Taxidermy

Taxidermy (Greek for the arrangement of the skin) is the art of mounting or reproducing animals for display or study. This is a practice generally done with vertebrates, but occasionally with other less developed species.

Especially over the last century, the methods that taxidermists practice have been improved, heightening the quality of the practice.

Taxidermists may practice professionally, as museum personnel, or merely as amateurs, such as hobbyists, hunters and fishers. To practice taxidermy, one must be extremely familiar with anatomy, dissection techniques, sculpture and painting, as well as tanning.

One problem with taxidermy is the level of constant practice that all taxidermists must endure, so that the specimen does look life-like, and not like a tacky joke.

One of the most common techniques for modern taxidermists begins by freezing the animal's carcass in a large freezer, often a butcher's. The taxidermist then removes the skin, to be tanned and treated for later. The remaining muscle fibers and bones are then submerged in plaster of Paris, to create a cast of the animal. With this cast, a fiber-glass sculpture is created, of which the fur or skin can be reattached to. Glass eyes are then usually added to the display, and possibly also false teeth, depending on the subject's original dental condition.