Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-12

don't say IL IN 1rOnC OF a
cts one of our pet
Hall, who operates the A
the basement of his home at
$3.50 Woodbury. street. Hyatts-
vile.
There was a day when
animals were stuffed. but not
anymore. A modern taxider-
mist has to be a sculptor and
artist and it takes years of
experience to produce true-to-
life mountings."
Deer Mishandled
Another of his pet peeves is
the hunter or fisherman who
carelessly handles game, then
expects the taxidermist to re-
store it to natural appearance.
Take deer for instance"
Hall says. We've had several
brought in lately with the necks
slit wide open. It's possible to
mount the heads, of course,
but no amount of art will al
low as perfect a job as if the
animal had been properly
skinned.
Then there's fish. Many
anglers will slit the fish up the
belly to remove the entrails
before taking it to the taxider-
mist. That's also a mistake.
No amount of skill can thor
oughly conceal the cut"
Lists Dos and DOnts
Because the opening of the
hunting season is bringing him
more and more trophies to
mount. Hall today listed sew
eral dos and dont's for both
hunters and fishermen.
On game animals. open only
the stomach cavity and evils
cerate. Then peel off the skin
without cutting the neck. Deer
heads should be prepared by
cutting around the neck where
it joins the body, then skinning
with a cut up the back of the
neck to the top of the head and
a triangular cut to the antlers
as shown in the diagram.
Hall says it's a misconcep-
ton that the neck should be
opened to drain blood. Ac-
tually. he, says, very little blood
remains there after the heart
stops beating.
How 10 Prepare Skins
The taxidermist says some
hunters are bringing in deer
skins for. tanning that have
spoiled. After skinning, the
hide should be thoroughly
sailed on the flesh side and
placed in a shady place to dry
or wrapped in plastic bag.
Hall also urged that game
birds destined for mounting be
carried home in plastic bags
rather than tucked in a game
pocket. Many hunters bring
him birds with the feathers
rumpled and it's no easy mat
ter to restore them to natural
appearance.
A bird can be stored in a
freezer for quite some time be-
fore being brought to a taxi
dermist but don't eviscerate it.
Foxes spoil very quickly. Hall
warns, and they should be
taken to taxidermist at once.
As for fish. do not clean them.
but wrap in aluminium foil and
place in a freezer until taken
to the taxidermist. Don't leave
them in the freezer too long,
however, because the cold may
damage the fins.
Has Taken Many Trophies
Hall is an avid hunter as well
as taxidermist. and the recep-
ton room of his studio is
crowded with trophies that he
has taken on trips with his
wife. Vera. a native of Green
vile. Me. whose brother is a
guide in New Brunswick.
There are the heads Of a
black bear from New Bruins
wick, antelope, badger and bob
cat from Wyoming, bighorn
sheep. mountain goat and brown
bear from British Columbia and
mountain lion from Arizona.
The Halls are particularly
enthused about the hunting in
Wyoming. Mule deer and an
telope abound only a brief run
by station wagon out OF Lara
mic. and a guide is unneces-
sary.
III the shop Halls half
brother. Thomas r. Diamond
Veterans Administration en-
ploye who works part time with
the taxidermist, was busy on
the head Of a spike buck killed
by a bow hunter. Morton Mar
low Of Laurel, A doe killed by
another bow hunter. Frank
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