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.

To subscribe or renew, visit www.breakthroughmagazine.com or call us at (985) 345-7266.

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.

To subscribe or renew, visit www.breakthroughmagazine.com or call us at (985) 345-7266.

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.

To subscribe or renew, visit www.breakthroughmagazine.com or call us at (985) 345-7266.