Taxidermy's Best in Show | The New York Times

Competitors vie for the top spot at the World Taxidermy Championships, held in Springfield, Mo., and billed as “The Greatest Taxidermy Show on Earth.”
Produced by: Brent McDonald
Read the story here: nyti.ms/1F0bVP3
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Taxidermy's Best in Show | The New York Times
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[@garrettabcdefg4602]

I wish they focused more on the beautiful pieces at hand, rather than talking

[@Colin-lr9rt]

This is amazing. It's fascinating to see something that could've been forgotten forever being brung back to life via Taxidermy. I have a soft mounted Taxidermy wolf and many fox and coyote tails. I love Taxidermy. Idc what anyone says. :)

[@YOJIMMIE]

I have really strong memories of when I submitted my work in the late 70's early 80's to Joe Kish's (of Taxidermy Review and Denver Museum fame)competitions in Denver Colorado. Always a point or two off a Blue I asked Joe Kish to let me know what else I could do, He told me keep it up, "I had It" meaning alot from him, On my mounts, I always tanned the hide myself, sculpted the manikins and made them myself, made all my own jaw sets with dental acrylic after making silicone molds, What I learned in Taxidermy I use it in my photography business making it easier to see things.

[@mirianalajtman7728]

You should be proud of yourself

[@beaubellamy2999]

That baby fox is incredible! Idc what it placed.

[@Aaroncoop9162]

My taxidermist is really good. Im not saying on the same level but hes the best taxidermist Ive ever met. He has done it his entire life and hes getting older now. He also does them cheaper than most as well. One thing I find neat about him is hes also a painter, truly an artist.

[@jimmcintyre4390]

Wow! Just amazing! Art meets science meets OCD. That must be a crazy hard event to judge.

[@goonerdotcom]

As a hunter and collector of taxidermy I couldn't give a flying hoot to the "female taxidermist" angle of this short presentation. More power to the women showing amazing work. There's always going to be men with mommy abandonment issues and small penises threatened by them. For the multiple thousands I have spent on my mounts I also see the minute detail these judges are going on about. Judging is a subjective field and while you may be subjected to a call that's very individualistic that's the roll of the dice. GREAT WORK LADIES !!!!

[@luiventura8441]

oh my gosh i love it

[@deadskink7517]

did anyone else see the archeopteryx at 2:06 ?

[@goodfriend7609]

Getting my dictionary out first......

[@Mark-sd7fc]

When that woman won first place and started to cry so did I and I wish that I could have hugged her!!

[@trudehurd9685]

That's Allis Markham of Prey Taxidermy who does phenomenal work at creating lifelike animals in Southern California. She's been our taxidermist at our Audubon center for half a dozen years and we are so fortunate

[@Porras404]

I respect them.

[@ImBarelyMe]

I’m only 14 and I’ve been really interested in taxidermy for a while and I’m considering ordering a dead frozen mouse anyone have any information to teach me with something

[@shanek6582]

14yo Freddy Mercury fan

[@FirstLast-wg1gs]

@@shanek6582 ok

[@bjrnegilteig1383]

WOW... I just wish my taxidermist(s) around the world would be just close to those displaying here. Amazing work.

[@murraymorhart9423]

I couldn't do what these ladies do. They are very skilled!

[@princessofpigs]

My Frenchie is lying next to me right now with a moderate degree of alarm on his face

[@mustafam956]

He’s getting a glimpse of his future.

[@ianmattl]

5:00 when the hipsters invade

[@burningcoal5705]

Liberals*

[@Eggnog88]

@@burningcoal5705 generalizations 😃

[@kytrapping5829]

I think Amy Carters baby fox was more real then the judge says in my opinion a adolescence baby kit fox would more then likely not be looking right at something as they roll and play their eyes roll and wander at the same time so dumb judge I think

[@blackmamba532]

Yeah, I thought it was mostly a personal diss against her. I've seen her work before as she's from NC and I was blown away! She had been working on a bear bigger than her at the moment of the interview. I'd love to apprentice under her, so I have a lot of respect for her!

[@auklin7079]

all of the taxidermy at this show is A++ Tier, it's just when the only competitors are the best in the world, not everyone can get A++ lol.

[@michaelchoki2133]

I want to see emily graslie of thebrainscoop on these things in the future!!

[@clydecrocodile101]

Women who can appreciate art, And not get jealous are literally so precious why is everyone so upset.

[@galleryteneuesartnouveau9353]

Those mountain goats,Stags & pheasants in battle are just stunning though never had a close up look with the king of the beast because I saw that how it was stuffed & presented anyone saw that lion?

[@kasra1212]

Chuck testa will always be the best.

[@musha-hv8tx]

i love'd that baby fox,..congratulation...

[@Logjam5]

Well done Amy.

[@yvonneost12]

Congrat's to the lady in blue

[@Aethuviel]

I wanted to see a taxidermy show, not feminist dribble about what it's like being a woman.

[@kaedavv3229]

Lol if you wanted to see a show go to a show, they’re not just gonna walk around and say nothing as they point the camera at their work

[@BilgePump]

I think judging something like this is highly subjective and it’ll be hard for any newcomer male or female to break through the good ole boy network.

[@lananickitrishhrh]

awesome

[@Ionictryhard]

Got to find a girl that does this so i dont have to spend hundreds

[@whatsup9203]

I know right

[@silasharris6755]

KingViz as a taxidermist I can safely say it’s a very expensive profession

[@goonerdotcom]

Hundreds ??? you are one lucky SOB .... my taxidermist probably had another kid because of the extra college fund I brought into his house ; )

[@JG-rz4st]

KingViz 😂

[@maneascott4108]

They do it to basically put the life back into something

[@onionbanan2527]

I mean they also most of the time are the ones that take the animals life from the start.

[@marvinradermacher5781]

@@onionbanan2527 No, the Taxidermists don't lol. They get them either from hunters who got too much or they collect them themselves laying dead on streets and the like. But go on.

[@kenesufernandez1281]

*Wow*

[@KiLoKiLa21]

Before i read the title, I could have sworn that deer was alive. I thought to myself maybe they are pals?

[@Seraphim-ki4bk]

Those hipster chicks were hard to watch

[@libertyBuilders]

caveman Versace You’re exactly right, anymore the most talented don’t win the one most likely to sue if they don’t win, wins!

[@clydecrocodile101]

Who hurt y'all

[@robinduongmusic1601]

I didn't even know that foxes had nictitating (nictating?) membranes. Thought it was just something that reptiles had. That's crazy.

[@callie8997]

Humans even have them. They are the now useless pink skin in the corner of our eyes

[@PikachuProductionsPIKA]

I want to do this

[@JG-rz4st]

MY god , high quality and standards tone ached by world champion taxidermists 👍

[@buckmountaintaxidermy7788]

Sooo much scrutiny!It would scare the heck out of me!Wouldn't open myself up to such"Positive criticism"!Might hurt my feelings!😂(Just kiddin!)

[@joncart5834]

Makes me regret giving it up

[@jumamohamed9180]

Hi

[@nadiapenaranda9650]

1:31 what animal is that

[@drsmac1498]

Nadia Penaranda Fisher

[@nadiapenaranda9650]

Dr Smac thank you

[@zoehaskell4087]

But how did she get the baby fox? o.o

[@arthurepisodes-full8994]

The real challenge is to taxidermy a fly

[@joannemclaurin2262]

Where did she get the body of the baby fox? Does she ever ask these questions when she gets an order.

[@genoortega7992]

I'm sure she carcass casted that form.

[@thetheoshow3360]

🤗🐆🐿

[@ChuckKeough]

Cuz women are awesome... I love everything about women... omg, the scent of a woman.

[@Lidia_Es]

All women do is talk about themselves

[@jeffreyrichardson]

michael welchs bucks scott admits mistake says shucks irish full of luck

[@fullstrutn]

hey Amie ,,the youngest person to ever win in a BIG show

[@alessiannedufour596]

The little fox playing made me kinda sad cuz it’s sad to take in baby foxes and skin them but I’m not here to judge i don’t know the story behind them

[@sunken_lilies]

alessianne dufour You could see it in a way that they’re giving them the life that they deserve since they died young

[@alessiannedufour596]

{ FishChips } were they killed or died and a random person found them ?!?!

[@sunken_lilies]

alessianne dufour They just died naturally duh

[@alessiannedufour596]

{ FishChips } someone casually is walking in the forest and find two baby foxes not rotten not injured no birth defects?!? You can still dream hun .

[@hanshorta-hopkins6300]

alessianne dufour it’s actually quite common to find dead foxes, especially if they’ve been brought into an animal shelter but died there in the end. I’m from the UK and I regularly see dead fox carcasses.

[@jonathonlang1844]

Why do women always have to point out “I’m the woman doing ...” nobody cares if you do anything. Jesus

[@sgtsnuggles9112]

It makes sense for this field. You dont usually think woman when you think of taxidermy. I think it's great seeing women move into other forms of art. It's a sense of pride thing to be a pioneer of women in the field. You sort of took the first step, so to speak.

[@korwiszon2829]

ll

[@yvetti_]

Were these animals already dead?!

[@Tennesseekid-wt6jg]

Mostly animals that are mounted like this were hunted and taxidermy displays the trophy.

[@kaptainkpop6750]

musuems these days find them dead and use their bodies

[@tomvana4270]

Don't like it? Don't watch.

[@washingtonredskin6574]

Well, um, no. But the idea here is to take an animal that will die and decompose some day, and instead preserve it for many generations. Think of it as a primitive form of immortality.

[@DavidGomez-gs5bm]

Q

[@politicallyinaccuratetoast4757]

Why spend hundreds of dollars on this When you can get a cheap animated one for 10 bucks

[@Dougarrowhead]

This is for men to talk about. Get back to your nintendo or facebook.

[@cjc1216]

This reminds me of that ridiculous movie with Jennifer gardner where they carve butter into sculptures. The things we as humans consider important,gosh we have our priorities mixed up. It's not the quality of the work done or the status it brings you. It's the joy you get from doing the things you love . Maybe I'm being too sentimental but in my opinion especially when you get the the skill level these people are at none are better then the other it's just up to the judges biased opinion and how they feel that day. Maybe they choose to scrutinize a detail of someone's peice that they didnt on someone else's. Whatever I digress. All of these people are masters at what they do. And personally I believe hunting is awful. Hopefully many of these animals died peacefully of natural causes . To the ones that were hunted I apologize on behalf of us human animals.

[@sgtsnuggles9112]

Hunting provides food. I came from a relatively low income family. If we wanted meat we had to hunt it. It controls the population and is a natural part of the ecosystem. All animals hunt, and it's always necessary to hunt. If competing makes them happy they should do it. A lot of people strive to be the best, that's what makes us keep getting better at everything as we go on. Without competition we wouldn't have half the stuff we have today. So many inventions only exist because some guy wanted to one up his rival.

[@Horselover-pf7ow]

poor animals

[@richmond9618]

Why would you kill an innocent animal just to stuff them like wtf?

[@kaptainkpop6750]

museums usually find them dead and use them but the taxedermies that were hunted and stuffed yeah thats animal abuse

[@andrewbartal4366]

awsomepilot65 it is not animal abuse lol. many states have hunting seasons to control population of the animal. families use the meat to feed themselves. if there were no hunting seasons, overpopulation occurs. overpopulation causes animals to move into areas they shouldn't be in, causing fatal car crashes, damage of personal properties, so on and so forth. there are very strict regulations and guidelines or laws that have to be followed by a hunter, and failure to do so leads to costly fines and even jail time just like commiting any other crime

[@washingtonredskin6574]

To preserve endangered species forever.

[@hoosieroutdoors1202]

awsomepilot65 how is it animal abuse

[@kaptainkpop6750]

Alex Vo killing an animal for no particular reason does that sound like abuse to u

[@MetalDoraemon6]

freak show, freak show, freak show