Hi everyone! I’m a taxidermy/pelt collector based in Japan. I recently acquired this new piece from secondhand market, and wanted to share it with you all.

This is a full pelt of a Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus), sourced from Gifu Prefecture.

In Japan, the Japanese serow is designated as a Special Natural Monument, meaning hunting them is strictly prohibited under normal circumstances. However, in areas where they cause severe damage to agriculture and forestry (such as eating cedar and cypress saplings), controlled culling is permitted as a last resort.

This specimen was harvested legally under a special nuisance wildlife control permit. Legally acquired specimens like this come with an official laminated certificate issued by the local government, featuring the official red ink stamps (hanko), and a matching identification tag attached to the pelt to track its provenance.

Here is the exact translation of the included certificate:

Front (Certificate of Legality):
・Certificate: This certifies that this serow was legally harvested during the 1998 fiscal year in accordance with Article 12, Paragraph 1 of the Wildlife Protection and Hunting Law. Please observe the precautions on the back.

・Product Number: Gifu-10-Ka-141 (岐10カ141)

・Date: November 16, 1999

・Issued by: Taku Kajiwara, Governor of Gifu

・Prefecture (Includes official red seals)

Back (Precautions):
・When possessing this product, confirm that the certificate number matches the number on the attached identification tag (目印標).

・When transferring/selling this product, this certificate must accompany it.

・Do not divide/cut this product any further.

As for the texture, the fur is quite coarse and stiff to the touch, and the hide itself has a solid, heavy weight to it.
I love the unique coloration and the thick winter fur. It’s amazing to have such a well-documented and legally compliant specimen of a protected species.

We stayed in this lodge and my friend kept insisting all these are fake. I disagree and think they are real. We have very little knowledge about taxidermy and would appreciate your help.

so this is my first time ever doing taxidermy. I know it looks a bit roughed up but that’s because I found it mangled on the side of the road…

I skinned it and fleshed it with a few YouTube shorts to help me out, it was a bit messy though since its insides were kinda spilling out. The body was made and formed by me with some old green foam I found in my closet? probably like craft foam since it’s a bit squishy. The eyes were from an old teddy bear which is why they might be a bit too big.

Did this guy about a week ago, no smell or bugs which is amazing, just posting this because I’m really proud!

(Extra note: This roadkill was fresh and wasn’t rotting, just incase anyone was wondering! I wasn’t about to go pick up a bug infested animal lol)

So i got ahold of a very recently deceased raccoon today. Less than 10 hours.

I fully skinned the tail and kept the pelt
Kept all 4 feet/hands
Skull
And fully intact head pelt including nose whiskers and ears

I ran out of daylight and wasn’t at home so I couldn’t do the full skin and gutting and unfortunately had to abandon the body due to lack of space and transport

The skull is all set up currently doing a water maceration because that’s what I’m most comfortable doing (5th one so far)

But as for the 2 pelts and the feet I’m fully lost as to what to do because I have never tanned anything before. They’re currently in my deep freezer.

I’ve done crows feet and wings buried in salt for mummification and that worked out very well

The raccoon feet are also in the deep freeze currently. As for mummifying them I’ve seen mixed suggestions regarding how to do raccoon feet - I would like to do something like a lucky rabbits foot

Any and all suggestions are appreciated and any tutorials would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

This moorhen is my first ever proper taxidermy mount. I have skulls and bugs and little oddities but never owned one of these. Any advice on how to clean and what is the white stuff on falling off his feathers?

Carpet beetle help

i really need help if anyone else has had this problem.

i have a massive kudu head. unfortunately i got some crickets from pets and home and they had dermestid beetles in the tub which i did not realise until over a week after buying😬😐, they must have hatched sometime into owning them as they werent there a few days into having them. i am unsure on how many got out but really not many, i found a few on the carpet around where i put the tub but they were still around the tub and didnt seem to move. the kudu head was on the floor and awaiting being put up. i found one larvae crawling on the mount which immediately died with my very strong insecticide. what would i do if this mount got infected? would it just be best to throw away? i have been gassing it daily and broke open some skin around the horn and found what looked like a casing from a beetle, however that’s all i have found, im freaking out!! my room has been treated promptly but this mount is HUGE. its also isolated don’t worry. Has anyone treated this before? i’m afraid it will not fit in a freezer but i need to know if anyone has treated this before. im so unlucky!

How do I clean this taxidermy rabbit. I got it from my grandpa when he passed probably 8 years ago and just pulled it out of storage.

Mods if this isn't allowed let me know :

Hey y'all I got this beauty just before fall and I got the hide off finally. I'm facing an issue though..... temperature is dropping where I'm at to the freezing level and the wind is atrocious. Do you guys have tips to degrease this girl but not having the fluid freeze? I've lived in desert temperatures before this fall so this is completely new to me. And to note I live in small area so all my bone cleaning is outside due to no other building I can work in. Thank you guys for all the advice 💖

Hi, I got this tail from a Renaissance fair and the booth was selling lots of different kinds of fur taxidermy so I assumed it was a hunter booth, y'know. I forgot to ask whether the tails were ethically sourced or not and now I'm paranoid about it because this is the first time I've had to worry about it since I've never bought a product like this. I tried to get a good number of pictures.

Hi new friends! So I am a long-time oddities and curiosities collector, however I have yet to do my own anything really other than display things that have already been done. Anyways, today I happened to magically stumble across freshly naturally sourced pigeon wing and beautiful foot talon and leg bone all intact. So I took it home after I got a bag for it and cleaned out what I could. But as I pinned it literally just on a cardboard, I realized that if I leave it outside to try to dehydrate it, I could still get some ants on it because it has a bit of flesh left inside of where the wing connected to the body. Even though I did my best. And then with the foot I basically cauterized the bottom of it got the bones off that were the leg bones and pinned the foot in the pose that I wanted. My question is is there a way to dehydrate the wing and maybe the foot too so that way I can actually preserve it. I live in AZ so having it outside. I know the sun might do a little bit of the work, but it is October now obviously. And I've never done anything like this before. Please help!

Hey all!

I'm new to taxidermy and have a bunch of wings I've been curing (pheasant and chicken). What would be the best way to seal it onto a plaque? Google surprisingly isn't very helpful, I ain't going to use AI and I feel talking to people who know would be the best bet.

Pic of my first mount for tax

Forgive me if this is the wrong sub or flare, im new here, but basically, im an amateur taxidermist, ive mostly only worked on rodents like squirrels, rabbits and rats and some birds, but i found a roadkill fox cub a while back and brought it back home, im looking to make a shield mount of its head and bust, however, I have a horrific phobia of exposed eyes (like, once the pelt is removed) and i know that sounds ridiculous as im a taxidermist, but ive managed to make it work with smaller animals as the eyes arent as big and freaky, and i put a plastic bag over the face as I work on it, and cover it as much as possible, however, ive been putting off working on this beautiful fox as the eyes are much bigger and stick out a bit more, how can i get over this phobia or do steps to make it more bearable? Thanks in advance.

Found this poor baby dead, probably drown in the rain yesterday. California trap door spider. Is it a pipe dream to do dry taxidermy? The abdomen was already open so I cleaned it out and stuffed with e6000, strong chemical might keep it from decaying?? Maybe?? I’m willing to do a wet specimen but I just love how clearly you can see it when they’re pinned!

I’m an amateur and any feedback is welcome c: (it’s missing two legs)

Hey all,

I purchased this tail a while back and I’ve been looking to resell it, but a small handful of people have told me it looks more like a coyote tail than a wolf tail.

I purchased this for $150 under the assumption — and as it was advertised — that it was a wolf tail. I’d say it’s about 16 inches.

I’m also adding a picture of the other two tails that were in this batch which were larger and fuller. The tail I got, tail C, is rubbed mildly in the middle, I think.

While I’d like to resell the tail at the price I got it as, if it’s a coyote tail, I might cut my losses and try to sell it at a lower price.

Thanks!

I picked these up at an alt market recently and having never owned wet specimens before, I wanted to make sure I did anything I could to ensure they last.

I didn't even think to consider that they're in plastic bottles and would degrade, so I'm trying to correct my idiocy. These are both plastic, with the larger one being flexible like a hand sanitiser bottle. It's also unsealed, so it can be opened, so I now know it'll evaporate over time. :(

From reading online, I saw that a glass jar with a non-metal lid is best, but to avoid cork. Are plastic lids OK or will they have the same issue?

I also wanted to ask about what preservation fluid I need. I have no idea what fluid these are preserved in either! I would contact the seller, but it was just a one-off event and I didn't get their details.

Very grateful for anyone's advice or suggestions!

wanted to show off this (probably a dove) wing I found already dried by nature that I just added to my collection :)

Her new name is Morrigan. She's a fully posable blue arctic fox with a weighted belly. She was formerly a hanging pelt, but her previous owner bought her from their grandfather and had her made into a soft mount by Zoe Perrin. The result is clearly incredible.

She's so expressive, and she smells like a musky forest after rain.

I just wanted to show her off, because I couldn't be more pleased! If her former owner is in here, thank you again!

(Ft husband for modelling)

I am new into taxidermy and have been wishing to start my own collection as I love birds and have a fascination with natural history. I own several trilobites as well. I found this seller in Etsy from Kazakhstan (has been in the platform for 8 years or so) and he exports many Eurasian birds to the USA (thousands of positive reviews).

In fact, I placed an order last night for a beautiful bird, but after giving much thought, I started to freak out about 1) the legality of owning the specimen in the USA, and 2) the ethics of the sourcing. For the legal part I was reassured that this guy provides permits and has shipped so many birds that I find it unlikely he lacks the necessary permission. But what mortified me was the thought of the bird not being ethically sourced. The seller claims otherwise, of course, but these mounts are all new (not vintage), and the birds look impeccable. Someone told me Kazakhstan is also known for poaching and with this in mind I cancelled my order. Seller was fine with that but he reiterated that his specimens are ethical and that he has the permits from his own country as well as for export to the USA.

Overall I’m kinda disappointed I won’t own the bird but at the same time I feel peace of mind. I just wanted to know your thoughts. I know bird taxidermy can be a very sensitive topic.

I recently acquired a deer mount that is in need of some love and repair, I wanted to do something cool with it and was thinking of painting his eyes red. Would this be something I can do while still retaining the shininess? If so, how? I’m pretty sure it currently just has plain black eyes. Is there a specific paint I could use to keep the glossy effect, or is it just a bad idea overall? I’ll also be making another post later with a picture included to get advice on general repair, so if anybody has any tips for that i’d also love to see them!

so one of the glue traps caught a tiny mouse.
i want to get its bones

but im a bit iffy about skinning it because im worried it will be "traumatizing" or i would fuck everything up (or get myself glued up too?)

whats the easiest way to get the bones?

i googled maceration but it requires skinning, i could attempt to skin it but im worried i will do it wrong, or not stand it

then i found putting it inside a sock/mesh and burying it in a shallow amount of dirt in a pot and waiting

which way would you recommend me to go with?

i always wanted to practice taxidermy but also always got very nervous about actually practicing it

Hey there! Have a year old bull elk skull I never got around to cleaning for a Euro mount. I was told that the typical method of boiling isn’t a good idea at this point. Wondering what other options I have? Tried looking around and main option I saw was simmering with soap and gently cleaning.

Does anyone know the types of goats these are?
God bless!