Taxidermy usually starts as a hobby when a person is passionate about wildlife, and it can possibly turn into a profitable business. The problem is a sizable number of new artists are just that—artists who have absolutely no business experience or formal business experience. Together let’s dive into the art of running a successful, thriving taxidermy business. OK, so you mounted your first project. You are extremely excited, even though it is probably not all that beautiful of a project, but you are still grinning from ear to ear. If you weren’t totally overwhelmed with the experience, you are “jonesing” to start your next project. Every one of your friends and family are your cheerleaders and are in line for you to do practice projects.

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As I have said in previous articles I enjoy all of the phases in mounting snakes, but it’s the final finishing work that brings back the beauty of these reptiles. Back in Part 1 (Breakthrough Issue #150) I covered my process of molding the head of a snake before the skinning process takes place. It consisted mainly of molding the head of a closed-mouth snake I mounted for this article series.  I also used a custom-molded open-mouth cast that I made myself using similar materials that I used in Part 1 for the closed-mouth head. An open-mouth cast can be made from a frozen head or a freeze-dried head. A snake head has to be shaped and frozen before it goes into a freeze dryer so that part of setting up the head for freezing is the same. It is much easier to mold a dry freeze-dried head than a frozen head, so that is how I prefer to do it.

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Listed are all competitors, their entries, and scores from the 2024 World Taxidermy & Fish Carving Championships that was held August 6–10 in Coralville, Iowa.

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Small mammals have long been a pleasurable specialty for taxidermists to mount. Their popularity has increased year after year in competition taxidermy as noted at the recent 2024 World Taxidermy Championships® with a record number of entries in both the master division and professional division. I will classify small mammals as any mammal less than 25 pounds or smaller. At the WTC we also allow the young of medium mammals 25 pounds or less in the small mammal subcategories where they compete with mammals of a comparable size. In this feature I will focus on weasels where a large one may reach 1 pound but most are 8 –12 ounces.

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• Wholesale freeze-dry Items Available: Ducklings, Weasels, Squirrels, Mice, Panfish, velvet racks, etc. Or we freeze-dry YOURS. Telephone 218-263-7177. www.edgewatertaxidermy.com. Full time since 1978.
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• Freeze-dry service and dermestid beetle cleaning: Turkey heads $30.00. Ten to 12-week turnaround on a first-in, first-out method. Also mammals, reptiles and small fish. Lifelike Taxidermy, 510 Kennerdell St., Franklin, PA 16323. 814-432-4142. 
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• Quality Wholesale Bird Taxidermy Service. Delivery available depending on quantity and distance. Contact Grey at Nizhoni Creek Taxidermy, 251-643-3980, or nizhonicreek@gmail.com.
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• Wholesale turkey mounts. Griffin Taxidermy is a 1-man operation specializing in turkeys. Located in Goshen, Indiana. Turnaround is one year. Contact Merlin Miller, 14812 CR 34, Goshen, IN 46528. Phone (574) 596-0144.
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• AAA ANIMAL EXCHANGE: We’ve been serving the taxidermy community since 1976. We carry whitetail, mule deer, antelope, elk, caribou, and moose capes. We have North American lifesize species such as black bear, wolf, lynx, mountain lion, wolverine, coyote, fox, raccoon, and much more. We stock antlers and horns for most North American game as well. We also carry a wide variety of African plains game capes, lifesize, and horns. For further information contact Joe or Kelly Geryak at 317-416-4144, 812-597-6133, or  aaaanimalexchange@yahoo.com
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• For Sale : Lifesize Hides, Capes, Antlers, Horns, : Stone Sheep, Dall Sheep, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goats, Cougars, Grizzly Bears, Moose, Caribou, Elk, Deer : Wildlife Taxidermy 7774 Pleasant Valley Road, Vernon, British Columbia, V1B-3R7 Canada : Phone 250-545-4614 : Email ken@wildlifetaxidermy.com.
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• Huge Inventory: Grizzly, dall and stone sheep, goat, cougar, wolverine, black bear, lynx, bobcats, timber wolf, deer, and much more. Antlers of all kinds. Sheep and goat horns. Moose and elk capes. Contact Full Moon Taxidermy at 250-847-3188. 
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• 100-cape collection for sale. Whitetail deer capes $75.00, $100.00 and up. Take your pick! Aves Studio, P.O. Box 344, Riv