Do a pedestal mount and attach it to a clean looking, walnut, pyramid base with the lion's back skin inset in the side panels of the base. Top the base off with a marble top that's black or dark green. Have the mouth open - NOT in a snarl but in a panting pose.
I'll second or third the pedestal option. Have it done as described and with plenty of chest and shoulder attached to show the power of those heavily muscled areas. A pedestal also brings the mount closer to the observer to appreciate.
Posts: 1544 | Location: NC | Registered: 10 June 2002
I would definitely do a rug. I don't tend to like full cat mounts anyway (they just never seem to look right as I think it is tough to capture the fluidity of felines) but you don;t have to walk on your lion rug. I have seen pictures of a guys trophy room in which he had the lion mount across a narrow talble behind his sofa with the lions head at one end of the table and all four feet and the tail dangling from the sides. LOOKED DAMN COOL!!
JohnTheGreek
Posts: 4697 | Location: North Africa and North America | Registered: 05 July 2001
Mike Boyce does a beautiful pedistal mount. He did my lifesize lion and my leopard and he is the only one that I would trust with a lion. He does capture every vein and muscle and they look as though they are alive. He does a stalking lion that is so real that it even scares me when I enter the room after six years.
Posts: 294 | Location: carmichael,califoenia,usa | Registered: 03 June 2000
I always used to think that if you shot a Lion, you had to life size it, but that all changed when I saw my first Lion pedestals. They look awesome! That's how I will probably do my Lion if and when I ever get to shoot one.
A few years back when I had my taxidermy shop, a client wanted something different done with his mountain lion. All the taxidermists he had talked with had shown him the same, run-of-the-mill standard forms that were available for cougars.
I recommended the following . . . a pedestal shoulder mount with the mouth slightly open in a panting mode, with the bust mounted atop some bronze looking deer antlers. This would sit atop a custom base that had a lighted area under beveled glass to display the skull with the bottom of the display area covered in cougar hide.
The bottom of the pedestal had a hinged door so that it could be used for VHS storage or something similar.
He said to go for it and this was the result. . .
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JDS
What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?
Don't personally have any trophies, so this might be an undoable. I would think about having front half mounted on wall behind my desk, Lion in a jump, claws and teeth ready. Have it positioned so that sitting at my desk it would be behind and above my chair. Too cool.
Red
Posts: 4740 | Location: Fresno, CA | Registered: 21 March 2003
You've really got some great ideas on this topic. I have another one for you. You mentioned only that you didn't have space for a life size lion not that cost was an issue. How about a life size but in a sitting position with no base. We had a leopard done that way and we just set it up on a shelf in the office. We really love it and are going to have a lion done the same way. I'm guessing but I wouldn't think the leopard takes up more than 4 sq. ft. of space. A lion shouldn't take more than 12 sq. ft. of space. I bet a traditional life size lion mount takes up 3 times that amount of space. This mount is much less expensive also.
Posts: 13091 | Location: LAS VEGAS, NV USA | Registered: 04 August 2002