Mammals 3-1-19

This is a cat my Dad recently just did for himself Dean Schulte.

 

What eyes did you use for these beauties? Got a pair in my freezer I'd love to mount up soon.

 

These are the eyes I used 12mm for male and 11mm for female

Greg Cuvelier just judged them at the utah show and he said the eyes were perfect for fishers

 

great job on the fishers

 

Would they work for mink

 

It never would've occurred to me to use bird eyes, thanks!

 

I feel like they would I mean all these animals have pupils in their eyes a mink eye is really really dark but they sell the same type of eye In Black I think and it still has a pupil that one that I used for the fishes might be too light

 

Yes I've been looking at bird eyes ,they look good for smaller critters.

 

YUP

 

Look I'm not going to claim to be some expert these are the first two Fisher I've ever done

I competed with them in the Masters division at the Utah show. The judge literally told me that those eyes were perfect with the round pupil ( greg cuvelier )

So please inform us all of what is the correct eye to use because I'd rather do it right than not do it right.

 

Again wa I'm sorry if it came off like I was super pissed or something that wasn't what I was trying to do it was just kind of like you made a statement a comment then it was like mic drop and then you left the room lol I'm on here I want to learn

I primarily do big game and I honestly just want to make sure that I'm doing things correctly yes I had a judge tell me that those eyes were the right pupil but if I ever want to go compete at a higher level than a state show I don't want to be looking like an idiot and saying well this guy told me this was right when it's not I appreciate you showing me which ones to use. I just want to get better I appreciate you liking my piece I've always admired everything that you done
You're an amazing taxidermist.

like I said I'm not trying to be on here acting like I'm some expert with these animals I just figured I'd post them and someone asked me a question and I answered honestly with what I used that was it

 

A while back i was looking into the eyes of fishers because i have a big male to mount. I came up with them having slit horizontal pupils. I found a couple images that shown the pupils if you look closely.......
https://www.google.com/search?q=fis...5#imgdii=uiQy7vDr-YCAoM:&imgrc=5pOgKrNrIibW9M:

https://www.google.com/search?q=fis...5#imgdii=sPrLw5bXP9LTPM:&imgrc=5pOgKrNrIibW9M:

I found some eyes that say the are competition for otter, mink, weasel, etc. But after reading, they say they have a round pupil......
https://www.mckenziesp.com/Mammal-Eyes-Acrylic-C3838.aspx

Those WASCO eyes have a round pupil as well. So those arent really accurate either.

Only thing i could think of was getting gray fox eyes (even though they are a little large), and turning them sideways.....
https://www.second2nature.com/pc_product_detail.asp?p_key=9E2C2152DFA5422A9E0D25CB9710DE79

I dont believe fishers have canines sticking out while at rest either. In no way am i downing your mounts, the fishers look amazing! And i hope mine looks as good. Im just trying to be correct. And after searching and searching, it has been really bothering me as to what eyes i should use on my fisher. I mean i could get away with plain black, or brown eyes with round pupil. Ill pretty much be the only person looking at it. But at the same time if i know its not right, it will always bother me. Another option is having custom eyes made.

I was thinking about the judge talking to you about the eyes. Maybe that judge knows what a taxidermy fisher looks like, and not a live fisher?

 

I like those eyes from Mackenzie it's funny to me cuz I've looked in that catalog more times than I can count looking for small mammal eyes and I've never seen those before

oh yeah those canines are sticking a little too far out I've looked at a lot of pictures of fishers and at times they do stick out but this was kind of a result of everything looked good on the forms before the skin went on and after the skin went on it was like yeah those are too far out

The judge Greg Cuvelier is a pretty well-established small game taxidermist he's won some national titles with some raccoons and everything I really think honestly at the end of the day with the whole eye situation you can go either way I competed with pine Martens before and again I've never had a judge say anything about my pupil so if you're having to go and use possibly a gray fox eye instead of just a round pupil eye I'm afraid you might get ding 4 using the fox eye LOL I don't know anymore I definitely appreciate you guys giving me all this advice like I said I'd rather be doing it right or as close to right as I possibly can

In those pics you ref to you can definitely see they have a horizontal pupil I think that most judges are not going to get that.

Fisher Cats and pine Martens and Wolverines I really don't think are being done a whole lot on like a commercial level at least nothing like a raccoon or a coyote at least not out west here I mean when I brought these Fisher to the Utah show I had multiple people asking me what they were lol that's how few and far between you see or get them

 

Yeah those eyes do look nice. I usually order everything i can from second2nature. But go to mckenzie and vandykes for certain things.

The canines look fine. I actually seen a pic of one earlier that did have them poking out a little.

There are plenty of taxidermists out there that dont know squat about live animals. Not saying he is one of them at all, but might be a possibility. Alot of taxidermists look at the supply company they fancy most and say well this is what it says to use. I try to make certain its what it should be first. Im just picky. And ill never have to worry about judges! I do taxidermy as a hobby, and keep everything i mount. And i have zero interest in competitions lol. Im just trying to help out. And at the same time figure it out for myself. Its bothered me for a while on how im going to do the fishers eyes. Technically i can use crocodile eyes if i wanted lol, since its just for me. But im picky, so...

Mustelids are my absolute favorite. I cant think of any critter thats as amazing looking as a wolverine, marten, fisher, otter.

Tell them judges if they dont know what eye it should have they shouldnt be judging! Maybe you can judge them!

 

I just looked again and seen the pupil is oval. Thats pretty close. Not quite slit, but close enough. The fisher is truly an amazing creature. Thanks for all your input!

 

I just completed these two, I am pretty happy with them, but let me know what you are thinking.