mishap

Hi guys,

I had a customer in Alaska ship me a prime Harlequin duck to mount. He overnighted the bird to me in Texas, but on oversight on his part was he overnighted on Fri. So... Truth be told, i didn't get the bird until Monday morning.

My delima is, although the time frame wasn't great, the bird still looked okay with the exception of it had bled extensively in the ziplock and the head and neck absorbed it to the hilt. I immediatly rinsed the bird and skinned. Now I have a skinned bird but there have been a few places of feathers on the head of all places to slip. I have not degreased, or prepped the bird any further. I have the bird soak in rubbing alcohol right now for a short while to see if that will hold the rest of the plumage intact throught the rest of the mounting process.

Is there anything else I can do to help this situation? As is stands the bird is still useable, nothing that creative posing and some supergluing wont cover.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,
Jon

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Very scary

I don't know what else to tell you, except that I prefer denatured alcohol. I don't know if rubbing alcohol will help it or not.
Go EXREMELY easy on it! Use an artificial head, smallish if possible to avoid stretching and folding the skin, and this might be one of those very rare cases where it would be wise to NOT de-fat it directly under where it is slipping. That is a hard call to make without seeing it, but if it is only 'membraney" in that area, I would leave it. Not the best practice for sure, but better than bald.
How long can you hold your breath? You may need to on this one.
Good luck. BTW, it is the customer's fault, not yours.

Nancy M.

Alcohol

Denatured and rubbing alcohol are both Isopropyl, and i belive that the only difference is that most rubbing alcohol is 99% pure with the remaining 1% being water, I think denatured is pure and devoid of the heavy metals contained in water that is not distilled. It should work fine.

I may be wrong though. Set me straight if I am.

Call the customer

and explain the situation. Having lived in Alaska for many years, Harlequin ducks are quite common. I have never had a situation where feathers were slipping such that I was able to get an excellent product - particularly around the head. I suspect that the customer will be able to replace the specimen and with correct counseling from you, send it on an appropriate day. Poor specimens can be expected to be poor mounts. It is not worth your reputation to send a less than satisfactory speciman back. If I receive a damaged bird that I feel would or could effect the outcome I make sure that the customer is aware of the situation and has the option to bring another bird. Good luck