Work & life update!

I’ve recently been going through a bit of a tough time, so have unfortunately had to take a little bit of time out from my work, hence the radio silence, sorry guys.

(Not to mention, I now have a little puppy, Ruby, who is taking up most of my time at the minute, but she’s cute so I’ll let her off!)

The last project I was able to work on, was this beautiful melanistic pheasant.

The customer wanted him in a ‘strutting’ pose. Extra wire enforcement is needed to maintain this posture, which are hidden within the legs (visible wires will not be included in the final piece, they are just back up whilst he dries).

I really love working with birds in motion, I think it gives them so much more movement and life within a piece.

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Leucisitic Hen Pheasant Commission

Here’s another project I am working on at the moment, a leucistic hen pheasant.

White birds are always a challenge – a) Because white feathers are very delicate, due to the lack of melanin and b) generally a little bit more work is involved with removing blood stains from them!

This pheasant was particularly problematic due to having smashed bones everywhere, including the skull! So a lot of repair work had to be done.

Having said that, I’m pleased with how she has turned out!

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Taxidermy Green Woodpecker Commission

Here’s the latest commission all finished up – a lovely little Juvenile Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) who sadly came in to my hands after flying in to a window.

I can tell that this one is a male, because he has signs of a red area within his black ‘moustache’, whereas females’ are solid black.

This is the first woodpecker I have worked with. I’ve been wanting to work with one for ages because they have some pretty cool anatomical features!

Also, I think from now on, I’m going to tell you a little fact about each specimen I work with, so here I go (this one will blow your mind):

Woodpecker’s skulls have a groove in between the eyes on the right hand side to allow for storage of their super long tongue.

I wanted to get some good photos to show you guys, but unfortunately this one’s skull was fractured really badly in to lots of pieces, so it made it a bit difficult! (I have a few more woodpeckers to do in the near future though, so I will show you in detail then, it’s SUPER fascinating!)

Along with a fractured skull, this young woodpecker also had some blow fly eggs embedded in certain areas – a taxidermists’s worst nightmare! So unforuately he is a little scruffy in some areas, but Juveniles are generally a little scruffy anyways – I think it gives him character.

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Needle Felted Faux Taxidermy Chick

I’ve recently continued my needle felting adventure in making some super adorable wader chicks!

Check out the first one, a little ringed plover chick. He took little over 3 hours to complete, I’m so pleased with how he turned out, I can’t wait to make more!

I already have ideas in the pipeline on how I can introduce these ‘faux taxidermy’ pieces in to real taxidermy projects! A tawny owl with an owlet, perhaps?

I’m having a lot of fun finding out what baby birds have the most ‘cute’ factor – most seem to be waders so far (I LOVE their clumsy long legs)

If you have any ‘cute chick’ suggestions, please feel free to let me know! – [email protected] or tweet me at @taxidermyco 🙂

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Taxidermy Muntjac Shoulder Mount

This was my first ever shoulder mount commission! A lovely Muntjac Buck.

He was a challenge to work with because the cape of the deer was cut just before the shoulder, so it didn’t fit around the form properly, leaving some areas exposed.

It’s my job to find solutions to problems and to make thins work. After a lot of searching for the ‘right’ branch, I made it an attachment to the piece to disguise these bare areas where the skin was too short.

As this is a Breckland buck, I thought it would also be a nice touch to include some bracken leaves.

Despite the difficulties this specimen presented, I am actually pleased with the end result!

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Short Break

I’ll be on a little break from 04-12 March to recharge my batteries!

I’m going to a national park in Spain to see some wild Griffon Vultures and other amazing birds, I’m super excited about it!

All enquiries/orders placed will be responded to and processed as soon as I am back home in the UK.

Thank you for your patience,

– Krysten

Taxidermy Muntjac Buck

Here’s something I am have been working on lately – my first Muntjac buck.

I’ve really enjoyed working on this project actually – before now I’ve put off doing antlered deer because I was dubious about sawing off the skull cap, but it wasn’t half as hard as I expected it to be!

After sawing off the skull cap (the part of the skull the antlers are attached to), I then boiled, salted and peroxided it before fixing it to the form.

This muntjac arrived to me already partially skinned/caped, but unfortunately it was cut slightly too short before the shoulder which means there was not enough skin to fit all around the form.

I have to find some way of concealing the bare patches. I propose to add in some branch and fern foliage to cover these areas.

I’ll post pictures once he’s all done! You can check out latest progress on my instagram: @Taxidermyco

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Taxidermy Peacock – Second Edition!

I have recently began work on another gorgeous taxidermy Peacock!

It is unclear exactly what happened to this poor fella, but his owner said that he went over to the nearby farm with his mate, then she found him by the side of the road and said he died of shock. (He either got clipped by a car, or flew in to a phone wire)

He was just finishing his moult, so he had a tonne of pin feathers (an immature feather, before the veins have expanded and while the shaft is full of fluid) which makes it even more of a challenge as they fall out left, right and centre!

But considering how many feathers he lost, I am very happy with how he is turning out so far! (Please excuse state of workshop! Having a movearound and it appears I have used every single tool available whilst working on this fella!)

FUN FACT! –
Did you know, male peafowl (peacock) shed their long train every year after the mating season?

This is why this guy didn’t have a his new train. However, I am going to attempt to give him ‘Hair Extensions’  by reconstructing him a long train with single, long peacock feathers, naturally shed from another peacock. I’ll be sure to post the process once I make a start!

He will be for sale once complete.

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I actually started this juvenile Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) a couple of months ago but he’s taken a while to complete!

This was the first badger specimen I have worked with, so I wasn’t sure what to expect! I was nervous of the various scent glands they have, but honestly, foxes smell much worse. The skin was also super thick and hard to process and his tummy reminded me of pig skin almost.

It was donated to me by a local wildlife officer who found him by the side of the road after being hit by a car.

Originally, the plan was to model him in an on all fours pose, but during the skinning process I noticed a large patch of fur that was missing just above his tail on his back that was heavily ‘grazed’ presumably from the traffic accident.

Unfortunately due to this, he did loose a fair bit of fur so I had to remove that area and sew back up which did disguise this patch somewhat, but this wasn’t his ‘best side’. I took the decision to pose him in this sitting upright position, which disguises the defects and now shows off his best features.

I absolutely hate it when things don’t go to plan, especially with commissions, but in scenarios like these, I have to decide what is best to do justice to the animal. It’s much better to work with what I’ve got than to dispose of the skin all together.

His skull is being processed by a fellow taxidermist friend who has dermestid beetles. She discovered that this young badger’s atlas bone was completely fused to his cranium so I am sure the poor thing wouldn’t have been able to have full flexibility of his head and may have even been in pain!

All in all, despite the challenges that came with this specimen, it’s been a great experience and a treat to see a Badger up close and personal as I’ve never seen one so close before!

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With the big day hurtling towards us, there’s some important information you need to know!

For guaranteed delivery before Christmas, please place any orders before the 18th December 2017!

Orders may still be fulfilled until 5pm on the 20th December at the very latest, but it’s best to get your orders in early for that guarantee.

The last day items will be sent out before Christmas and the New Year is the 23rd December 2017.

Orders will then resume to normal on the 2nd January 2018

Taxidermy Barn Owl Commission

Sorry for lack of blog posts recently – following on from the last, my health has been playing up recently so I haven’t been able to get much done.

But here’s a few pictures of a lovely taxidermy Barn Owl I recently completed for a customer. This was my first ringed specimen I have worked with and found out it was ringed as a nestling in 2011 which was interesting!

She wanted it displayed in flight to accompany an existing tawny owl she had. She found the owl deceased in woodland, freshly dead, poor little thing.

I wanted to make the piece a little bit more dynamic by making it look as if the owl was just about to land on a branch. I did this by suspending the owl by one foot, having the other one ‘mid air’ about to clasp on to the branch.

At the same time, I did a bit of refurb work on the existing tawny owl she had (not mounted by me) de-dusting him and making him sparkle again.

I think the pair look impressive together!

I’m currently working on a full mount badger, so look out for that one in a blog post in the very near future, or see everything sooner as it happens on my Instagram page: @TaxidermyCo

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