Before deciding to offer a World Title for habitats, I gave a lot of consideration into the importance that habitats have played for moving into our modern era of taxidermy. My first thought was that habitats have had a strong position in taxidermy for well over a hundred years. Look back at our historic museums with dioramas full of natural looking habitats during the end...

I start this second article by continuing our focus on the head exterior and mouth interior, which are two of the most viewed areas of any competition or commercial mount. I will also highlight craftsmanship as well as one of the major areas of evaluation on the scoresheet, and one of the biggest areas for improvement for nearly all taxidermists, that being the pelvic and...

Long-tailed ducks (Clangula hyemalis), formerly known as old squaws, are medium-sized sea ducks that breed in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic, and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of the genus Clangula. “Old Squaw” was the name given by Native Americans, due to their loud and abundant...

This issue we are beginning a series of habitat articles by Kurt Ainsworth from Independence, Kentucky. Kurt grew up and started his career in taxidermy in Michigan, so he is very familiar with northern habitats of snow, and ice. He has traveled, hunted, and fished extensively in North America and Africa. Kurt offered to do a series of articles on many of his procedures for...