The legs and wings are wired
by sliding the wire through the inside and exiting
at the heels and wing tips. The bones are then
wrapped to the wire. The flexible foam neck is
attached to the urethane body. The wires in the
wings and feet are inserted into the foam body
and secured. The incision in the belly is sewn
up and the legs and wings are bent into position.
The bird is now attached to the base and we are
ready to install the artificial head. The head
skin is pulled back down the neck. The beak or
bill on the head is prepainted and the eyes are
also preset to facilitate finish work. The skin
is then pulled back up over the head and glued
around the bill using superglue. The eyes are
positioned and preening begins. The wings are
bent and pinned in place then the entire mount
is fluffed with compressed air. Any misaligned
feathers are adjusted and taxied back into place.
After about two weeks the mount is dry and the
feet can be painted.
