Just learned to do this

Hi all just wanted to drop a line and ask a couple of questions.
I just started to teach myself to art of Taxidermy on cananda stuffers. They look to my eye. If you would like to see some pictures just E-mail me. I'm hooked now and want to get better and try to make something out of it. There is no-one around here that does good work have to leave state for that. so I want to get better.
I use Excelsior for the body (I wet it first for a tight wrap) is this a good idea? n bacarod for the neck. A question I would like to know is a couple books I read said to wash the body. Does this mean the whole thing or just the inside fleash? I want to do some house mounts for my self to get over the trial and error bumps (lol) Would like to here from you if you have any suggestion for me. Want to start with Birds and small mamms. Plus should I stick with making my own bodys of try the foam? and I use the skull is there a benefit to going with perform? sorry so long thanks and hope to here from you.

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Kazu, wood wool is fine.

Learn by doing.

Yes Wood wool is just fine for bird bodies. It is a great tool. A difference you will see in the long run, should yu not get all the grease out/off the bird skin. Is it will not bleed grease.

Real heads are fine in my book. even is competiton! Each wiether real or artificail has their own unique problems.

Just clean the real skull well. remove all the grease wash well.

Rinse even better, rinse even better, rinse even better, RINSE intil the water is totally clean.

I dont understand you about washing the body are the whole bird must be washed and rinsed.

After learn the basics then try the foam bodies.

Dont jump from one method to another.

Pick a method and learn it very well. You can never work the problems out by jumping around so much.

Thanks John C

Thanks for the help. Just to clear up what I was trying to say is when I wash the body do I wash the outside and inside at the same time? thanks

Stuffers?

Do you mean the kind that are used for decoys? I know sometimes those are done without being washed, but that isn't anything you would want to have in your house.
When we refer to "washing" we mean that the skin is washed, feathers and all, inside and out, AFTER all of the fat and meat has been removed. It is quite a process, and rinsing is crucial as John C. said. Blow-drying will take a long time too. The actual mounting will go faster

Nancy M.

Thanks

Thank you Nancy for the info.