Where does a supply chain start? Since taxidermy (whether in Pennsylvania or anywhere else in the world) covers the techniques for preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of dead animals, birds or fishes so as to give them a lifelike appearance; you could say that the supply chain starts with someone going out and killing an animal to take to a taxidermist (often a whole animal but, sometimes, only the head or even a paw).
However, while whole stuffed animals, etc. might still be required from time to time for museums and classrooms, the public generally are no longer all that fond of having them in their homes (and, for many living things, killing them and having the carcass stuffed by a taxidermist is now against the law). It follows that the wholesale supply of animal body parts to taxidermists has become a thing of the past.
What Do Taxidermists Use?
Other than dead bodies, what are the tools and materials used in the taxidermy trade? The word taxidermy has its roots in the ancient Greek words for “the arrangement of skin” and, unlike embalming a dead body, the taxidermist removes the complete skin. Sharp knives and scalpels plus a lot of skill are required for this first stage. The skin will then have to undergo some preservation treatment that may require chemicals.
If a tiger skin is destined to become a rug; this could be the end of the process but; since there is no “lifelike appearance” this would not be taxidermy. Taxidermy requires that the skin be “filled out” as though there was still a body inside it.
At one time, the skin would be stuffed with a filling material and then sewn back together – hence the term “stuffed animals”. However, these days it is preferred to make an “inner skeleton like” frame on which to mount the preserved skin. Taxidermy supply in PA area will include the raw materials used to construct this internal support (mannequin). The animal’s real claws and teeth will be used, but artificial eyes will have to be purchased.
Some very large animals can be preserved and left free standing, but most examples of taxidermy require the finished “product” to be mounted. This can be anything from a wooden base to a quite sophisticated replica of the animal’s natural habitat.
The Hunter
Hunters and anglers often kill their prey purely to eat it, but many also like to keep a trophy of any outstanding kills – a whole large fish or the head of an exceptional animal. Usually, these trophies will be mounted on the walls of the hunters’ homes. An ornamental wooden plaque is a common Taxidermy Supply In PA for such trophy mounts.
