Taxidermy studio burning

[Bill]

Photos of a taxidermy studio burning to the ground. Protect your self with
insurance and TERF donations.

[fesekula]

Very sad. I hope they had insurance.

[Becky P]

That just makes you sick to see something like that. You just never know when it might be you in a situation like that.

[Evelyn Billington (Superpig)]

TERF is going to help out this studio in South Africa. We have been working with them for the past week all ready and hopefully they will recover from this loss soon. Those pictures that Bill posted were send to me by the shop owner with a very nice email. He and his brothers, who help run the studio, are elated that TERF exists and that they are going to get help like this. They never counted on any help, especially not from out of the country.

Unexpected events like these can happen in an instance and without warning. Anyone is at risk. This is the reason why TERF depends on your donations, so we can continue to help the ones who have been hit by a disaster. Please visit our website at www.taxidermistrelieffund.com and help this fund to continue into the future, so everyone is ensured to receive at least some help.

Evelyn Mills
Organizer & Coordinator

[Evelyn Billington (Superpig)]

And here is another reason to support TERF. This is a very close call from last night's small tornado that went through our neighborhood. This huge tree missed the house by about 10 feet. Two hours before the storm the sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky. Life does come at you fast. Make TERF our disaster insurance with your donations. Every little bit helps.

[Jims Wildlife Studio]

That is sad to see. I also hope they were insured. That tree is a scary taught what could have been also Evelyn. I have one next to my house even bigger, a large white oak 12 1/2 feet in trunk
diameter at eye level. Makes me nervous seeing your tree down next to your place. I just got a bunch of estimates to cut down and the cheapest was 3200.00 with stump ground.

[Evelyn Billington (Superpig)]

$3,200 to cut the tree and remove it? Good grief. I'm glad that we have a big backhoe and a couple of teenage boys who are just dying to earn some money. When we are done with that tree we have about four more to work on. There go my weekends for the rest of the year.

Anyone need firewood?

[Michelle Nelson's Taxidermy]

Jim my husband works for a huge tree Company that is in almost all the fifty states.  If you can get a tree like that removed for $3,200 that is pretty good price especially if they are going to grind the stump.  That tree will probably take a 3 to 4 man crew with a bucket truck.  They will be their all day.   They will more than likely cut that tree down starting at the top. 

[Swamp Angel]

Please don't flame me, I just would like to point out the remote possibility of a scam. Don't want to throw oil onto the fire, but I'm wondering about the language on the sign in the picture above. It very clearly says TAXIDERMIST in English. Perhaps someone who has been there can clarify something for me. Are not isiZulu or Afrikaans the predominant languages there? Is not English only spoken about 8 or 10 % of the time? Would not a business sign in another country use the country's language or would it be written in English? Not being very trusting, I tend to wonder about discrepancies such as those.  

And Miss Piggy, I'm most grateful you and yours weren't damaged other than that humongous tree. You're too good a singer and much too important to the industry to be hurt. Besides your scorpions would miss you.

Swamp Angel (Yes, I'm still a lurker, but will be registering soon. But I am a member of NTA.)

[Ken Edwards]

Is not English only spoken about 8 or 10 % of the time? Would not a business sign in another country use the country's language or would it be written in English? Not being very trusting, I tend to wonder about discrepancies such as those.  

Even though there are 11 official languages in South Africa, English is the language of administration and is most widely spoken, along with Afrikans. When I was in South Africa, I did not encounter anyone who did not speak English. Almost everyone spoke English. All store products are labled in English and Afrikans.

If you click on "Taxidermists' Web Sites" above at http://www.taxidermy.net/taxidermists/tlinks.html, and visit the 18 South African taxidermy websites, 17 of them spell it "Taxidermy", while only one spells it "Taxidermie".

[Evelyn Billington (Superpig)]

Swamp Angel it is not a scam. We found the story (actually Ken did) on the fire in the official Pretoria News newpaper. We have also been in touch with TASA (Taxidermy Association of South Africa) on this as well. They helped us track down the owner of the studio. This one unfortunately is for real.

[JonHarleTX]

Okay, as for the tree, Piggy, I just had one of similar size, a hackberry I think taken out of the driveway just last month.  I shopped around and found me 2 messicans and a 76 chevy with a chainsaw and 2 picks... Yes it took them from dawn till dusk but the tree is gone, and although they only asked for $500 I gave them $700 and case of beer.  They cut the roots out to about 5 feet under the surface and then backfilled it with gravel and top soil...
nothing against my fellow messican (yes I am one myself) but some of em work their butts off.

Jon~

[Swamp Angel]

Ken, Miss Piggy...thank you for your quick and kind responses. I should have known y'all would have checked this out thoroughly before it was even posted. I feel like a complete dunce to have even doubted for an instance. And thank you, also, for the language lesson for Africa. My daddy always told me that no day was wasted if I learned something. So today was a good day and most definitely not wasted.

I'm glad TERF is there for people. I well remember that day over 30 years ago when I came home and found not my home, but just a big pile of ashes. Water everywhere, burned furniture, burned mounts, burned equipment.  I just stood there, stunned, heart in shoes, wondering if my parents survived, knowing I must be an orphan, praying God had saved them. There are no words for a feeling like that. When our neighbor came over and told me everyone was okay and where they were, the relief was so great I almost fainted. I'd always heard of fainting with relief and always pooh-poohed it, but it's a true feeling.

Swamp Angel