The word Taxidermy comes from the two Greek words taxi- meaning
preparation, arrangement, and -derma meaning skin. Taxidermy refers to the preparation of skins to mount on a manikin to create lifelike mounts.
Life appearance is my first objective, here at whitetailsunlimited.
As soon as you bring your trophy to me, I’ll skin it carefully to keep the fur as clean as possible. Then, the skin will be salted to remove all body fluids and to temporarily preserve the skin. I will then carefully flesh and shave the skin. The skin will then be placed in a pickle, which is a bath composed of water, salt, and an acid. It will then be neutralized in a solution of water and sodium bicarbonate to destroy the effect of the acid. Finally, I will tan your skin to obtain a leather, which will last a lifetime.
The preparation of the manikin is another important step.
I start with the best manikins available in the market. I have to do some altering to the manikins because each animal has a different size and I want to provide you with the best mount. I don’t want to stretch the skin for it to fit to the manikin; I want the manikin to fit the skin. This helps retain the initial size of the animal when it was alive.
The fit of the skin to the manikin is what makes the difference between a good mount and a mount that will distract the eye.