I am fairly new at taxidermy so far I have mounted a black squirrel,
a 9 point buck & I am working on a doe now.
Anyway I am planing on mounting another squirrel in a sleeping pose &
I had an idea on useing the original skull & useing paper mache to fill the body instead of a manikin then lying him in the desired position till hardened.(Has anybody done this or know if it will work ?).
Thanks! feel free to email me
Return to Lifesize Mammal Taxidermy Category Menu
Thomas, You can certainly "stuff" a squirrel with a variety of things but I think you would have a real mess with mache. The biggest problem would be getting it anywhere close to accurate before the mache sets. Then there would be no way to adjust the skin and that's where taxidermy IS. A better way would be to buy a mannikin closest to the pose and size you need and make some adjustments to it and mount the thing. You can also carve a form from foam or wrapp one up with wood wool and string. I have even done a dead mount with a wrapped form of paper- worked ok but definitly looked dead! Enjoy, Aaron H.
If you fill an entire squirrel with damp or wet paper mache and then form it to a desired position, my guess is that it would take perhaps a month to dry totally during which time there would be mold and bacteria grow upon the hide. That would occur with a tanned hide or any other variety of preserved hide. You COULD make your mannikan in the shape of the body and then allow it to dry thoroughly, and then coat it with shellac or a sealer and mount the skin on it though.
At certain stages of the evolution of our current means of producing mannikans, there was a stage where after sculpting the form and making a mold of same, papier mache was placed inside the mold and supported with hardware cloth. This was usually done with large mammals or game heads. Burlap with plaster, Red Rozen Building paper with wallpaper paste, and fiberglass with supports were other verions of making the mannikan from the mold.
There are but two ways I could envision your precise technique working.
1). after forming the damp papier mache inside the body, you could place it in a freeze drier. This would prevent mold/bacteria growth and would dry out the body. It may interfere with the chemical process of the mache setting up, so who knows?
2) This idea is also theroretical. You could take your very damp hide and fill it with DRY paper mache until sufficiently full, then sew up. As you position the animal only the paper mache in contact with the skin would begin to set up, and may potentially form a hard skin on the otherwise dry material inside the body. There would be less moisture and the body may dry fine. I wouldn't recommend this method though, as soft filling and forming a mount is an archaic technique best left in the middle ages of taxidermy.
I would however, suggest you follow Aarons advise and wrap a body with some material, or get out the piggybank and buy a manikan.
I think I will try carving my own or alter a manikin to my preference.
Thanks for the advice guys!
depending on position desired use some fish filler add plaster of paris make it set up super fast...I think most fish fillers set up fast enough anyway?