Taxidermy - What is it ? and How To?

[snIPer]

I havent seen any detailed topic on this so am putting this up.
Ive collected a few links from the web to try and make this a one stop shop for Taxidermy for Beginners

Taxidermy (Greek for "skin arrangement") is the art of mounting or reproducing animals for display (e.g. as hunting trophies) or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all species of animals including humans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxidermy

How to Perform Taxidermy on Animals - http://www.wikihow.com/Perform-Taxidermy-on-Animals
Taxidermy Skinning - http://www.learn-taxidermy.com/skinning_taxidermy.htm
A SLIDE SHOW on how to stuff a bird - http://www.taxidermy.co.uk/birds/galler ... /intro.htm

Since we cant try the above (except on crows and rats) I am searching for some links on FISH taxidermy. if anyone of you come across any please do post em up here.
/S/

[Zenbon]

Interesting read Sniper.. thanks for sharing.

[TenX]

The last visit to Mysore, almost got me in touch with one of the greatest Taxidermists in India - A British guy from the Raj era, who has worked for Kings and Generals
... I forgot his name though
... since I am making a trip soon, let me see if I can get to meet this guy once

[Pran]

... since I am making a trip soon, let me see if I can get to meet this guy once

You can carry Sniper's dead rat with you.

Sniper, you shot the rat or your cat killed it?

[Pran]

Susheel,
I tried my hand at preserving my dead piranhas a long time ago. Here's an interesting article on preserving fish.
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/piranha038 ... mummi.html

I had followed more or less the same steps. Unfortunately for me, a stray cat found the embalmed fish when I'd kept them by the window sil to dry

Pran

[snIPer]

hahah, well Pran man both ways- the one i shot was so dirty that i just disposed off and the ones my cat caught were already partly eaten. so im waiting for them to get a squrril or so now so that i can work on that and i think it is legally allowed to tan that which is already dead

[Mack The Knife]

Anand, the person you are refering to is Joubert Van Ingen.

His brother, De Wet Van Ingen still holds the world record for the largest mahseer caught on rod and line at 120 lbs. in 1946 on the Kabini.

Joubert is also a WASI member and must be close to 95 years old now and was a frequent visitor to Forbes until a year or so back.

The family is basically Boer that shifted from South Africa to Ceylon and then to Mysore.

[snIPer]

Pran that link you gave seems to be pretty good. I shall experiment after my next fishing trip
Also i feel that we can substitute acrylic sealer with Furniture polish.

[shahid]

The last visit to Mysore, almost got me in touch with one of the greatest Taxidermists in India - A British guy from the Raj era, who has worked for Kings and Generals
... I forgot his name though
... since I am making a trip soon, let me see if I can get to meet this guy once

You mean someone from Van Ingham & Co. of Mysore is still there ? THey were world class and the best taxidermists for Tigers, Bison and other Indian game.

[Vikram]

Unfortunately for me, a stray cat found the embalmed fish when I'd kept them by the window sil to dry

Pran

So, do you have a trophy cat now?

Best-
Vikram

[Mack The Knife]

You mean someone from Van Ingham & Co. of Mysore is still there ? THey were world class and the best taxidermists for Tigers, Bison and other Indian game.

Joubert van Ingen is still around but he may have sold the ancestral property in Mysore some months ago.

I don't know how far this is true but Joubert is supposed to have been captured by the Nips during WW2 and was part of the POW work force that worked on the 'Bridge Over The River Kwai'.

[TenX]

Anand, the person you are refering to is Joubert Van Ingen.

His brother, De Wet Van Ingen still holds the world record for the largest mahseer caught on rod and line at 120 lbs. in 1946 on the Kabini.

Joubert is also a WASI member and must be close to 95 years old now and was a frequent visitor to Forbes until a year or so back.

The family is basically Boer that shifted from South Africa to Ceylon and then to Mysore.

... Guess you hit the nail on the head. I am leaving for Mysore tomorrow, and will pick up more info

[Pran]

So, do you have a trophy cat now?

Hello Vickers! Hope the baking soda gave him a bad stomach

[Sakobav]

Mack The Knife


The Mahaseer record is also mentioned in this BBC clip

http://bbcworld.mh.bbc.co.uk/Pages/Prog ... aspx?id=53


BBC World's travel programme which has been designed to appeal to viewers who travel frequently for both business and leisure.

Charles Rangeley-Wilson’s love of angling takes him around the world – from India to Bhutan to Brazil, and back to London.

Week 19: India
In the first of his journeys Charles Rangeley-Wilson is in Bangalore. In search of the legendary and mighty mahseer, the strongest freshwater fish in the world, he follows in the footsteps of colonial anglers and travels to Mysore, in India, to fish the Cauvery River.

Charles sets up jungle camp in a tree house with his trusty guide, Saad – an ex-Indian cricketer, turned gamekeeper. Offering plenty of top tips, Saad relishes watching Charles struggle to catch "the tiger of the river" in baking 100-degree heat. As the fish are not biting for days, Charles visits a nearby Hindu temple for a blessing. But he also has a cunning plan as he knows that the mahseer swim tantalisingly close in a pool alongside the temple, safe in the knowledge that they are in protected waters.

Also during his adventure, Charles visits Joubert Van Ingen, the brother of De Wet Van Ingen who caught the record 120lb mahseer in 1946. The family ran a taxidermy business in Mysore in the heyday of the Raj and Charles chats to the sprightly 93-year old Joubert, surrounded by stuffed creatures of every shape and size.

Week 20: Bhutan
From a famous Scottish loch to a Himalayan kingdom where time has stood still, fisherman Charles Rangeley-Wilson follows a special fish halfway across the planet. The rivers of Bhutan are stocked full of brown trout – a fish whose ancestors started their lives in Scotland. The world-famous Loch Leven brown trout were transported by the Victorians all over the world so that they could indulge their passion for fly fishing.

Charles's fishing permit, granted by the king in Himalaya, allows him just a week. Travelling through a landscape punctuated by prayer flags, steep, terraced hillsides and golden temples, Charles heads east – fishing the beautiful spring-fed stream of the Gangtey Valley and moving on to the torrential Tang River.

Towards the end of his trip, Charles learns of a glacial lake high up in the Himalayas that contains trout hauled up there in pots by prisoners. Unable to pass the opportunity of fishing for the highest trout in the world, Charles heads up the mountain.

Best

[snIPer]

Here is a good link with a few "Desi" ways of tanning skin.
http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... hp?t=29101