Submitted by Steve K. on 9/9/99. ( gaad@fidnet .com ) 216.229.73.113
I have just taken on the task of a large Merino Ram shoulder mount for a friend that owns an archery shop & I have a few questions. I have done a couple of Corsican Rams with very good results, so I have a basic understanding. First the horns. On the Corsicans after I removed the skull plates, I sealed them in plastic bags for a few days & let nature take its course, as suggested by Calvin Farner's Stone Sheep manual, to remove the sheath from the core. P-U! But it did work. The horns on this Merino are alot larger than the Corsicans (over 34" each). I've read that boiling them will cause significant shrinkage, which is not an option. Is there a better way? Second, will the LIQUI-TAN I've used on the other rams work on this extremely woolly booger? Lastly, do you have any suggestions on a quality manniken with detailed facial & brisket features(brand, supplier, etc.)? This specimen will be hanging in my friends archery shop for all to see, so I want it to be perfect. Not to mention this Merino Ram is possibly in the top 20 of this species in the state of Texas. My friend must be very trusting huh? That or crazy!?! THANK-YOU in advance.
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This response submitted by keith daniels on 9/9/99. ( arlcape@bright.net ) 12.31.32.11
steve, merino horns are tough, the way you did the corsicans will work, but as you know it'll stink. Simmering will work, but will cause some distortion, boiling will cause a lot of distortion and splitting. As far as the cape goes, send it to some one who does sheep and has a combing machine (not me). I've started dumping those lovely, burr filled, briar infested nasty farm sheep on Bill Dallum at Moosehead Tanners up in Maine. I don't have the phone or address here, but if you want i can get it for you Monday at the shop. He has a combing machine and does a real nice job on them.
This response submitted by Steve K. on 9/9/99. ( gaad@fidnet.com ) 216.229.73.113
Thanks Kieth, that would be great. If you could give me a price range along with the number & address that would also be helpful.
This response submitted by Jerry S on 9/12/99. ( jds@dhc.net ) 207.55.167.95
Hi Steve! Merino's can sometimes be tough to remove the horns from. Often the curls are such that nothing you do will allow them to come off (kinda like how cape buffalo horns won't come off). As far as the size of the horns, I hate to bear bad news but if the horns are 34" long they may not even make gold medal under ROE scoring. # 20 in the book has 39" and 40" horns. The #1 has 45 x 45 horns. If you want to be a scorer for ROE, go to www.vvm.com/~jds/ROE.htm and you can download a scoring manual and a scorer's application to mail in. Good luck! Jerry S.
This response submitted by Keith Daniels on 9/13/99. ( ) 209.143.26.32
Steve, call Bill at 1-207-695-0272 He can give you an idea of price, I don't argue with the price on them, they're really not fun to comb if you do it yourself! Keith
This response submitted by Steve K. on 9/14/99. ( oakislandtax@hotmail.com ) 216.229.72.56
Thanks again Kieth for the info, it sounds like the way to go. One more thing. Looking through the archives, I found where it was suggested to use cosican/mouflon manniken for a merino. Would this be anatomically accurate? I'm asking you because you've obviously done these critters before and was curious as to the manniken you prefer(brand, supplier, etc.) THANKS AGAIN, Steve.
This response submitted by keith on 9/14/99. ( ) 12.31.32.61
Hi Steve, first, Carol is the taxidermist, I'm just a lowly tanner, but I know her business very well, and happen to do much of her form ordering too. Merino/Barbarosa seem to be a mixture of different sheep, some might be mostly Ramboulette, some Horned Dorsett, some who knows what. So anatomical acurracy would be a real big problem. I can tell you that she has used the corsicans from Precision Mannikins, I believe the 200 series are the ones with the heavier heads, and they work real well on the white wooly sheep. The ones listed as mouflon generally seem to run smaller with slighter features.
This response submitted by Steve K. on 9/15/99. ( oakislandtax@hotmail.com ) 216.229.72.108
... for all your help. Without it I would have probably just had to guess on more things than I would have liked. I have a whole mind full of other question & this seems to be the best place to get them answered. Thank you! Steve.
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