10 August 2006
Frankenmouse
Taxidermy class was totally fun! Our instructor, Jeanie, demonstrated on one mouse, then helped us each make our own. I learned some things:
- Frozen mice can be purchased at the East Bay Vivarium. A frozen mouse thaws out in a couple of hours.
- If you do it right, skinning the mouse is not very messy, nor very smelly.
- Mice are easy because their skins separate easily from their bodies.
- Mammals are easier to stuff than birds, because birds have papery skin that adheres to their muscles, and their feathers are easily mussed.
My first mouse turned out reasonably well, but I made the stuffing a little too big. So, the skin ripped a little bit when I sewed it shut, and you can see the wires underneath. Other than that, it's cute! It now occupies a place in my sunroom, out of reach of the cats.
I took step-by-step photos of the class, starting with Jeanie's demonstration and then documenting the construction of my own mouse. It should go without saying that these aren't for the faint-hearted! Click each thumbnail to see the captions that explain the process.
Curiously, there were eight women in this class and only two men. Girls like gross things!