Today was very productive! I got 2 ducks mounted, a drake American widgeon and drake canvas back. The widgeon is 1 of a pair that will be mounted on the same piece of wood for J. Dalton. The hen will be mounted down below the drake in a landing pose. She is scheduled for first thing in the morning. I will post pictures of the pair when the hen is mounted.
I have to say the canvas back was one of the toughest birds I’ve mounted in quite a while because it was freezer burned. It was a real struggle to get the feather tracts to stay in the correct places. I finally got it in good looking shape. We will see what it looks like when its dried! Let me take this time to stress that if you plan on mounting any animal, especially a bird, you must store it properly before taking it to the taxidermist. Putting it in a grocery bag and then sticking it in the freezer will not protect the animal in any way. It may as well be just laying in the freezer unprotected. To store a bird, or any animal for that matter, place it in a trash bag and wrap it up while removing as much air as possible, but being careful not to damage the feathers. Then place the wrapped bird inside another trash bag and seal the bag with masking tape. When stored in this manner, a bird can remain frozen for up to a year with no damage or freezer burn!
