Taxidermy: anyone done it?

[Pothole]

Lighthearted lunchtime discussion today turned to the legalities and possibilities of stuffing big boy Eric, either to make him into a console table or just to mount his head on a shield like a 10 point buck. After he's died, obviously. He's such a handsome boy, we'd like him to continue to be part of the family.

How do I find out about this stuff? Anyone done something similar?

Edited by Pothole on Monday 12th October 13:19

[BoggoStump]

Dig a nice hole for him in your garden (assuming you have one), im sure thats the best thing.

[Chubbyross]

An interesting question. Personally, I think it highly unlikely you’d be able to truly capture an animal’s character. It’d simply look like a generic dog - albeit lifeless.

[Yertis]

I was always saying I'd wanted my whippet Monty mounted on a shield, but came the day I was too heartbroken to do anything of the sort (a condition that persisted for about four years) and he was buried in pride of place in the middle of the lawn where he loved to play/sunbathe. In a slightly worrying turn that's where my lurcher likes to wee now, and all the grass has died.

[Pothole]

Chubbyross said:

An interesting question. Personally, I think it highly unlikely you’d be able to truly capture an animal’s character. It’d simply look like a generic dog - albeit lifeless.

Some of the horrors in the link above would tend to support your view!

[Pothole]

Yertis said:

I was always saying I'd wanted my whippet Monty mounted on a shield, but came the day I was too heartbroken to do anything of the sort (a condition that persisted for about four years) and he was buried in pride of place in the middle of the lawn where he loved to play/sunbathe. In a slightly worrying turn that's where my lurcher likes to wee now, and all the grass has died.

It's like the plot of a canine video nasty.

[dhutch]

Also surely going to look like the end of their life, unless they die prematurely.

[boxy but good]

Pothole said:

Chubbyross said:

An interesting question. Personally, I think it highly unlikely you’d be able to truly capture an animal’s character. It’d simply look like a generic dog - albeit lifeless.

Some of the horrors in the link above would tend to support your view!

I collect taxidermied pieces, and enjoy them for what they are.
Pheasants, badgers, foxes etc.
However, I have no emotional attachment to their former life.
I did toy with the idea of converting one of my outbuildings to start it as a hobby but it was going to prove too expensive and time consuming, so I buy it already done.
This chap produces some wonderful stuff but be aware, the prices on anything done properly are not cheap. Please also read his policies and disclaimers. ( I have no affiliation with him).


https://www.taxidermyuk.net/portfolio/gallery/dome...

[sherman]

Pothole said:

Lighthearted lunchtime discussion today turned to the legalities and possibilities of stuffing big boy Eric, either to make him into a console table or just to mount his head on a shield like a 10 point buck. After he's died, obviously. He's such a handsome boy, we'd like him to continue to be part of the family.

How do I find out about this stuff? Anyone done something similar?

Edited by Pothole on Monday 12th October 13:19

OP in 10 years