HOW TO MOUNT A DEER HEAD. 



4i7 



the hand. But plaster of paris sets quickly, 

 can not be changed when it has once set, 

 and is much more difficult for a beginner to 

 handle successfully than clay is. Should it 

 set rough and uneven, it can be pared down 

 with a knife before it becomes dry and 

 hard. 



Build out the end of the nose with stiff 

 clay or a little plaster, but be careful not 

 to make it too long. 



Fill the space between the teeth and un- 

 der the jaws with clay and fill the eye 

 sockets nearly full. Build out the cheeks, 

 the jaws, the base of the skull, and the chin. 



The advantages of using a clay or plaster 

 covered form over the old way of ramming 

 tow or straw up the neck with a stick, are 

 many, but the principal ones are that the 

 correct shape is much more easily obtained, 

 the neck is not made too large, and the hide 

 dries clown on a smooth surface, and can- 

 not draw out of shape. With the old process 

 you are likely to get the filling uneven and 

 to stretch the hide out of proportion while 

 packing the filling as hard as it should be. 



Another advantage of the new method 

 is that the skin may be tried on as often 

 as you wish, and any changes made in the 

 form up to the time the skin is put on to 

 stay. 



Do not try to get the head in any " fancy " 

 position, such as a curved or crooked neck; 

 but try to get a natural, graceful, " straight 

 ahead " position. Later you may experi- 

 ment with such positions, but not at the 

 first attempt. When you are ready to put 

 the skin on the form and leave it there, re- 

 place the cartilage of the ears with sheet 

 lead hammered into the shape of the ear 

 cartilage, place the skin in position, ad- 

 just it carefully, catch it together at sev- 

 eral points to see that it fits nicely, and 

 sew it together with strong linen twine, just 

 as you would lace a shoe with one string. 

 Then fasten the skin around the base of each 

 antler by driving about 6 wire nails through 

 the edges of the hide and into the horn, 

 where you cut it loose when skinning it. 



If this is neglected the skin will draw 

 away from the antlers as soon as it begins 

 to dry, leaving a bare place at the base of 

 each burr. These nails should be cut off 

 below the hair, when the head is dry, 

 say about 2 weeks later. Next draw the 

 skin back to the base board, tack it every 

 half inch, and trim off the surplus skin. 

 Should you draw the hide back too tight, 

 you will have the ears 2 or 3 inches down 

 the neck, when they should be close up to 

 the antlers. Fill out the base of each ear 

 with clay, and imbed in it the sheet-lead 

 support. A good plan is to place the ears 

 where they belong and then drive a nail 

 down the centre of each one into the 

 form. 



If you have no sheet lead, and cannot 

 procure any, use strong pasteboard instead. 

 After the ear has been supported and prop- 



erly shaped and set, cut 2 pieces of card- 

 board the size of the cars and sew them fast 

 on the inside of each ear, sewing through 

 and through all around the edges. These 

 ear forms should remain in place a month 

 or 2. Some taxidermists do not remove the 

 ear cartilage at all, but if left in, within a 

 year or 2 the ears will curl and crinkle, and 

 always get out of shape while drying if they 

 are not supported. 



When skinning out the skull you will find 

 that the skin grows fast to the bottom of 

 2 small cavities immediately in front of the 

 eyes. Fasten this bare spot back where it 

 came from, with 2 black-headed tacks. 



Finish filling the eye sockets with clay 

 or putty, if you have no clay, and place 

 the eyes in position. Your own judgment 

 and correctness of eye must tell you when 

 you have given the eyes the nroper posi- 



4. DRYING. 



tion without bulging, or sticking out too 

 far. 



Care must be taken to have both eyes set 

 exactly alike, and not to have one out of 

 focus, or looking cross-eyed. 



Introduce clay or putty through the nos- 

 trils, and fill out the nose and lips to their 

 proper size and shape. 



When you have the right quantity of clay 

 in the end of the nose, the chin, and under 

 the lips, it is a pleasure, not labor, to model 

 the muzzle into the exquisite shape it pos- 

 sessed in life. A little surplus of clay is 

 easily removed. You should keep watch of 

 the head for a week, to see that all its parts 

 dry in good shape and to correct errors 

 that may have been overlooked at first. 



In 3 or 4 days the clay will dry sufficient- 

 ly so there will be no danger of the nose 

 getting crooked, or the eyes awry. 



