DIY Taxidermy (not for the squeamish or delicate)
As some of you will know Derrens extensive taxidermy collection extends from the small and bizzare to the rather large and … well bizzare. The constant request of how to skin a badger can get overwhelming at times but finally someone came to our rescue and now you too can get involved with instructables own guide to creating a Duck Mouse, a Mouse Mouse and the essentual Bird Taxidermy (WARNING:Not for the easily offended, overly squeamish, holier that thou, fuss-bucket.)
If you do attempt any home taxidermy please remeber to take care, not to eat anything thats not really fresh and to send us the photos.
Okay, that duck-mouse project literally had me laughing out loud. Is that bad? *grins*
The option of creating strange beings like that does make taxidermy seem a bit cooler. I’m still more of a fan of specimens in jars, though. Taxidermied animals tend to look a bit fake to me (though that’s not a problem with DuckMouse and other freaky critters, of course).
Well, fuss-bucket, holier than thou I may be, but I didn’t like this topic one little bit, especially the badger segment……………………..which is why I stopped looking!!
I prefer me animals with life behind the eyes thanks.
i really think this taxidermy thing or hobby is a mild form of …dressing up dolls but then for the ´punkrockers at heart´….hahahaa
(runs off )
The only good mouse is a dead mouse… that is also a duck…
but is it a duck mouse – or a mouse duck? These questions are important.
As long as they don’t breed or hunt them for this goal ..
Now I wonder .. does this hobby say something about the ones that like it? Is there a deeper meaning behind this hobby (apart from freaking the hell out of people, get rid of sex. attention .. hehe .. quote Derren)?
Derren seems to be getting into dead people (he doesn’t see them himself yet, but he already goes mingling with those who do claim to see them … is this a sign?
Hm … *striking goatee* .. let me think .. ponder upon this matter for a while …
no, no, noo
oh, great, now ill be pondering the rest of the evening …grr …
I watched this whole video wondering.. why duck feet?? taxidermy is so funny
Am I the only person here who was inspired and wants to have a go? I think I missed my calling. Although I already know who my beloved lizard’s going to, when it’s time. He deserves an expert.
Shit, I love this blog. The only place I’ve ever found where it’s socially acceptable to say the above out loud…
I don’t know, I think it’s kind of bizzare that the moment anyone objects to killing animals for what’s essentially the fun of it, they’re suddenly deemed to be losers.
If the animals died a natural death, that’s fine – I actually find the art of taxidermy very interesting (no, really, I’m not just saying that to appear cool – I have the remains of a bat I found mummified by heat in a barn framed on my wall because it looks beautiful, true story), and if the animal (or human, it doesn’t really matter – they had an exhibition of mounted humans for a while, didn’t they?) died naturally, I’d be the last person to raise a fuss, but it’s just usually not the case.
We (quite rightfully too) get up in arms over fur coats, but if you kill an animal just to mount it, it’s really the same thing, and I can’t understand why anyone would defend either.
Am I easily offended? I don’t really think so, but that doesn’t mean I let everything pass. Am I overly squeamish? Not a chance. I love horror movies and I used to consider a job as a mortician. Am I holier than thou? I checked with my friends, they don’t seem to think so, but then that term gets applied a lot to people who disapprove of something another group of people does, regardless of what it is. Am I a fuss-bucket? I don’t know, it refers to somebody who gets worked up over trivial things, but that by itself suggests that whether or not I am one isn’t up to me, it’s up to the person judging me, and what they consider trivial. If you consider killing animals trivial, I am a fuss-bucket, and I’ll live with it.
Although this whole comment probably does make me appear quite humourless, so I guess you can accuse me of that. I’m not, really – I worship the ground Derren walks on and I have a dark sense and very well-developed sense of humour (ask anyone who knows me), I just can’t laugh about that kind of thing.
Claire: I’d love to preserve my cats in formaldehyde (or alcohol, I suppose) when they die, but my family does not agree. Something about not wanting dead things in the house…
I don’t see it as morbid. Dead things are just that, things, skin and bones and meat. Might as well do something with them that allows you to admire their beauty, instead of just letting the worms eat them. 😉
@Jules – From what I understand, taxidermists tend to use animals already dead. I saw this programme where a taxidermist was always on the lookout for either fresh roadkill or pets that died of natural causes. . There really doesn’t seem to be any reason to kill an animal for it. As long as you get to a recently dead animal before it starts to decompose, you can make art out of it.
@Anna – I agree, my little friend will eventually die and it will be very sad for me, but he is far too beautiful to let him rot in the ground. He deserves to be preserved and admired for many years to come!
this is definitely a mouse-duck, but i love ducks so much that i feel kind of bad for it. i hope it’s dead as well, not waking up somewhere thinking where her legs are.
as for taxidermy, i don’t have anything against it, but it’s kind of creepy to mix dead animals’ parts-_- and say they have nice little boots and walk them:p
@Claire – Good to know, even if that means I just got worked up over what is probably nothing 😛
I actually find taxidermy rather lovely (as long as the animal was already dead and not killed/hunted purposely just to stuff it) and have seen lots of pieces I’d love to own (white peacocks, lions etc) but obviously can’t afford.
Crikey. Didn’t think I was squeamish at all but I couldn’t watch that…
I do love taxidermy though, although I don’t own any. Should probably get a stuffed cat as having a live one isn’t an option at the moment…
If you’re too squeamish for the real thing, try this:
http://www.beastblender.com/
Hours of fun! 🙂
“You could fit an ipod nano in there” haha
what kind of a sick mind do these people have?
x
This is so fucking disgusting and absolutely bizzare. Why on earth would somebody willingly put anything like that on their website?
harlequin: Why is it disgusting? To me, it’s no more disgusting than eating meat, which is something I do. I have carnivores as pets, and when they were younger, they killed mice, too. My mom threw those away. Is the garbage a better place for a dead animal? I don’t know, but it seems a bit of a waste to me. Why not do something interesting with it? You could even feed the meat to a pet, once it’s been skinned. That way, nothing goes to waste.
Then again, I’ve always been weird like that — dead things have never scared me. When I was little, my dad would barbecue whole fish, and I’d ask for the heads and dissect them. Just out of curiosity. I still have to hear the stories about me playing with fish eyes. 😛
I don’t know. To me, something dead isn’t the same as a living being. It’s just a thing. As long as it doesn’t smell weird, it’s not disgusting to me.
I remember when one of my gerbils was dying, he was curled up in my hand looking so incredibly beautiful, and I just wanted him to stay that way forever. Having him made into a piece of taxidermy would have been a nice way to remember him, I think.
As long as the animal isn’t killed purely for the purpose, I don’t have a problem with taxidermy. In fact, I’m surprised nobody has mentioned the Potter museum…
I suppose taxidermy is one of those love it or hate it things… I have a sort of a nostalgic love of it, mostly because the when we were kids we often went to the Natural History Museum in Dublin (known locally as the dead zoo) because it was free (and the real zoo was expensive).
Also, without meaning to sound totally heartless, why not kill animals for this purpose? No worse reason than any other I would think…
For me, it’s because I see it as selfish, and a waste. But then I think that way about killing animals for any reason.
Sticking to the subject of taxidermy, I don’t see why any animal should die purely because a human thinks they would look pretty on their wall. But if the animal were already dead, then I don’t see the harm in it.
Cough…! I think you are on your own with this one! Well apart from Derren Brown and Harry Hill of course!
I like taxidermy … dogs, cats, foxes, birds … and specially squirrels /devil knows why/, but these “funny” taxidermy I never disliked. Everyone has different tastes.
For all lovers of taxidermy: The largest collection taxidermy stuffed dogs in Europe – 51 pieces. BÃtov Castle, Czech Republic.
http://virtualniprohlidky.cz/virtualni-prohlidka/hrad-bitov/foto.php?i=68
http://virtualniprohlidky.cz/virtualni-prohlidka/hrad-bitov/foto.php?i=69
Taking taxidermy to strange lengths is nothing new. The Victorian, Walter Potter did some very odd things. The two headed calf is fine but kittens attending school, squirrels fighting a duel and the frankly disturbing mechanical toad exercise tableau!
Its like Beatrix Potter brought to life – more creepy than you might expect!
http://www.taxidermy4cash.com/potter.html
http://www.acaseofcuriosities.com/pages/01_2_00potter.html
Ok. I will probably change mind a bit – thanks Walter Potter Squirrels’ Club. Very interesting site! Thanks a lot sue.
thinking that duck had very small feet leading me to believe that it was in fact a little duckling 🙁 …sad
found the whole thing quite interesting really, until she twirled the string around while still attatched to the mousey that put me off a little
… might stick to leaving evolution to evolve by itself, don’t think ducks are ready for the competition 😀