Id like to learn taxidermy to atleast have some use of the small game that i cant eat. Where should i start? What tools i need and are there any good textbooks on the subject? Pic related i paid 150€ for this and wanted to share it with you guys.
>>2720999One of those unfortunate jobs which I never thought somebody would want to do. That's good that there's pieces of dirt out there with weird hobbies because I like to watch the economy go up in hell.
>>2721007:(
>>2720999Steal some roadkill. Somebody out there probably will tell you no, that belongs to them already. Especially if the people around you are poor they might want to eat it. But it's first come first serve and you're allowed to fight them over it.
>>2720999Cute badger. No idea where you'd look to get started in taxidermy though. My wife went through a phase of processing skeletons for decorations and she found all the info she needed online but I couldn't tell you where exactly. I'll ask her over dinner if she came across anything taxidermy related in the process.
There's a plethora of information on the internet, all coming from a large and thriving community of people interested in preserving animals. If you want to tan your own hides I'd start there, and also how to skin animals for taxidermy, it's a different process than skinning for wallhangers or garments. The taxidermy portion is mostly understanding anatomy and animal musculature.
>>2721015>processing skeletons for decorationsthat sounds based as fuckplease do ask her for details and share them with us
>>2721015>I'll ask her over dinner if she came across anything taxidermy related in the process.I'll ask her as well
>>2720999Be prepared to spend retarded amounts on foam forms. I have a couple including some from a now dead foam form artist. Copied one of those (he's dead and IIRC no more are being made) with the following:>Foil>Jot craft paper, Dollar Tree>Elmer's Glue, clear>Sika 33-fl oz Fence Post MixCover the foam form in foil completely. Do not leave holes. Rip strips ~3"x5", some long, some in triangles, etc. from the Jot craft paper (or similar thin shipping packing paper such as a thin brown Kraft, butcher's, or masking paper). Lightly wet them and rub the Elmer's glue on it. Lay it down on the foil covered form. Repeat until fully covered, ideally with at least 2 layers. Wait until dry. Cut along the mold lines (I hope you remembered or can feel them) gently. Remove shell from form. Peel off foil (so it doesn't get stuck later). Use strips of paper and glue to glue that shell back together. Wait to dry. Experiment with foam and mix a known amount together and see how much volume that takes up. Make a hole in your paper shell and pour in foam mix. Be sure to get deep in legs and snouts and butts where bubbles may otherwise form before it starts "kicking" and rising. Wait until cured but still pliable (~7-10 minutes) and start peeling the paper off. If desired, bend the arms while still pliable and repeat until it no longer springs back. Use a Stanley Surform Shaver to adjust the form and improve the surface texture. Congrats, now you have a $15 form instead of a $150 form. Still need to find a cheap secondhand foam form to start but it saves a LOT of money and you can cut and re-pose it from here. Working on a raccoon right now and did that exact process. I am fucking BROKE right now and there's no way I could afford to burn $100-150 plus shipping on a piece of foam. Also, checked. Nice badger; wish I had one.I've recently started watching this channel and I like it a lot. Hope you can find 2 part foam in Europe. https://www.youtube.com/@amysanimalart/videos
>>2720999>Toolshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaP3KbXvmcwPersonally I think the MOST important tools are as follows:>Scalpels or safety razor blades, scalpels preferred.>Borax or salt in bulk, at least 4lbs if not more (IIRC Borax is restricted in some Euro countries and Canada, so don't worry; IIRC it can mess with tanning solutions so it's not always recommended)>Corn starch, if doing birds (helps soak up fat, I don't do a lot of birds but I've heard this a lot)>Hide scraping knife, one of the big two handed ones (I use the CHEAPEST one from Cabelas)>Hide fleshing board - this can be made from cheap plywood and shaped with an angle grinder with a wood shaping dish - or if you hate yourself like I did, a jigsaw, handsaw, and about 3 60-80 grit belts for a handheld belt sander, then coated with Rustoleum Gloss clear coat. Be aware that different sizes are required for different animals. Premade ones are like $80 and I'm broke so...>Thread - preferably something good. I've also been introduced to the idea of using high quality fishing line from that YT channel. I tried it on my most recent project and liked it, though my preferred thread is ~$2 on sale per 150yds and the Yo-Zuri Superbraid is like $10-12 per 150yds lol. I don't remember what thickness I used but it fit through the eye of a needle.>Needles - thick but good, like for sewing upholstery and leather. Look for needles without flashing and burrs inside the eye or it will rip your thread apart. Ironically I find that the "variety pack" ones in stores tend to be good for some odd reason, the kind with the plastic sheet window in a paper folded card with two curved needles and a couple other thicker needles.>Nitrile gloves - don't get super shitty ones. Double up on gloves when wearing, especially on animals known to commonly carry disease in your area.>Safety glasses - I can't tell you how many times I've gotten something in my eye...>First aid alcohol, 70% - you will cut yourself.
>>2720999As for where to start I am biased in that I think squirrels are a great place to learn. If you're British, even better: you can hunt (American) Eastern Grey Squirrels and do the native Red Squirrels a favor. They tend to dry easy and are pretty forgiving. You can taxidermy them without tanning or fat scraping unlike bigger animals like raccoons, (I assume) badgers, foxes, etc. Their fur is thick but not too long so it doesn't hide a ton but it hides enough. Also they're good eating. Marinade the front and back legs in the fridge, pan fry in butter with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Tastes just like chicken. Trust me.
>>2720999>>2721015NTA but you basically skin it, remove as much meat as possible, and throw it in a bucket of water with a weight on top. Keeps the animals out. Stinks to high heaven but it works. Or bury it in a hole around 3-4' deep. Wrap it in window screen or cloth or something. Or at the very least put a sheet of plastic under the animal. Losing bones via burying is very easy. Put construction flags where the animals are or you'll forget. Very quick. Leave at least 3-4 months if not until next spring. It'll be nasty when you dig it up otherwise.
Taxidermy is a lot harder than people realize. Good taxidermy is damn near impossible without proper training from reliable sources. If you don't plan on going to school for it then don't bother getting into it. Not only is it extremely hard to learn on your own you're going to be spending a small fortune on all the supplies. It might sound like I'm trying to gate keep from the hobby in order but I'm not.So I'll tell you the advice I give everyone: tan hides. It's far ""cheaper"" with a lot less chance of completely fucking up. You'll scratch that itch of wanting to use all the parts of the harvest while still acquiring something that has value. When I was starting out I sold a lot of hides to people in the SCA for very cheap.
>>2720999>>2721926I almost forgot something important.>1mm, 1.75mm galvanized wire. This is important for posing non foam form taxidermy AND important for staking feet in place in taxidermy scenes.>Sewing pins, specifically T-Pins. See: Dritz T-Pins. These are for tacking skin and facial features in place as it dries.>Small binder clips and sheets of plastic. Bend them, cut them to the shape of the ear, and clip them to the ear to keep the ears upright and shaped while drying.>Cheap ass towels. Grab the cheapest beach/shower towels you can on clearance/sale. Also buy Painter's/shop towels in a bundle. Clean them in your washer and use as needed.>Lysol in a mister bottle (like you'd get windex in): self explanatory>Dog or human brushes - I get mine from Dollar tree out of both aisles>Eyes: you can use Doll eyes in Squirrels, Raccoons, and other animals with pure black eyes. 12mm for squirrels, 15-18mm for raccoons.>Potter's clay. The gray stuff. It'll probably say "Air dry"...all naturalclay air dries. (except the fake oven bake polymer "clay"). This is used to add detail to forms and for around eyes.>Clay tools, such as pic related. The wood tool is good for around eyes and things. The with two handles is great for cutting the clay.>>2721928>>2721015>>2721062>>2721928Oops. Also DO NOT USE BLEACH. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. Dawn, a scrub brush, and a toothbrush are all you need. Too greasy? Use dawn or some other dish soap and warm water and make a soapy bath. Leave bones in said bath. Rinse, repeat (literally). Too yellow? Put them in 3% hydrogen peroxide (optional). Use clear Elmer's glue or Mod Podge to glue jaw halves back together and teeth back in place as it's water soluble and reversible. Use super glue only if you're DAMN sure it needs to be exactly in that position forever.
>>2721936>Good taxidermy is damn near impossible without proper training from reliable sources.This. I wouldn't say impossible but I'm internet taught and going on my...6th or more year? Don't give up; it's hard but you'll get there. My first hide was fucking HILARIOUS. Bubble head, big ass cut and stitching down the back, filled with some kind of stuffing. Next was better but just a tube hide. Kept skinning squirrel after squirrel improving. Eventually developed my own method for mounting, figured out what parts would shrink and needed work, figured out how not to cut through whisker follicles. Figured out how not to screw up ears. Figured out how to remove fats. Figured out how to do tails easier (get a Minnsota Tail Stripper for the love of god). Figured out this and that and so on...and now I'm finally at foam forms, lol. I still need to learn to tan and using a not-tanned hide is probably not the right way but it's my retarded way. It's a harsh learning curve. Things will look mummified and shrunk. Things will look puffy and overstuffed. Heads will just be...off. Poses will be wrong. Animals will look...skinny and weird. Ears curl and dry because you forgot to clip ear cards on them. Hides will fight EVERY STEP OF THE WAY from skinning to scraping to getting it on the form to why the fuck do I have extra here but there's a gap around the sides? And drying. Fuck. Eyes will be open different amounts or they will dry different because lol predicting shrinkage. It goes on and on. I've spent easily a couple hundred. Don't let that get in the way; learn how to skin animals, prep hides, maybe even tan, and slowly transition to taxidermy as you learn online, or if possible, in person. You will quickly learn how not to do it. Remember: if it's wet it's going to go bad. Moisture lets bacteria grow. Towel dry the fur, blow dry it, and get that hide dry! (but don't blast it with a heater lol)
>>2721942oops, pic. Also buy shampoo! Doesn't have to be dog shampoo, just use what you use! Dawn to clean, shampoo to get the fur all nice. And a hair dryer. Can be from the thrift store; that's where mine come from as long as they're a good brand and good quality.
>>2721945>You will quickly learn how not to do itThe problem is it's a money hole. You're going to be spending a lot of money making a lot of things no one wants. I must have had 40 squirrels just sitting around at one point in varies positions with off putting little faces. That isn't even counting the failed ones.
>>2721955Is thst you, Jan Itor?https://youtube.com/watch?v=777vJrssQL8&pp=ygUdc2NydWJzIGphbml0b3Igc3F1aXJyZWwgYXJteSA%3D
>>2721942Also Permethrin. Ticks, fleas, etc. are nasty. Also keeps bugs like carpet beetles from eating your finished taxidermy.>>2721955>The problem is it's a money hole. You're going to be spending a lot of money making a lot of things no one wants.But if anon is doing it as a hobby, it doesn't really matter. I've gone extreme budget and I've spent maybe $450 on things that aren't consumables or containers. If I were starting from scratch I'd probably spend $250 on tools knowing what I know now. I've spent an ungodly amount on hunting. Taxidermy has been a drop in the bucket. I hunt with a ~$1.5k .22 and the rest of my hunting gear on me probably costs an additional $250+ at any given moment. It's retarded to spend that much but it's reliable and I like it; it's a hobby anyways (which gets me meat) and it makes me happy. Just like taxidermy, which gets me some nice mementos of previous hunts and something to do with the hide. It IS a hell of a time sink though. There are nights I go to sleep fucking exhausted from working on a project.>I must have had 40 squirrels just sitting around at one point in varies positions with off putting little faces. That isn't even counting the failed ones.Haha, right now I have a cargo net holding probably 30 dried squirrel hides and probably a similar number of ones waiting to be used. I have ~5 mounted squirrels in various quality, a lot of "climbers" as they're easiest to make. Such is life. At least there's someone else out there with ~50 squirrels sitting around lol.
I need to know, is 520 for a housecat's hide a rip off? Almost a year ago now I took my cat to a taxidermist and told him I wanted the hide (Not mask or feet) and he charged me something like 520 bucks. I have a feeling I got ripped off because he knew that was my friend. Can anyone tell me how much I was screwed over?
>>2722229nah, cats are really hard to taxidermy. you could probably find someone cheaper but it would look like this lmao
>>2722234Well shit, glad I avoided that lol. I always knew that it wouldn't look like him so I went with just the pelt with tail but holy moly that is bad. Thanks for the response.
>>2722229Taxidermy is like tattoos. The quality scales heavily with price. 520 for a hide/pelt is pretty damn expensive though.
>>2722261I suspected that when I saw cat pelts going for 250 some places.
Are there any good books about taxidermy for beginners that you guys could recommend?I'm a digital artist, know basics of animal anatomy and I do have experience with clay sculpting. But I've never played around with corpses before.
Does anyone have good guides or videos for soft mount/re-posable taxidermy? I have a small interest in it as I've heard about it on and off for a couple years. I'll probably end up modifying the guide to my needs/materials but having a a known good method to go off would be nice. I just don't see how you wouldn't end up getting creases in the joints or compressing the filler in those areas over a couple years if you pose and move it like once a month or something.
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>>2720999Why are you killing small game animals if youre not gonna eat them??Ask me how i know youre a white american...
>>2720999>to atleast have some use of the small game that i cant eathere's an idea: how about you stop killing things that you won't eat you inbred redneck
>>2722234perfection
>>2725054stop fucking goats.
>>2725075>anybody that tries to live sustainably must not be white and is a dune coon.Stop fucking dogs and being a parasite.
>>2725054>>2725067Two retards, not surprising.
>>2720999why are you killing shit you can't eat? inb4 "pests" cope
>>2725416oh, it's the soulless husk again, kek, stop fucking goats AND stop fantasizing about people having sex with animals in general.
>>2725416Rent-free.
>>2720999>small game that i cant eatLike what? Rats and mice? You can eat most of the rest.
FFS just keep on the topic of the thread and stop replying to obvious bait, flaming, and trolling; you guys are worse than /k/ at times I swear.>>2726155Gonna be honest; I have no clue what OP means by that either as a hunter. Maybe he's including furbearers that most don't eat like badgers and fox as "small" game?
>>2726155Maybe he means squirrel, thinking of it? I'm not a UKanon, so I have no clue what they'd categorize as "small game". But grey squirrels are fucking tasty. And they're invasive over there so they're open year round AFAIK. I am jealous. Free tree chicken whenever you want. Marinade that shit in the fridge and pan fry.
>>2726155Or maybe he means game that went bad or game with disease/infected injuries that would make it unfit for consumption. Idunno, there's a lot of room for such a thing to exist. I had a squirrel with squirrel pox and I couldn't find enough info to make me comfortable eating it so he got turned into a wet preserve in a jar as an example of what pox in a squirrel looks like for anyone who asks me. I got as close as "(state) says it's okay to eat pox squirrels!" but not enough info for sure saying "there's no fucking way this shit could affect humans ever and humans can't carry it by eating this squirrel infecting them by total accident" for me to feel comfortable enough. There's no cure for pox in squirrels AFAIK; the best they can do is give it a couple treatments and keep it at a sanctuary and hope it clears, which it may never clear and only get worse until the squirrel ceases being able to breathe IIRC. I have a strong feeling that no one's going to do that here for an adult squirrel at least halfway through it s life and since it's state land, it'd need state game commission permission as well as an attempt to capture that specific squirrel. And I didn't notice it until I had already shot it so...unfit for consumption that I couldn't have foreseen. I made use of it how I could in a way I needed as I haven't preserved a squirrel like that in years.
>>2726157>>2726160Yeah sounds like it. Eating small game is frowned upon now, depending on where you live (a "redneck" thing to do) but for no real reason other than cultural hogus bogus. Early Americans (native and European) ate badger all around.Bite the bullet and grill a squirrel or stick it in a stew, OP. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
>>2726162Hadn't considered that, even though my local wild rabbit population has encephalitozoonsis up the ass. Should only pose a risk if your immune system is compromised, but enough to dissuade me from eating them. The pelts are also fairly thin, hard to put the fur to any use other than decorative.Not sure if I'd want to taxidermy a disease-ridden rabbit (or other diseased animal for that matter) and keep it around, but I guess it would be one of the few remaining uses and fine to practice on.
Don't eat opossum, skunk, or raccoon. They are lousy with parasites and disease.
