Bird Taxidermy Tips

I'd like to have five minutes with the guy who started the notion of putting a trophy bird in a lady's stocking," said Todd Huffman of Birdman Studios in Trinidad, Colorado. He is gritting his teeth as he says it, and I have the feeling the guy he's referring to would have a really bad five minutes. "Think about it," he said. "The pantyhose sticks to the blood, and when you remove the bird, it pulls out chunks of feathers. The guy that started that practice has ruined more birds than all the beginning taxidermists combined.

Huffman should know. The proprietor of Birdman Studios, he is a master taxidermist who mounts only birds. No fish, no big game, no predators, just birds. Jeez, and I thought I'd been doing the right thing by carrying around knee-high pantyhose in my bird vest, though I'd gotten some funny looks at the five-and-dime. But that's not all, Huffman says. He's seen hundreds of ruined birds that well-meaning hunters have run home and stuffed in the freezer. "The worst thing you can do is put a bird in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer right away," he said. "People will cook their birds in a freezer." It sounds counterintuitive, but if a bird isn't given time to cool down naturally, its innards will cook if it's stuffed in a plastic bag and frozen. Those thick layers of feathers keep a bird warm in life and death. When it's time to skin the bird for mounting, the feathers will come off in tufts. So how do you properly prepare a bird for mounting? The Birdman offers these tips: - Retrieve the bird yourself. Unless your dog has a really soft mouth, beat the dog to the punch and retrieve the downed bird. - Don't wring the bird's neck. If a bird is still struggling, compress its chest for 30 seconds until it expires. - Allow the bird to cool out. Put it in the shade for an hour, preferably not in your bird vest next to your warm body. - If you have cotton, put a twist of it in the bird's mouth to keep any blood from getting on the feathers. - Tuck the bird's head under its wing and double-wrap it in a plastic bag; then freeze it. A bird frozen with its head outstretched invariably ends up with a broken neck, "and it looks like Frankenstein when you're done mounting it," Huffman said. - Fill out a card with your full name and address, license and HIP (Harvest Information Program) numbers, telephone and e-mail, date of kill, and the species and sex of the bird. That way the taxidermist knows whose bird it is. A final tip: Most North American gamebirds molt their feathers in the summer. If you really want a nice trophy, think of taking a bird as late in the season as possible. The feathers will be firmer and thicker, and the mount will be more beautiful. Todd Huffman can be reached at Birdman Studios, 719-846-4567; www.birdmanstudios .com.