Aieee! Three dead animals stapled to wood decorate the yard of a woman! I'm not sure if they were just dropped off by the taxidermist or she IS the taxidermist! For my thoughts and additional pictures of stuffed creatures, see my article HERE in Paraphilia.
I am not sure why taxidermists so often freeze their subjects in fight rather than flight. It makes for dramatic presentation, but most animals I have come across in my life have been either running or skulking away. I even came upon a mother bear and her cubs once, and while it was us who did the running, I don't recall even a nasty look from mom. She was just lumbering along the top of a ridge with the pups, but if I shot her and turned her over to the taxidermist, she would come back to me full grimace with extended claws.
It does make for an incongruous snapshot. Kitty, Little Betsy and Rover…God's creatures frozen by embalming fluid, the camera shutter and a command respectively.
Our taxidermist uses a photography trick I use as well. Putting a white sheet behind the subject for contrast. In my case, it is seldom to hide anything from the neighbors. I don't have a posing rock pedestal either.
These photos all came from the same fellow, and I am pleased to see he was into his hobby deep enough to have visited a museum of same.
If it sounds like I am being critical, I'm not. If someone wants to mount a trophy, or even refer to a living creature now dead as a trophy, it isn't MY thing, but I am tolerant and secure enough in my own beliefs so as not to force them on others. Usually.
I'll see if there are any interesting taxidermy facts online. WHOA. For one thing, I'm clearly living in hunting territory, as the first ten hits are for guys in my county who will mount your kill for you. Thanks google…your search protocols are so effective, but my query is of a intellectual nature, and I do not have anything in the trunk needing gutting.
Well…taxidermy started with Egyptian mummies. Fish are harder to do than mammals. Freeze-drying is becoming taxidermy of choice. The technique of creating jackanapes and such (fake Frankenstein creatures as a joke) is called "Rogue taxidermy" and is sneered upon by true taxidermists…but of course that is the folks I will link to.
HERE
Lot of Taxidermy Snapshots circa 1930-1940 Collection Jim Linderman
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