TAXIDERMY

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TAXIDERMY

• Keeping the
• Dead Alive

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About Taxidermy

• Perhaps you are not familiar with the term
  taxidermy but you have seen it at least once in
  your life or in movies. That old deer head
  hanging from a hunters wall or that bear
  strategically placed at the entrance of a cabin.
  You might have even seen it at museums or art
  exhibits. Taxidermy is becoming part of our
  environment and every day atmosphere more and
  more each day.

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What Is Taxidermy?

• Taxidermy is a greek word that translated into
  english means arrangement of skin. Dermy
  deriving from the word epidermis. The dictionary
  defines taxidermy as the art of preparing and
  preserving the skins of animals and of stuffing
  and mounting them in lifelike form.
•  

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Who Practices Taxidermy?

• Taxidermy might not sound like a common hobby to
  you. To some it might even seem grotesque and
  cruel. This practice became popular in the 1700s
  when the trend for leather started to rise. There
  were professional people who made a career out of
  turning animal skins into leather goods. Seeing
  how this was popular, hunters and such started
  bringing in whole animals to get stuffed. Hence
  the birth of the word stuffed animal.

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How Is Taxidermy Relative Today?

• While in the old days taxidermy was a way of
  bragging and showing off what they had hunted
  today its used for different reasons. The latest
  popular trend in taxidermy is to preserve your
  pet. Yes, now Cujo can be immortalize! Some
  people simply cant let go of their pets and they
  chose to freeze dry them and display them.

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How Is Taxidermy Done?

• To be able to efficiently practice taxidermy you
  have to be somewhat knowledgeable in tanning and
  anatomy as you will be dissecting the animal and
  preserving its skin. The most common method of
  taxidermy is freeze drying.

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What Is Freeze Drying?

• Freeze drying is also known as lyophilization.
  When you freeze dry something you are basically
  getting rid of all the water and liquids to be
  able to preserve it. This process is known as
  dehydration. In order to freeze the skin you have
  to lower the pressure to allow the heat to
  convert a solid into a gas.

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Freeze Drying Process

• There are three basic steps to freeze drying.
  The first step is freezing, followed by primary
  drying and lastly theres the secondary drying
  stage. Freezing which is the most important step
  can be achieved with liquid nitrogen or in a bath
  of dry ice and methanol (CH3OH). Methanol has a
  tetrahedral shape and is part of the organic
  groups of alcohol. The primary and secondary
  drying involves sublimation and adsorption.

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Conclusion

• Whether you are freeze drying the catch of the
  day, your beloved pet or food for storage it is
  definitely something that is being incorporated
  into our enviroment. Freeze drying is a costly
  process so it hasnt been implemented fully but
  theres been an increasing trend in the food
  industry with products high in protein and
  enzymes that are more prone to spoiling. Expect
  to be seeing or tasting more of this evolving
  trend!

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References

• Taxidermy http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxidermy
  December 2006
• What is Taxidermy? www.taxidermy.net/information
  /whatis.html November 2006
• http//www.taxidermy.org/
• Taxidermy http//www.dictionary.com