Krysten Newby, Author at

Taxidermy Red Fox Soft Mount Commission Complete!

Taxidermy Red Fox Soft Mount

I’ve recently completed this lovely chap! A commission from a friend that found this poor boy by the side of the road. He had quite a lot of damage to one side of his face so I had to do some repairs using some scrap bits of fur I had.

A lot of work went in to him and it’s quite a labour intensive project, but I’m happy with how he turned out! I hope his new owner loves him just as much.

A ‘Soft Mount’ is a process where the head of the animal is traditionally mounted, but instead of mounting the skin to a crafted form, the skin is treated, tanned and broken so it’s flexible, armature is made and teddybear like material is used to fill the skin, making the fox flexible, posable and cuddly!

Soft Mount commissions are available upon request (Subject to stock availability) please get in touch if you’re interested.

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Thanks!

– Krysten

Taxidermy Water Shrew Project

I recently got commissioned by a The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire to process a little Eurasian Water Shrew (Neomys fodiens) that they found deceased.

Iain Webb from the wildlife trust thought it would be a great idea to have the specimen mounted up for educational purposes, to note the features that distinguish it from the other species of shrew, which include the line of hairs under the tail forming a keel, the fringe of hairs around its feet to help with swimming, and the whiskers on its snout, the vibrissae, to help it search for food.

Although the water shrew is fairly larger compared to their common cousins, it was still a very small little animal, the smallest animal that I have worked with so far. It was extremely fiddly and a challenge to complete, especially installing his 1mm eyes, but I am happy with the final outcome!

I placed the Water Shrew on a habitat base that I prepared earlier, made from carved foam airbrushed to replicate a rock and clear resin to imitate the water.

I just need to paint a few areas then he will be done! Better photos to follow soon.

Thank you for reading!

– Krysten