I have been reading stuff in the archives for the last our without many results, because there is so much information. I am going to mount a wood duck for my biology professor.
I have mounted a couple pheasants and have just used borax then mounted the bird these seem to be holding up fine. The book i used says this can be used for any type of bird.
I recently purchased a video for mounting a turkey and he degreased and wire wheel fleshed the bird.
I don't want to make too many mistakes with the wire wheel on such a pretty duck.
any advice wood be greatly appreciated.
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Defatting and degreasing is not only necessary, it's REQUIRED in order that the mount doesn't smell like rancid grease. You got away with it on a pheasant since upland birds don't have imbedded fat like ducks.
Secondly, the wood duck, next to a mourning dove and a teal are the toughest birds to mount and they and the teal are alone in the duck class for misery in cleaning them properly. I've been doing it for years and I still wrap one around the spindle on occasion. Good luck.
As George has said . A woodduck is a very thin skinned bird . Prepare to do some repair sewing . It is certainly necessary to remove all of the fat from ducks . Even if a little is left on those hard to get areas you will soon see with climate changes some oozing and possibly some bug issues coupled with the nice smell of rotting bird in time . If you dont have a wire wheel just use a fine bristle brush like the kind you would clean your car battery terminals with and start scraping . Dont cut any corners if you want the mount to last . One other area to really pay attention to is your feather groups on woodies . Good luck .