My full body Nyala arrived with the mane all flattened. How do I get it to hang down like it did in the wild?

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
My full body Nyala arrived with the mane all flattened. How do I get it to hang down like it did in the wild?

The mane on any mount has to be stood up during the drying process, It will be very difficult to stand it up without re-hydrating.

Pictures?

Jerry I mis-spoke. I should say its the hair that hangs down from the bottom of the neck and belly.

I did not know if I should spray it with water then comb it down or would that cause it to come out?

I will take some pictures tonite when I get home.

This is the last time I will have anything mounted in South Africa.

I've got a blue wildebeest that is the same way.

The scruff of hair under his chin/neck is all wadded up next to his neck.

A Jiffy Steamer or any hand steamer will work wonders on that hair.

Here is a picture

Again, use a steamer and comb the hot hair the way it should go. That will fix it.

Thanks sculptor. I will give the steamer a go at it.

Please don't condemn all African taxidermists because you had one bad experience. We had our Nyalla shoulder mount done in RSA and it turned out very natural and life-like.

Hugh

Good point Hugh. In fact some of my trophies in the same shipment turned out great.

I have had five safaris where I had the trophies mounted in Africa and the same number that I had the skins and horns shipped back for local mounting.

The deciding factor in my experience is this: If I use local taxidermist I can visit and ask for corrections if I am not pleased well before I take them home.

Once I receive a shipment from Africa it is unrealistic to get corrections made because it would involve shipping them back to Africa and then getting them shipped back here.

The other altenative would be to convince the African taxidermist to pay for repairs by a local taxidermist. I suspect this is not going to be easy and I would just as soon pay to get it done myself or buy a steamer and do it myself so as to not go through the hassle.

Howdy Palmer. I can not be one hundred percent certian from the picture but it actually looks like this specimen might have a cowlick in his beard. This isn't common but I have seen it before. If this is the case, no amount of brushing or steam will get the hair to fall straight.