Taxidermy
mounts and bugs, Trophy mount care
I have been
cleaning and bug proofing taxidermy mounts since 2000 and I have seen lots of
mounts and bugs. I was asked to write this blog explaining what damage bugs can
do to trophy mounts.
Birds and
waterfowl will have holes in the webbing of the feet the bugs will chew little
round holes, also the bugs will chew on the feathers leaving only the center or
quill. In Georgia I was on a job that had some bugs and the client had a vase
full of pheasant and turkey feathers, I pulled them out to see if they were
damaged by the bugs and the feathers below the top of the vase were chewed off
to the quills.
Damage of
animals, on horned or antlered species the bugs usually start on the base of
the horns or antlers and there will be sawdust like dirt in these areas.
Lifesize
mounts will have damage around the feet, or hoofs and of course the horns and
antlers, and sometimes they have loose hair, from where the bugs randomly
started chewing where they find the mount tasty.
500 to 700
different bugs can damage you trophy mounts, they will chew off the hair at the
root level leaving bare patches on the mount. Sometimes they will even make
tracks across the hair and also webbing of loose hair.
On one job in
Florida the client took me to his office and opened the door, the room seemed
like nobody had been in there in some time, with one glance I could see the two
caribou were completely damaged, the hair was just hanging from them. The bugs
had cut the hair off at the roots on over a third of each mount, these two
mounts need to be remounted. This same client had a Dall sheep with the hair
between the front legs completely loose. This mount was saved by bug proofing
and then gluing the hair back to the sheep. There is also a sheep in Idaho that
we used so much glue on it to save the hair we called it Elmer.
In South
Carolina a Leopard above a door way in a trophy room was too far gone before we
arrived on the site. More than half of this mount was missing hair.
There have
been many more mounts and bad situations with taxidermy mounts and bugs, but I
will share these stories for latter blogs.
Give Trophy
DOC a call and I will be glad to discuss your needs.
Trophy DOC is available to help you maintain your mounts, and
you should have us take care of your trophies, to prevent any future damage by
letting us bug proof your mounts.
Our five step process includes;
• Remove the
dust and dirt from mounts
• Spray with
cleaner and bug proofer
• Polish the
eyes
• Gloss the
nose
• Oil the horns
and antlers bringing out the natural colors (Sheep and Goats are not oiled as
this will make them dark and unnatural looking).
We travel the lower 48 states to serve our customers, we can
be there in a couple days for an extra price. or if it is not an emergency you
can schedule us to come when we are in your area. Right now we cover the
country twice a year.
You can find more information at Trophy DOC.com
or call 570-452-1981.
