Taxidermy: yesterday and today's challenges

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas

Troy Goolsby, owner of Wildlife Creations Taxidermy stands beside his largest mount, a Russian Brown Bear, which he recently completed. -Staff photo by Taylor

December 27, 2001 -- Years ago, taxidermists used 2"x4" pieces of wood and papiermache to form molds to use for mounting animals. The trouble was ... they looked like mounted, dead animals.

Time and progress have allowed modern taxidermists to mount any number of animals and have the end product look like a live animal, ready to run or pounce, said Troy Goolsby, owner of Wildlife Creations Taxidermy in Columbus.

Goolsby's family has always been hunters, and after a bad experience with a mounted deer head, he decided he could do a better job and help other hunters to have mounts worth the money they paid, and he has.

Although he has had several mentors, most of his training was done on his own. He also is a firm believer in belonging to state and national associations which offer free workshops and competitions.

"What I did was I rented videos. Basically, 'how to' videos, and I read books ... everything I could find that would help educate me," said Goolsby.

He, also, started hunting for material outlets and the correct tools he would need and started practicing.

"I actually got paid for my very first mount," laughed Goolsby.

When considering tools for taxidermy, most of us would assume that they were all speciality tools. Not so, according to Goolsby.

"Most of it is household tools, spoons, butter knifes, needles and thread. The bigger the job, the bigger the tools and the more elaborate the tools. It's like with anything else. Anybody can build a dog house, but the better tools you have, the better dog house you have," he said.

The largest mount Goolsby has completed is a Russian Brown Bear from Siberia, which is standing in his shop until after the holidays, and the smallest was a dove. He said the strangest request was for an armadillo.

"I'll do anything. There's some things the price goes up because they are what they are, and because of the job they entail. I've pretty much done, with the exception of some of your large African game, most everything," said Goolsby.

Many hunters have never seen or heard the process used to mount the animals.

"On any given animal, typically, the customer brings it in, I check it in and take care of all the paperwork, and make sure everything is done legally. The State has certain pieces of paper, concerning tagging wildlife ... stuff like that," he said.

Next, he makes notes concerning the habitat, measures and records the animal's dimensions so he orders the correct form or armature. As in deer mounts, the measurements are taken at specific points on the face and neck.

After the preliminary information is completed, the animal is skinned, skull removed, horns sawed off, cleaned and splits are made in the eyes, ears, nose and lips of the animal. This is to allow the proper drying to occur in the salt room where the hide is salted twice in two days and hung to air dry. After that, the hide is ready to be sent to the tanners for completion.

Once the tanner returns the hide, usually between 30-120 days, the taxidermist is ready to really start the mount. First, the horns are set, than the form is prepared, the artificial eyes set and glue is applied to the form. Clay is used to make definitions around the lips, face and wherever needs definition.

"They're very detailed, and that detail doesn't just show up on the skin. You've still got a lot of clay work like in the lip and nose, eyes and lip area. On the form, there's no eyelids," said Goolsby.

After the hide is glued, it is sewed up and pinned and locked down to dry. The drying takes various amounts of time, since it is air-dried and humidity plays a large part in the process.

Once the mount is dry, the finishing process can begin.

"I clean them (mount) and brush them, and wipe the horns off. I have to get all the dirt and debris, including dried glue, that's anywhere in the hair," said Goolsby.

When all of the sculpturing is completed, the mount is taken into the paint room where it is airbrushed with the proper paints and clear coated around the eyes, nose pad to give those areas a "wet" look.

By this time, the mount is ready for the customer.

One pet peeve of Woolsby's is hunters who "allow the animals to stay in the back of the truck for several days," and expect the animal to look like a live animal, once it's mounted.

He says the timing is of utmost importance ... and it smells better, too.