Courtesy of (The African Sporting Gazette)

An interesting article

Cheers, Peter
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Do you know which African species are the most difficult to mount? African Sporting Gazette posed this question to a group of renowned taxidermists and came up with some fascinating points of view.

The word taxidermy is derived from two ancient Greek words: taxis which means movement, and derma, which means skin. Loosely translated then, the word taxidermy means movement of skin. It’s an appropriate definition for a process which involves removing the natural skin from a specimen, placing it over an artificial body or mount, and adjusting the skin until it appears lifelike – as though it could still move.

The taxidermy process is a highly detailed one involving many precision crafts including carpentry, woodworking, engineering, tanning, moulding, and casting. As though that were not sufficient, there are then artistic skills called into play such as sculpture, painting and drawing. A good taxidermist should be able to make the mount look convincingly and realistically lifelike.

According to Rodney Kretzschmar of Trans African, in South Africa, the problem is that clients expect to pay less for smaller species such as birds, reptiles and smaller mammals, when in fact, mounting a small animal often involves just as much work – if not more – than a large mammal. “Take a bird, for instance, which is often only the size of a man’s fist, with tiny claws, feet and head. You need to be a real precision surgeon to get it right,†says Kretzschmar.

He reports that mounting a small bird can take up to 36 hours of labour. “Similarly, small mammals and reptiles are also pretty unrewarding to work on from a business point of view, because they are time-consuming compared with what customers are prepared to pay. Many taxidermists prefer not to do them at all,†he says.

Kretzschmar also says jackals, the genet family, and porcupines are a challenge to mount. “These animals all have large quantities of fat stored under the skin, and if the fat is left on it turns into acid and breaks the skin down. It’s therefore very important that the correct field preparation techniques are used in order to ensure that the final product is a good quality one.â€

Derek Robinson of Derek Robinson Taxidermy, also of South Africa, maintains that elephants are one of the most difficult species to mount, “primarily because of the volume and weight involved,†he says. “It’s a huge job lifting an elephant’s skin, and that’s only the start of it. Once the skin has been lifted, it takes two or three people eight to ten days to shave the skin to a workable state. Once the skin has been tanned, it takes up to ten people to get it mounted because it’s so heavy.â€

Robinson reveals that the process is very weather-dependant. “It can take anything from one to three months to mount an elephant, depending on how dry or wet the weather is at the time. From a taxidermy perspective, the longer a skin takes to dry the better quality the end product will be.â€

However, it’s not only large species that are a challenge to mount.
Although pangolins (a scaly anteater) are not legally hunted in South Africa and are protected, Robinson Taxidermy recently got a few to mount after they had accidentally electrocuted themselves in a reserve. “Pangolins have a very delicate face and mouth, and getting all the detail right, including the nasal passages, was very time-consuming,†he relates. “If you receive the animal in a bad state, it makes the job that much harder because the scales start falling off and you have to glue them back in exactly the same place.â€

Robinson says he often has to explain to clients why it costs almost the same to mount a squirrel as it does a kudu shoulder mount. “It’s just as time-consuming mounting a smaller species as a larger species,†he points out. “Consider the effort in skinning out the paws, claws and small feet, and you’ll start to understand why we charge the same.â€
He reveals that he does occasionally get requests to mount unborn fetuses. “Depending on the age of the fetus, that can be a real challenge,†he says. “A very premature fetus does not have fully formed skin and it’s like working with tissue paper or wet blotting paper.â€
Porcupines are another species that most taxidermists agree are difficult and awkward to mount. “To get all the quills to stand up is a real art,†laughs Robinson. “It’s best to get a porcupine when it is still very fresh. We then quickly skin it, tan it and mount it. You can’t salt it because the quills won’t stand up again.†He admits that gloves are essential when working on a porcupine.

John Peacock of Taxidermy Africa agrees that porcupines are a challenge to mount. “A porcupine has paper-thin skin which often gets damaged during skinning. Added to that, it’s difficult to get character out of a porcupine. After all, it’s an animal that consists primarily of a bunch of quills,†he says.

Crocodiles are another challenging species to mount, he maintains. “Crocodiles have a very hard skin which is difficult to handle and difficult to stitch together. Crocodiles also come in variable sizes so the forms have to be modified.â€

Peacock also considers cats to be a challenge in the final recreation of their expression. “It’s open to different representation,†he says. “Smaller species take a little more care to mount while larger species are challenging from a weight and size perspective.â€

However, Peacock maintains that no animal is impossible to mount. “What is often more difficult is the clients’ sometimes unexpected wishes,†he laughs. He recounts the incident of the client who wanted a crocodile and an alligator mounted to look as though as though they were fighting, and to be positioned in a vertical position on their tails, and another who wanted her domestic cat mounted – even though the cat had been buried for some time already.

Kretzschmar believes that although some species are understandably more challenging to mount than others, the real problem lies in a lack of understanding by customers of the process and work required in taxidermy. “I am a naturalist,†he says, “I won’t improve on nature, but I will copy it as closely as possible. That’s the true art of taxidermy.â€

Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

That is a great post.

I have found the tanned platinumcard blond screecher the moust difficult to mount. They can be found near watering holes at dusk in the urban areas of the United States..... ..............JJ

I agree "JJ"...You have to be real careful with those!

My vote, with the esception of the platinum screecher, would be a male peacock in full strut. When you open the fan of a turkey tail, you can grab each end feather and pull it apart to get the fan. When you pull the two end feathers of a peacock apart you have . . . two feathers! Each feather has to be positioned individually. Now there's a time consuming mount!

JDS

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Wemmer:
I agree "JJ"...You have to be real careful with those!

The female of the species are always the most difficult to mount ....

Most expensive to mount too in the long run.

quote:

My vote, with the esception of the platinum screecher, would be a male peacock in full strut.

FWIW absolutely every Peacock in the world is male!

quote:

Originally posted by JJ_Miller:
I have found the tanned platinumcard blond screecher the moust difficult to mount. They can be found near watering holes at dusk in the urban areas of the United States..... ..............JJ

JJ, an easier specie to mount is the double breasted mattress thrasher. They are larger and have a fatty layer under the skin. They are much easier to mount, especially the ones with a high blood alcohol level.

I have found that just about anyone can mount one.

They are often found in the presense of the tanned platinumcard blond screecher.

A lady took two dead monkeys to a taxidermist and said "I would like to have these stuffed."The taxidermist said "you want them mounted?"Oh no,she replied, holding hands will be fine.They were only friends,

Sam

Formerly registered as Bravo five one.

I can't even get close enough for a shot!
Dave

blonde bombshels are easy...if i have to go on you probably wont get any anyway...

its the older virgins with self respect that are the hardest...i had to marry mine first