i would like to have an explanation of this way for working on does - cant find anything in archives
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I've done a few Zebra's that way, the african skinners showed me how, they don't know how to say something can't be done. We took the skulls out thru the mouth, Made for the best pedestal mounts you could ever want, NO SEWING AT ALL.
When mounting we simply wedge cut head and installed it back thru mouth, secured with epoxy, WHALLA !
And there's lots of other things African skinners can't say and on a 10 day safari I, personally, wouldn't be wanting to try and pull a zebra head out through its mouth. I think I've had a few in my shop that were, however. They came back with no eyelids and earbutts cut too far off.
To skin an animal through the mouth, you start there AFTER you've skinned the neck down to the atlas and removed it You reach up inside the back of the head and sever the ear butts. The real trick comes at the eyes (like the African skinners too often screw up). If the animal has preorbitals, it gets particularly hairy. Usually you have to work one side at a time and it is best to just puncture the eye and work under the eyelids until you're able to make all three points of incisions meet.
A doe deer is one thing, but I still have my doubts about any horse headed animal coming out that way without crushing the skull and jawbone.
Putting one back together is just as much fun. If the manikin has ANY turns, the head is going to have to be removed and mounted separately. Then it is glued back to the neck of the mannikin. I often use this method in mounting newborn fawns and if you look in the archives under "mounting newborn fawns", you'll likely see how I cut the manikin to pieces in order to reduce the chances of seams showing.