Submitted by Melanie LeBlanc on 2/2/1999. ( cattrah@juno.com )
Hello out there, first off I am 14 years old and I go to Humble High school on Texas. I am doing a career investigation report on Taxidermy. And I need help answering some questions from the pros. I would like to know as much as possible about the following questions.
1) What educationl reqirements are needed to become a Taxidermist, schooling, how many years, where are schools, etc.?
2)What are average starting salaries and their potential increases, as in how much can you possibly make being a Texidermist?
3)What is your job description? like how does your schedule follow in the course of a day, accoplishments in a day, etc.?
4)Why did you chose this profession and would you encourage others to follow in your footsteps?
5)What is the process to mounting a figure of any sort. Please be as detailed as possible.
Thank you for you time and I hope that from these questions I can be opened to a world of knowledge, and the more you write the better will be my report. If you would like a copy of my report please E-Mail me.
sincerily,
MELANIE LEBLANC
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This response submitted by Jamison Winter on 2/2/1999. ( )
I am also doing a report much like Melanie. Any help would be appreciated. If you know of any books or magazines with this information, please note those also.
Thanks!
This response submitted by Bob C on 2/4/1999. ( bobswildife@webtv.net )
Hey guys, I'll try to answer some of your questions. First, there is no schooling NEEDED to become a taxidermist.Though it may be good idea. I personally learned on my own with the asistance of books.When I started about 20 some odd years ago we didn't have VCR's and most established taxidermists didn't want anything to do with helping out an up and commer. QUESTION # 2 Saleries ! cant give yo a difinative answer on that one. It varies so much from year to year, taxidermist to taxidermist, Part timmer to full timmer. Yes there is money to be made in taxidermy.But dont think of it as a get rich quick scheme. Its alot of hard , messy work and long hours. I think , at least speaking for my self, its a pride thing. To be able to say you are your own boss, you own the business. QUESTION # 3 Job discription. This is another tough one to answer. I work in a one man operation, so my jobs include everything from taking the work in to calling the customer to pick up the piece. Every day is different. Some days are spent doing nothing more than paperwork, or skinning.Then other days you might mount a couple of deer heads. QUESTION #4 WHY, why did I do this to my self. Well again I think its a pride thing. At first its for the love of the outdoors and wildlife. You do some pieces for your self and then to finance your "HABIT" you start doing it for some of your friends and then some of your friends friends. Soon you realize that you are actually making SOME money at this. Thats when the pride thing kicks in. Now you are running your own business. QUESTION #5 I'm not to sure I understand what your asking here. If your asking on the process of taxidermy, I couldn't possibly answer in detail in this forum.Theres just not enough room or time available to do so. Basicly the process is skinning,preparing the skin, mounting, finishing and doing the base work. I hope this helped you out some. Bob C
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