Hello,
I wonder if anyone can help? I'm completely new to taxidermy, never done it before, know nothing about it. I shot a short film yesterday using a dead swan, and I'm not really sure how to, or where to, dispose of it. I live in central London and don't have a garden, therefore nowhere to give it a decent burial. The cautious part of me thinks I should hold on to it, in case we need to do a reshoot, but my freezer isn't big enough and I would imagine by Monday/Tuesday it would have begun noticeably to decompose, and maggots have a field day. How would I go about emptying its innards and stuffing it - I wouldn't want it rock hard and resplendent, but a bit more limp and moveable (like a dead swan, in other words)- what tools would I use, or is my amateurish-ness wildly optimistic? Alternatively I could sell it to a professional taxidermist and recoup some of my filming costs. I have to decide quickly, else I'd imagine my flat will be infected with maggots come Tuesday! What should I do?
Kind regards,
Robert
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I seem to have misplaced my ten foot pole!
That will at least keep the flies off and should keep it tolerable non-stinky for a few days. (then toss it!)
You will just have to re-arrange the contents of your refrigerator.
...that somebody would tell me something like "make an incision at the base of its neck, slice it open, scoop out its guts and everything else, clean it, then freeze its skin (which will fit in my freezer) until you are ready to stuff it with...?"
Trying to preserve a swan for taxidermy, especially if it is your first attempt, is like setting out to swim the English Channel before learning how to swim.