Well I still have a great deal to learn about taxidermy. I have set my mind to resolving the backlog of experimental roadkill specimens, currently housed in my 'special' freezer, as I must get on top of the expanding collection and bring my skills up to scratch so that I can tackle more ambitious projects. I started the year by mounting a mouse, labelled in a bag and found in 2012, but it all went a bit pear-shaped as clearly the mouse was a little bit 'over the top' when I froze it - as it became clear when I couldn't get the pelt off what had become a rather grim mousy soup.
I moved on to a swift, found by the roadside in the village in 2008, and made more effective progress. It was quite tricky removing the flesh from the wing stumps and inside the head and I used a heavier grade of wire than I should have but the outcome seems ok. In retrospect I should have simply used cotton wool, rather than a clay body form, as with it's tiny legs the swift would be better preserved as simple study skin as I don't plan to mount it sitting on a twig, when do you ever see a swift sitting on anything ? Expect more posts as I progress through the freezer drawers, I will clear the back log this year.
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