Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit Part 18

A shorter method to obtain molds of the upper part of the head and face for making paper half-head forms, is to imbed in sand or clay as directed and stick a piece of stout thread or cord along the central lines of the head and face. A little clay will hold this in place and there should be a few inches surplus at each end. Mix the plaster and cover the entire top and sides of the head with it. Just as the plaster begins to harden draw the thread upward through the stiffening plaster cutting it in two parts which are easily removed when hard. When dry coat with sh.e.l.lac, tie together and they are ready for use.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAKING MOULD FOR HALF HEAD.]

To cast half head forms soak some paper and after coating one side with paste, press into the mold with the fingers. The first layer should be quite soft so as to crowd into all depressions. About six layers of building paper is thick enough for a fox head size. When dry cut the cords and detach the mold.

Molds for deer head forms are made in two pieces, one for each side of the head, and are necessarily not carried completely around the antlers.

This gap is just filled in the head form by the plate of bone bearing the antlers, which is sawed from the skull.

The entire neck may be molded in connection with the head if desired.

Gelatine and compositions of glue and wax are used for molds where fine definition is desirable, and wax as well as plaster and paper for making casts. The ground up paper pulp is used for many casts, pressing it into mold with fingers and spatulas.

Clay is the stand-by of the taxidermist modeller. That furnished by art dealers is best, but for common use potter's clay is all that is necessary. A little glue mixed in plaster delays its setting and makes it harder when dry. Good papier mache is one of the best materials for much modelling and wax for very fine work. Tools for this work may be purchased or home made of wood, bone or metal.

Many forms of fishes and reptiles are difficult or impossible to mount by ordinary methods. On these the caster and modeller may work his will, and if he also possesses a good eye for color the results may be of the best. As an indisputable record of anatomy even a poor cast is valuable.

CHAPTER XXIX.

MARKET TROPHY HUNTING.

In this country and day of conservation this would seem like a delicate subject to attack. The hunter for the trophy market a few years back was slaying elk, mountain sheep, moose, deer, or antelope indiscriminately.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DEER FOOT INK WELL AND PEN RACK.]

While modern game laws have changed or at least modified this I can see no reason why a hunter who is ent.i.tled to a certain head of game per season should not utilize them fully by preparation and sale to others who have not similar opportunities.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOUNTAIN LION OR PUMA HIDE.]

What would often be left in the woods as useless, as indeed it would be for food purposes, is transformed into a beautiful and decorative article of considerable commercial value. Often things being equal the trophy hunter will avoid killing young and female game animals on account of the worthlessness of their heads as trophy if not for any ethical reason.

While the day of trophy hunting as a business in the United States is past probably, by preserving such heads, horns, feet and skins as come in his way the trapper, prospector and settler can often add considerably to his income. For instance, from one to five deer may be legally killed in different states. If two good heads are taken, worth say $15.00 and $20.00 each when prepared, that sum would go far towards paying the expenses of an enjoyable outing.

The fur trapper will frequently take some animal the skin of which may for many reasons be of little value. The puma or mountain lion is such a one, worth but $2.00 or $3.00 usually, the mounted head is a striking wall ornament and the skin is suitable for couch or floor.

Though fur dealers will make some deduction from the regular prices on skins from which the heads are removed, it is vastly more profitable to retain them and preserve as trophies.

Horns and antlers and head skins or scalps of all our large game have a certain value either separately or together. Mounted heads, damaged by moth create a demand for extra scalps and separate antlers are often called for. Extra large heads or antlers of freakish formation seem to possess a special fascination for the public.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPRING LAMB? c.o.o.n HEAD.]

Commercial fishermen handling fish in large numbers would do well to preserve at least a few of the more notable specimens of their catch.

In some localities there is every summer an opportunity to supply "rusticators" with rattlesnake skins which may be prepared for wall decorations or use as belts, hat bands, card-cases, and neck ties. They should be packed in salt until tanned as drying out while in the raw state is apt to spoil them. On account of the snake's habit of shedding its skin at varying intervals, dressing snake skins is rather of the nature of a lottery. The dressed skins should be made up with a backing of some other leather as it is apt to possess but little strength of itself.

In localities where the tarpon, tuna, muscallonge, and other large fish are caught it is well to keep some good specimens on hand as such are often in demand to substantiate a fish story.

In a word, gather and preserve some of the best objects of animated nature your locality affords, whether fur, fin or feather.

CHAPTER x.x.x.

COLLECTING AND MOUNTING FOR SALE.

Commercial taxidermy is roughly divided in two branches, custom work, and collecting and mounting for sale. For the first you need some fixed place of business easy of access to the public and convenient to lines of transportation. The latter may be taken up anywhere if a demand has been noted and a market a.s.sured or in prospect.

Travelers in little known parts of the country often pay their expenses or even gain considerable profit by collecting desirable specimens of animal life. As a side line on pleasure trips it is sometimes remunerative. Woodsmen and fishermen will often find it to pay better to preserve for mounting part of their game at least.

The sales end of the proposition is the most difficult for the outdoor man. Such work has not the fixed (?) value of furs and meat. There are a number of dealers in naturalists' material who aim to keep on hand a pretty complete stock of specimens for museum purposes. Correspondence with these will procure their want lists.

Many more deal in unmounted trophies of heads, horns and rug skins.

Occasionally an order for small and common species may be secured from some school or college. Such inst.i.tutions will often place an order for desirable material with a prospective traveler.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOKCASE ORNAMENTS--CROW; ALLIGATOR (Fisherman from the Everglades); OWL.]

Finally it is well to mount a good specimen or two of almost any variety on general principles. It is astonishing how difficult it is to procure some very common species on the spur of the moment. If you acc.u.mulate a number of nicely done and attractive specimens it is possible to secure their sale on commission.

As such things are apt to draw attention as a window or wall display some druggist, sporting goods dealer or other business man may be glad to aid in their disposal. In or near a game country the local hotels will help advertise you by giving wall s.p.a.ce in dining room or office to suitable pieces accompanied by a business card. Donations to libraries, schools and other public and semi-public inst.i.tutions will keep you more or less in the public mind.

Endeavor to fill any orders you receive even if obliged to purchase at such rates that no profit remains.

Do not diminish the animal life of your locality by collecting everything you can lay your hands on. It would be time misspent and mostly unrewarded.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

PRICES FOR WORK.

To those who hope to coin spare hours into dollars and cents, or others who must make a hobby pay its own expenses at least, an important question is, what is my work worth?

And one will concede that a taxidermist should receive at least as much as a skilled mechanic and the experts both in commercial and museum work are sometimes (not always) highly paid.

What seems the fairest method of compensation is by "piece work" and most custom taxidermy is handled on that basis. Most professionals have a regular scale of prices which, while necessarily more or less elastic, will give the public an estimate of cost.

The schedule which I give is, I think, about that in use in the Eastern States. The outside prices are for extra large specimens or those mishandled or injured so as to require an extra expenditure of time to give satisfaction.