Is there a way to stop feathers from slipping?, or also in the case as of a half turned tarmugan with lots of blood feathers?
Thanks
for the input
S
Return to Bird Taxidermy Category Menu
Once slipping has started there isn't much you can do about it. The only cure for slipping is to prevent it.
Blood feathers are iffy. Sometimes you can keep more of them attached if you are extremely gentle with the skin ... sometimes not.
With moulting ptarmigan and other early season grouse you can SOMETIMES skip completely fleshing the upper part of the neck. It depends on the bird. If you do, you will keep more feathers but you won't be able to control them very well. In that case, the bird is best mounted in a sleeked down, alert pose. (or flying) Puffing them up probably won't work at all. The body will still need to be fleshed completely, even though some feathers may drop.
Ptarmigan are funny, though. You can lose so many feathers from them that you would swear they are going to be bald ... and yet, when they are assembled they are fully feathered. If the larger tail coverts or any other big feathers come off, they can be saved and glued in when the mount is being posed.
Nancy M.
Oh my goodness. We seem to be under attack