Inside the World Taxidermy Championships | Taxidermists 

Steve Carter literally what I just said too

Hell ya

That and the alligator jumping out of the water going after the birds. Some fantastic stuff.

Was bad ass but he should have known that the bigger and more animals a mount has, the more they have to critique you on. Absolutely amazing though

Same

10000% agree. She said it perfectly "you can go look up any animal online but its not the real thing"

I've seen real sized mamooths made by sculptors and they look as real as this animals. It doenst need to be CGI. Go check quagga sculpture for example or bluerhinostudio.

You dont need the actual animal skin to recreate an animal.

@@frost3dart especially since so much of those old taxidermies of extinct animals look so horrible and unrealistic, not like these. Sad to see so many of the last of their species looked like they were sewn together by a middle schooler. I have nothing against doing it with animals that are already dead, or are a very common species. But I definitely don’t approve rare or endangered animals to be killed for this purpose, so in those cases fake sculptures or holograms would be preferable.

@@yeetngreet148 i recomend u watching a bit of blue rhino studio or those business i talk about, taxidermia usually looks weird, you have to be suuper good to like do a good thing with it, hiperrealistic sculpted animals usually look accurate if u have the information, the infraestructure and the skill for it.

There's so much work that goes into it, they don't just stuff it, there's a fully formed anatomically accurate "mannequin" or foam form that someone sculpted. They clay work to build up definition, muscle and facial features, glass eyes, sewing, skinning, tanning, glueing, painting, etc. It is undeniably laborious and lengthy but the process and end result is amazing

If you just stuffed the skin of a dead animal with fluff without a sculpture, it’d be a pillow. We aren’t just skin and fluff with mush, animals have bones, muscle and organs that give them their outer shape.

yeah! So, if you just stuffed the skin of an animal it would look REALLY weird, like SCARY weird. You can google images of bad taxidermy and see how freaky it is. It's one of the reasons taxidermy is not really a practiced preservation option for humans. No matter how good the taxidermist, they aren't quite able to make stuffed humans look like normal humans to the human eye, they always look off and disturbing and in the "uncanny valley".

Me too

They often only contain a real skull, with a sculpted mould or frame inside. Recolouring the fur/skin is continual as light quickly fades colours.

and what is art ? what are the criteria ? its a craft mate, they just stuffing fucking animals, anyone can learn it

Litman Anyone can learn anything. You could say the same about football “They’re just throwing a f*ucking ball” I mean simplified, sure, but there’s a lot more to it

Litman they’re literally sculpting, sculpting is art. I’m guessing you haven’t tried to make a sculpture

Litman and since a person liking my comment brought me back to This, a taxidermy sculpture was a finalist in one of Australia’s biggest sculpture competitions, by Julia deville. So officially art. Also anyone can do art.. anything you create can be labeled art

@jibran chusnein not for me, with art u should be saying something , or at least have a concept - pure aesthetics for me its not art

Any requirements to work in the taxidermy industry?

@@gabrielamendoza3976 just a passion for animals and a willingness to learn. I’m probably one of the least artistic people in the world so it hasn’t been easy and there has been some screaming at dead animals (true story lol) but if you get a good teacher and do your best to be patient, it’s achievable

Do you always use real animals skins or do you sometimes use fake ones? Cuz I’d love a wolf head but I’d not like a real wolf skin lol

@@undeadwerewolves9463 we do reproductions of animals but in order to do that we usually use other animals skin. For example, we had a sloth missing a lot of hair so we used similar colored and textured raccoon skin to patch it. I’m not sure if we have ever done a totally reproduction mount, but I feel like it would be possible. Although if your reservations about a real hide are because wolves are endangered I would tell you that here we actually have an invasive species of wolf that is breeding out of control and attacking people and livestock. So game wardens have been killing them to help reduce the population because they don’t have any natural predators. Then the game wardens sell the hides to us to be used later. Not sure if that helps at all but I hope it does!

Taxidermy is really cool and I have never really seen it as art until now.... but how do you stay ethical being a taxidermist? I don't feel it's okay to taxidermy wildlife that is an endangered species(like killing endangered species just to taxidermy them). I would like to believe that most taxidermists do things ethically, and get their hides as cruelty-free as possible

It’s probably because he’s unliked. If you really pay attention to what he says, he’s an antisocial arrogant asshole. He openly shits on the establishment. He’s absolutely great at what he does. But ultimately it boils down to being a personality contest like anything else.

Hands down the best display I've seen!

Haha- mouse. 😂😂 Moose?

Yes love speak spell on my phone ! But that's what happens when you don't double check before sending !

That's a big ass mouse

@@Reyeston007 spell check phones get everytime .LOL

@@jackmyers6040 Hey I mean, it made for a really funny typo. I can imagine a whole pack of wolves after one mouse.

You're not alone, there was a crocodile on open display in a local museum where I grew up and as kids we used to put our hands and heads inside its open mouth. It WAS a little unnerving, I can still remember. :)

I have always been paranoid of taxidermy tbh, especially the heads, e s p e c i a l l y if they're deer or moose. Lol, I don't even know why I'm still scared.

I’m still scared of it to this day

I really couldn't go past them as a kid and even now it's really nerve wrecking for me. But the work this people do is awesome! I would just rather not see it in reality but that's hard when you live in austria xD

I was even scared of this with dolls and masks

I know right. It looks so cool.

to be completely honest, many famous and respected artists use (or used) far worse things to produce their art than clean animal skin. It's a shame it's not seen as an art because pieces shown in this vid are incredible.

real talent would be making something lifelike and convincingly real without needing to use the body of a dead animal

Right and one thing I thought of while watching this was that the animals themselves were never perfect. A perfect mount can look great of course, but there’s going to be something missing because the animals weren’t that same definition of reflect when they were alive.

He seems like a bitter asshole

He lost me when he was smoking around the mounts.

I have a baby mouse that I found outside in my freezer. Few weeks ago I got a small bat. In a month I’m going to get a two headed bat. Then I would like to get a duckling. I know it makes people uncomfortable but to someone else it’s amazing.

You’re not insane! Don’t listen to the people that don’t like your art. Do you :)

tea -o I agree! 😂 they are adorableee

im 14 years old and my mom supports my love for oddities. She is letting me try my first taxidermy i am going to get a frozen feeder mouse from the pet store and try my best to mount it.

I ended up getting a duckling! It’s the cutest but I’m constantly worried about it breaking lol

I wish

Exactly

I can respect that, and this isn't meant to be telling you you're wrong or anything, just letting you know something. The vast majority of people who hunt, even the ones who like having animal heads on their wall or full-body taxidermies on display, are hunting for food. Even a lot of animals killed on paid safaris are used for meat that's given to local tribes, and the money from those hunts is used for conservation efforts in the region. So much so that areas in Africa with no hunting allowed do considerably worse in terms of animal population than areas where hunting is regulated. Yes, there are people who don't care about taking the life of an animal, and are totally fine just killing it and wasting the meat and putting it on display like some evil villain. But those people are few and far between, and as we continue to understand animals more and more the people who do that become less and less common. But I respect the love you have for these animals, and I can tell that's where your opinion comes from, I just wanted to offer my knowledge on the subject to just let you know that probably 99% of steady hunters are ethical and love the wilderness more than most.

@@Connor-dy6wq I have to disagree to an extent as someone who has a family history of taxidermy, hunting and conservation. While there are many ethical hunters, there are many who aren't and that's coming from someone who's family relies on hunting for food. Poaching, trophy hunting and generally killing for the sake of just being able to brag that you brought down a rare or beautiful animal is still a huge problem in the community and it needs to be addressed by ethical hunters. The idea that most meat on African big game hunting going to local tribes is also not really common place in my experience (not to say that it doesn't happen, just that it's not what it's made to be). Conservation issues in African countries are factored by so much more than just if hunting is or isn't allowed. A vast majority of the trouble is caused by humans in the first place due to things like colonization, war, poaching, climate change and rapid habitat loss. There's an issue of rich people exploiting tough financial situations and committing dirty dealing in order to be able to kill for nothing but fun. I can also say for a fact I've very rarely seen a single person eat things like wolves, foxes, big cats and so on that come through my family's business. The hide isn't being used nor are a lot of the hunts of those types of animals conducted to maintain healthy populations, meaning they tend to be killed for sport. Hunting and taxidermy is full of grey areas and pretending that it's all sunshine and daisies or that bad hunting only happens on the rare occasion only does harm, just much as demonizing it does. The problems need to be called out and cracked down on because sweeping them under the rug just makes supposed good hunter complacent.

@@summercucumber4964 Not trying to say it's all sunshine and roses, and I suppose it could be that in different places there's a different attitude about hunting. Where I'm from I don't think I could find anyone who doesn't eat what they kill, except for maybe animals caught eating livestock and shot. Even then a lot of people would still cook it up in a stew. I suppose I should've made myself clearer earlier, I wasn't counting poachers and other people who illegally or shadily hunt animals. I know that's a pretty big problem in some places, I just wasn't considering them because I don't consider those people hunters. But I should've clarified that. I was mainly trying to point out that your average hunter is someone who just likes getting outdoors and hunting. A lot of times people outside hunting circles don't see a difference between the low-lifes just taking animals lives for sport and trophies, and a regular ethical hunter who happens to enjoy displaying their animals. So I should've clarified that when I said "hunter" I wasn't including those types of pure sport hunters.

I really don’t like taxidermy because i hate hunting or anything in that area I’m sorry don’t come at me

You have to understand that we do not kill for art. We kill to feed our families and getting it mounted is just another step to using every part of the animal to the fullest. Hunting in ways is a more ethical way of getting food then getting it from the store.

@@caseholmes3385 Nono that's fine. I was saying that, there are people out there who kill just TO turn an animal into art, and that's not ok. If you kill something to feed your family and lets (in generic terms) say you take the deer head from the one you killed, and mount it on your wall, then that's alright. Now, if you were to design it in a way where it's making a stupid face or, as ive seen, licking a bullet wound then well-that in itself is just messed up. I dont shame people for what they decide to do, dont worry. That's why I started off my comment with "I think" because it's my personal belief and not something I think everyone should believe in. I guess, 'you do you, but do you respectfully" is the fastest way for me to summarize it.

@@okamigekido i mean elephant hunting is probably the best example of increasing the population, by killing an unfertile old bull that makes life for younger bulls a living hell and most of the time death to the young bulls, the young bulls won't have a chance to mate. and the old bulls can't mate and they just keep killing young bulls. the meat has to go to locals and city's if not, you're classified as a poacher and would be fined or sent to jail.

@@okamigekido this goes with a lot of animals

@@caseholmes3385 While ethical hunting is very important and ethical taxidermy is awesome, it's not that simple. I can safely say as someone who's family relies on hunting for food and with a history of tax and conservation there are sadly some people who kill for fun and they need to be weeded out. Having a deer you hunted and fed your family with is totally fine. Having an animal mounted that was shot in order to maintain a healthy population is also fine. Killing an animal just because it's pretty and you want to brag about it without the intention of making that death mean something on the other hand is crummy.

I mean, they could have because of the hunting. This is great taxidermy, absolutely beautiful, but I know even if a taxidermist or supporter of taxidermy clicks on this, they may not support the hunting of the animals too

@@sebnemnisanci If you are hunting for food and you are able to shoot a large whitetail buck per say, then you can skin it and honor it by putting it up on your wall.

@Lauren Willie it has 53 dislikes now 🤦🏻‍♂️

@@sebnemnisanci you eat the animal and you tax it to remember the journey.

7 dislikes is nothing. Every video has dislikes, there is no point in being annoyed by it.

me too!

Same! I hope he gets a nice display when they move the museum!

I'm too young to have seen him in person, but I remember seeing the recreation of him every time I went to the zoo.

Which one

@@gavin2715 bobcat

if they thought abt animals, they wouldnt have killed the animals

@@sjhdxv are you dumb? taxidermists dont kill the animals, they just preserve them. Most taxidermists i know only use roadkill or animals that have died from natural causes. Plus these taxidermists in the video work at museums, the entire purpose is to preserve history

@@intensestare5027 No, most of the time the animals r hunted down first and then stuffed by taxidermists. they do stuff animals that die bye natural causes as well but it's not always the case. Pls don't call me dumb btw

@@sjhdxv well then its decidedly more complicated than "they killed the animals boo hoo" hunters hunt animals, not all taxidermists are hunters. Thats a gross generalization

@@sjhdxv "Pls don't call me dumb btw" 🤓

Fuck off clickbaiter

@@waterh6944 *furry clickbaiter

@@waterh6944 what?

@@CHloE748 he us a furry annoying attention seeking clickbater

@@waterh6944 what did he clickbait?

From what I was getting, he seems like a very wise man and has basically full knowledge in what he does, definitely respect him but I can see the “grinch” part you’re talking about, we all have that side in us though

River Jankowski yooooooo same

Waukesha gang!

Oconomowoc. Wisconsin represent!!

Yoooo Cedarburg gang !

She litterally killed many animals.I mean,I would understand if she didn’t kill them,but in the video,there are pictures SHOWING her with the weapon and the dead animal.I would feel the same if she didn’t do that.

He wants to remove the word "Taxidermu" completely.

Haha, why do you loathe awards ceremonies?

Sounds like someone’s never won an award

@@tigerlily9405 lol, didn't you read what I said, I have won things, that's why I loathe them 😁

@@oscartravis5740 that doesn't make sense really

I'm so sorry for the loss of your beloved companion. I just lost my 16 yr old and my 13 yr old Australian shepherd dogs in the past month. They lived long enough to help raise my puppy to adulthood and teach him the ways of being a Good Dog. I hope you are not disappointed in the finished work. It will look like A dog, but it might not look like YOUR dog with the inevitable distortions of taxidermy and the spark of life missing from the eyes. That's why a lot of taxidermists don't do pets. But you've left yourself a lot of options by getting him frozen quickly. My 13 yr old Aussie is in the walk in freezer at work.

@@FilmerOfBobcats i too am sorry for your loss... 2 in a month, a raw heartbreak that noone understands unless you experience it yourself. They give you so much love and joy, the grief is unbearable. Its surreal to know that my best friend is in the kitchen and i just want to hug him and see his smiling face. I am also looking into dry freezing him as i suppose the fear of him not looking like him will cause more anguish that antisipated. From the reseach i have done, dry freezing will make him look like him more so than taxidermy. Who knows, i may even cremate him. Just the cost of getting him interstate is insane!!! And then the cost of the dry freeze! And all the vet bills that have accumulated over the last week..... extremely overwhelming! May i ask you what your plan is for your beloved friend?

Wtf? you need to learn to let go... I'm sorry to say it, but that's really weird..

Try burying your dog in your back yard, that's what normal people do..

@@SkilasSkilasGaming sorry to say but you have no compassion or do not appreciate animals...or just have a shallow n closed mind. Will never get over it and ps... i dont have a backyard to bury him so not an option! Dont judge what you don't understand! I will do what I think is going to help me grieve and this is it!

Thought I was the only one :D

Hell no I’m scared of em and idky

I’m glad to hear that since the work of a good taxidermist is to be truly respected.

Yeah ive seen people make hybrids or mutants. People thought the platypus was fake once in the same style.

There are videos to watch, but each taxidermist has their own secrets/techniques. It's a very hands on learning experience

Why would it feel bad about it even if they did look dead? Everything dies, we just hunt them for the meat, then hang our trophies. In fact its actually kinder for them to die from us then from nature.

Funny I thought the same thing

the gorilla?

Riiiiiiiiiigggghhhtttt?

That's my Dad. I say the same thing all the time.

Did you give him a name :0

@@enderwalkgang I definitely did but I forgot it’s been years

@@shaulagarcia9471 His name is Samson.

actually my shop has done most of the taxidermy at Cabelas and bass pro shops accross the U.S! It's always so much fun!

@@henriettatheporky9299 Ahh! Ok.. My Cabelas is in Charleston WV...