A well-done taxidermy mount can be a useful teaching exhibit as well as a nice piece of art. As a kid, I got my first exposure to large wildlife by viewing taxidermied animals in a natural history museum. On the other hand, bad taxidermy mounts are just … sad.
One problem with taxidermy exhibits is you have to be careful about displaying them. The skins can deteriorate from changes in temperature and humidity (and from dermestid infestations). If the mount is left out where it gets too much UV from sunlight or indoor lighting, the colors are subject to fading (called foxing). I’ve seen a couple of valuable mammal taxidermy mounts fade over the years to the point where a dark-furred animal now looks like it’s leucistic.
That reminds me of when I worked at a local nature center long ago. We had a stuffed raccoon and groundhog that sat at either end of the reception desk. During holidays we would often dress them appropriately. More than one visitor jumped when they realized belatedly realized ‘Santa’ was a raccoon.
I will add, though, that in contrast to what I wrote earlier about museum dioramas, I do not enjoy taxidermy displayed in private homes. Context matters.
I don’t remember which one, but there was a taxidermied bear identified as human that I came across too and it’s arguable whether such an observation should have been identified as a bear or not.
Maybe they are worried about taxidermy in living places? I mean, it would be gross to have taxidermy in a bathroom, lol.
These are what is called rouge taxidermy, well done I think but definetely not to everyone’s taste. They are a bit strange, unfortunately these are among the tamest weird taxidermy I have seen.
I can’t speak for @cyanfox but I have read of efforts to release genetically modified cane toads that are less lethal and/or infertile. It is more or less the same idea that hasn’t worked for feral cats.
Taxidermy fascinates me. It used to make me sad when I was a kid, but as I’ve gotten older (and studied biology), I now enjoy a well done mount. I have a skunk skin at home, but no taxidermy yet. I do collect bones though and am working on skeleton articulation. And I make wet specimens. Which I’ve been told is weird, but never by my biology friends only non biology people. I think it is good for education, especially with kids when they can get a closer look at something they might not get really good looks at wild living specimens who run off and hide.
I grew up in a place where taxidermied animals and furs were a very regular form of art/attraction in people’s homes, restaurants, airports, etc. Now my own home has a Dall sheep head mount that my grandfather shot in the (?) 1960/70s, and a few skulls, antlers, etc that I’ve picked up over the years. And my workplace has taxidermied waterfowl, etc, and I was trained at one point to prepare mammal specimens for museum collections too. So most all taxidermy is normal and good from my POV. My lines are, as has already been mentioned, the garish taxidermy done for tourists, and predators hunted for sport. I know it’s legal and has its benefits, it’s just not something I particularly enjoy looking at. Good topic.
Yay! a fellow bone collector! What are you articulating? And wet specimens are so cool. I want one in my collection someday. And yeah, people will say its weird, idk why, I just ignore them :/ And yes! kids love bones! I showed some kids I watch sometimes one of my raccoon skulls and they loved it.
Taxidermy forms are usually used.
Catalogs exist for forms in many sizes and poses as well as eyes, jaw sets,ear forms etc.
Freeze drying is also gaining in popularity, especially for deceased pets.
I have a bobcat head/neck that is complete. That was all I could find when I found the bones. I have young javelina and badger that are just about ready to start putting together. In the lineup (still cleaning the bones) are a raccoon, coyote, pronghorn and a couple deer. Since it is mostly roadkill that I find, I have to fully skin and clean the body off the bones myself.
Taxidermy used to fascinate me as a child. There was a small museum section at the library that my gran used to take me to and they had this British wildlife display with stuffed animals. I remember a tiny weasel with a fierce expression that I loved looking at. I hadn’t realised how small they were until I saw that one. Even now when we have an internet full of HD videos of animals to look at I still find that taxidermy gives me a better sense of the animal than seeing it on a screen. I must admit though that as a grown up I prefer the modern ‘natural’ style to the overly fierce stuff that used to be the fashion. I used to go to the preserved house of a Victorian natural history collector and it was stuffed full of bird eggs and trays of rare insects with plenty of taxidermy on the walls. It should have been horrifying but I could spend hours there looking at it all.
I’ve got a stuffed mink in a case on my shelf that reminds me of the weasel I used to love. I bought it locally in bad condition and I’ve been restoring it slowly. It was originally a scene of the animal killing a starling but the plants and the bird were too bad to create a new scene in there. The trend now seems to be to remove the animals from their cases and remount them bare but I expect many will be lost to dust and pests in the end so I’m keeping it behind glass.
Well, some of the replies after yours are showing me some different points of view that I hadn’t thought about. Basically, I was stuck on the idea of taxidermy as “trophy” mounts, as someone boasting “I killed this.” Which isn’t wrong in itself; just not something I relate to or resonate with. Now, the replies by @naturegirlkh and @WildEdges are more relatable to me; the idea of appreciating the fascination of the once-living creature.