i am going croc hunting in Sept. and am considering what to do with the critter if successful. i don't have any room for a full body mount, so it will be either a flat rug with the head mounted, a flat rug with the head skin still attached but unmounted or a flat skin rug minus the head and a separate head mount. anyone got any pictures they would like to share as well as details about who did the work?

The two pictures are of a 14' croc I rugged wholesale for another taxidermist. The front right foot was eaten off in the wild.(that's why it is missing) The head work and overall painting is not completed as it was done by the taxidermist I rugged it for, after it left my shop. Really can't appreciate the beauty without the finished paint work, but these are the pics I have available.

The third pic is a freeze dried head we had done for a customer. Finish and paint work completed in our taxidermy studio.

My honest opinion on croc rugmaking is as follows:
The head on a croc rug is so heavy there is no way that it could be hung on a wall...so...you are going to be taking up just as much room laying a rug flat as you would a life size mount. You cannot put a table or any furniture over it, like many do with their other African skin rugs, due to the uneven surface and severe damage that can be done to the scutes. So if you are looking to save horizontal space a rug can actually take up more room ,as you can do a vertical leap with a lifesize and have much less floor space used.

I do have a picture I need to find of a headless croc rug I had done a few years back. I'll post it if I come across it.

It would be impossible to skin the skin off of the skull and leave it flat on the rug. A croc's skin ,on its head, is as thin and friable as dove skin and adhered quite strongly to the skull. It can be boiled off for a skull mount but thats about it.






Hope this helps. Good luck on your hunt!
Kind Regards,
Mary