If taxidermy bothers or upsets you, please do not read this post.
If you've followed my work at all, you may have noticed that I use real fur and tails in some of my pieces. I have a soft spot for dead fuzzy things. Most people see this as morbid or weird or gross (or all of the above). One of my favorite Christmas gifts was a coyote face from my dad. My collection has expanded to include faces from several species (coyote, fox, badger, opossum, raccoon), tails (coyote, fox, raccoon, bobcat, mink), and full pelts (raccoon, opossum, ermine). For a while I also had a professionally mounted raccoon and squirrel.
Why?, you ask. Well, I'm not sure. I'm an animal lover. I've donated a whole heck of a lot of money to different wildlife organizations, and am all for preserving our wildlife. But taxidermy fascinates me. It always has. 
So I'm considering doing my own taxidermy mount. Not a traditional mount (like our bear friend above). But a soft mount. Meaning the head is mounted in the traditional way, but the body is soft and plush like a stuffed animal. There are several artists on Deviant Art who do these soft mounts, and I'd love to give it a try. They are made from an already tanned pelt and the results are beautiful.
This is a gorgeous example of a soft mount. This one is by FoxyCreations. She is credited on Deviant Art as being the first to really do the soft mount. Her work is amazing!
If I do start my own, I will be taking pictures and blogging the process.
