I am in the beginning phases of learning taxidermy, I will state that where I live there is basically no one that I can learn from in this area. I have purchased many books but yet I can not find adequate information on storage/ thaw process/ before mounting can anyone elaborate to help me have a better understanding. Thanks
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I'm wondering how long can i put a skinned or fleshed bird in the freezer for. i overder my supplies only to thaw out the bird and find out things that won't work for that bird. it wold save me alot of time and storage space if i woul now how long i was able to let a skinned bird sit in the freezer thanks
I'm not perfectly sure just what information you need but basicly most critters can be frozen if well wrapped for a year or more. Some drying (freezer burn) can result to areas such as toes, tails and ears but if this occurs soaking in borax water or injecting the area with water from a syringe is a remedy. In my shop I skin out many birds and store them "rough skinned" until ready to mount which in most cases is about 4 to 6 months. Small mammels my be frozen whole or skinned in similar fashion. When I thaw out these animals I lay them unwrapped on a towel on a cool floor. In the case of deer heads, I wrap a rag over the ears to keep them cold along with the head until all is thawed which protects the ears from spoilage. Never heat any animal to speed things up and don't allow sunshine to hit them either. If the animal was properly cared for when first taken there is little to worry about in the thawing process. Questionable specimans should be skinned and processed when first taken in to reduce the chance of spoilage. Hopefully this is helpful to you- enjoy, Aaron H.