Taxidermy

[greatwhitenorf]

Up at our cottage on a lake north of Toronto, we've got an 8-foot long sailfish mounted on a wall over the living room. Huge blue, airbrushed beast, with a jagged, glossy blue sail fin and long, pointed spear out front. My wife's parents caught it in Acapulco, Mexico. We have a black and white picture of them standing next to the hooked beast, blood running onto the dock after the excursion. Apparently, my mother-in-law was the one who hooked the beast. My father-in-law helped reel it in. Or at least claimed he did.

They left a swack of cash with a local taxidermist and waited months not knowing what had happened. Thinking the worst had happened and nothing was coming, they were shocked to see a delivery van roll up unannounced one day with a long box containing the packed, preserved fish. Been a family heirloom ever since and we're proud to display it at our place. Newcomers are told we caught it in the lake.

When we were transporting it on a five hour drive to our cottage, we were in a station wagon on a highway with the fish sitting supported between the front seats and over the back ones. Suddenly, we had to jam on the brakes. The fish slid forward and it's great spear embedded itself at least 12 inches into the car dashboard. We left it there. Wasn't moving the rest of the journey.

 

[Bullet]

Shame to kill such a magnificent beast. I thought the pay off to your story was going to be "we slammed on the breaks and the fish speared right through my mother-in-law, served her right"

 

[milo]

Have you ever speared something against a car dashboard, @Danishfurniturelover?

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Have you ever speared something against a car dashboard, @Danishfurniturelover?

Think I posted a video a few years ago in the vice den.

 

[Moby]

Think I posted a video a few years ago in the vice den.

I’d forgotten about the vice den!

Wow, its almost like I must have found other sources of smut on the Internet. Somehow.

 

[awesome dawson]

The leopard, one of Africa's famous 'big five'. A majestic creature, rarely seen by tourists;

 

[Kenyan Spur]

Up at our cottage on a lake north of Toronto, we've got an 8-foot long sailfish mounted on a wall over the living room. Huge blue, airbrushed beast, with a jagged, glossy blue sail fin and long, pointed spear out front. My wife's parents caught it in Acapulco, Mexico. We have a black and white picture of them standing next to the hooked beast, blood running onto the dock after the excursion. Apparently, my mother-in-law was the one who hooked the beast. My father-in-law helped reel it in. Or at least claimed he did.

They left a swack of cash with a local taxidermist and waited months not knowing what had happened. Thinking the worst had happened and nothing was coming, they were shocked to see a delivery van roll up unannounced one day with a long box containing the packed, preserved fish. Been a family heirloom ever since and we're proud to display it at our place. Newcomers are told we caught it in the lake.

When we were transporting it on a five hour drive to our cottage, we were in a station wagon on a highway with the fish sitting supported between the front seats and over the back ones. Suddenly, we had to jam on the brakes. The fish slid forward and it's great spear embedded itself at least 12 inches into the car dashboard. We left it there. Wasn't moving the rest of the journey.

Hi, Greatwhite - hopefully no reference to the shark !!!
Sorry, sir. You can't "taxidermy" a fish, like you would an animal. Unlike animals/birds, where the skin together with fur/feathers is taken off, flesh removed, skin treated and then put back together with a stuffing, usually sawdust.
The fish skin is too soft to do that. Plus unlike an animal, the fish skin loses colour once it dries out.
I have been deep sea fishing in the Indian Ocean for years. Sometimes when I was on holidays here and latter when I retired and decided this was the best place to be.
If you need to " taxidermy " the fish, you have caught and display it for all your friends and yourself to admire for years, you need to do the following:

- Take it as soon as possible to a fish " taxidermist "
- He will make a mold of the fish, usually using plaster of paris.
- This mold is the used to make a cast of the fish in fiberglass.
- Then the exact fiberglass fish is painted ( air brushed to detail ) using a photo you took or from another photo.
Sometimes, the original bill is incorporated into the fiberglass cast.

Way back, on one of our holidays in Kenya, I think in 1975, I caught my first bill-fish. It was a 5 ft. sailfish. That is considered to be a small one in Kenya.
However, I was over the moon and had a cast made. It traveled with me on postings in the US, Europe, Middle East and the Far East. It is now back in our beach house in Kenya.
A few years later, the wife caught a big Yellow Fin Tuna. She insisted on having it done the same as my sailfish..
This also traveled with us all over thee world and and is back in Kenya.
After that, we caught many much bigger sailfish plus Blue, Black & Stripped Marlins.
We had then joined the " catch & release " crowd. Just take a photo and release the fish. Unless, off course it was a good fish to eat.

 

[Kenyan Spur]

The leopard, one of Africa's famous 'big five'. A majestic creature, rarely seen by tourists;

Hi Awesome Dawson,
That leopard is VERY badly done. A very amateur job.
The legs are ALL wrong.
We still have quite a few around, and you can see them if you know where to look.
They are normally nocturnal, so it is not common to see these beauties during the day.
Unfortunately, they are on the endangered list together with rhino and elephant to some extent.
Our human race will finish them in the next 30 years. GREED and misinformed believes.
Very sad.

 

[awesome dawson]

Hi Awesome Dawson,
That leopard is VERY badly done. A very amateur job.
The legs are ALL wrong.
We still have quite a few around, and you can see them if you know where to look.
They are normally nocturnal, so it is not common to see these beauties during the day.
Unfortunately, they are on the endangered list together with rhino and elephant to some extent.
Our human race will finish them in the next 30 years. GREED and misinformed believes.
Very sad.

Thanks for your response post Kenyan Spur. I agree regarding the sad news that Mr Leopard is critically endangered. Poaching and hunting seem so unnecessary given the huge impact they are having on wildlife. I think the person who made the taxidermy leopard was perhaps in a rush. Otherwise how could one explain such poor workmanship? Let's hope with gods will that mother nature protects these wonderful animals so future generations can enjoy viewing them.

 

[greatwhitenorf]

Hi, Greatwhite - hopefully no reference to the shark !!!
Sorry, sir. You can't "taxidermy" a fish, like you would an animal. Unlike animals/birds, where the skin together with fur/feathers is taken off, flesh removed, skin treated and then put back together with a stuffing, usually sawdust.
The fish skin is too soft to do that. Plus unlike an animal, the fish skin loses colour once it dries out.
I have been deep sea fishing in the Indian Ocean for years. Sometimes when I was on holidays here and latter when I retired and decided this was the best place to be.
If you need to " taxidermy " the fish, you have caught and display it for all your friends and yourself to admire for years, you need to do the following:

- Take it as soon as possible to a fish " taxidermist "
- He will make a mold of the fish, usually using plaster of paris.
- This mold is the used to make a cast of the fish in fiberglass.
- Then the exact fiberglass fish is painted ( air brushed to detail ) using a photo you took or from another photo.
Sometimes, the original bill is incorporated into the fiberglass cast.

Way back, on one of our holidays in Kenya, I think in 1975, I caught my first bill-fish. It was a 5 ft. sailfish. That is considered to be a small one in Kenya.
However, I was over the moon and had a cast made. It traveled with me on postings in the US, Europe, Middle East and the Far East. It is now back in our beach house in Kenya.
A few years later, the wife caught a big Yellow Fin Tuna. She insisted on having it done the same as my sailfish..
This also traveled with us all over thee world and and is back in Kenya.
After that, we caught many much bigger sailfish plus Blue, Black & Stripped Marlins.
We had then joined the " catch & release " crowd. Just take a photo and release the fish. Unless, off course it was a good fish to eat.

You're quite right about our big sail fish being a replica. Cast from plaster and, as you said, accurately airbrushed to present the colours and markings. Had to be shipped from the west coast of central Mexico to the Gatineau highlands of western Quebec in Canada. But no question that they accurately depicted the length and breadth of the fish my in-laws caught.

On the other hand, my father was a keen fisherman in the warm, reedy lakes of south central Ontario and the big targets there were northern pike and muskellunge, which can easily grow to three feet in length. Mouths like barracuda. Great fighters once hooked.

Twice, my dad caught beauties he had to display in our basement bar area. Both fish had the original skin, head and teeth. Whatever was inside, I have no idea, but the outside clearly showed the scales under the clear lacquer finish. Once ashore, the fish were packed in a cooler filled with ice and there was a place nearby that handled the taxidermy chores. I remember hearing that the taxidermist used formaldehyde as a preservative, but no clue about the process to get it mounted.