Submitted by Sarah on 8/14/99. ( sarah@polarstar.freeserve.co.uk ) 195.92.194.47
Dear Taxidermists,
I'm a British writer whose next play is based on a young man who works as a taxidermist. All the messages in the forum have been very enlightening but I have a few myself that might halp me to make my character more believable and I hoped you guys could help. Here goes:
1.What, in the most basic sense is the process for mounting a beast, from when you receive it to when it's ready for display.
2.What is 'caulk'?
3.Would it be possible to mount a human being? What problems would occur if one were able to do so? And would it be very expensive? How long would it take?
4.Could you please tell me any anecdotes that happened to you while working as taxidermists- funny, poignant, scary?
Thankyou so much- please feel free to reply using my e-mail address,
Sarah,
Royal Court Theatre,
London.
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This response submitted by Perry on 8/16/99. ( pgk@ncentral.com ) 128.118.19.152
Sarah,
The "Basic process" for mounting any specimen is to first
take some basic measurements of the specimen. Measurements can and
many times are taken before and after skinning. these measurements
are used to choose the correct size mannikin. Mannikins are the forms
in which the skin is placed. after initial measurements, the skin
is removed from the carcass. if one is working on a mammal, the skin
is then "turned and fleshed". This is the process of scraping fat and
muscle tissue from the skin. Turning is where muscle is removed from
areas such as around the eyes and lips, and the ears are inverted so they
are inside out. after fleshing, the flesh side of the skin is rubbed with
salt and hung to dry. after the skin is dryed, it then goes throught
a tanning process. I use a commercial tannery, so I'll let Bruce Rittle
or another tanning pro fill you in on this part of the project. after
the skin is tanned, the mannikin will need prepped. this includes sanding
the mannikin and cutting a tuck slot for the lips and nostrils. the mannikin
may also need reduced or enlarged by length and/or girth based on the
measurments taken in step one. Once the mannikin and skin are ready, the specimen
can be mounted. first, some sort of ear liner must be put in place.
there are many styles and methods. most can be found here on the forum.
the next step is to set the eyes with clay. the skin can then be placed
on the mannikin. the skin is usually glued to the mannikin, and all incisions
are sewed shut. the lips and nostrils are tucked into the slots that were
cut, and the eye detail is then modeled. the skin is moved and positioned
into the proper places and the mount is groomed while it dries. while
mounting and grooming the specimen, reference materials are used to make
sure everything is anatomically correct and in its proper place. reference
materials consist of photos, casts and some times, live specimens. once
the specimen is dry, there is some finish work to be done, primarily
restoring color to hairless skin areas such as nose, around eyes, foot
pads and inner ears. there really is a lot more to it, but I'll let
others help out. As for Caulk, it is latex or silicon caulking. the
same stuff used to seal bath tubs, showers and windows. Taxidermists
are resourcful kind of folks. caulking is used by taxidermists as a
glue/filler in certain specimens primarily birds and some mammals.
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