HEADS AND HORNS 



195 



novel and artistic ways in which to mount trophies 

 of the chase is far beyond that of the commercial 

 taxidermists in America. Antlers in Europe are 

 not infrequently mounted on carved wooden 

 heads — and it is easy to find skilled wood-carvers, 

 artists in their line, in most European countries. 

 Such carvings are more attractive than inferior 

 or damaged taxidermy, and the owner need 

 apprehend no deterioration — for a few hundred 

 years at least. Much more frequently European 

 antlers are mounted with the entire skull, but 

 without the scalp, or with a section of the frontal 

 bone connecting the horns, on an elaborately 

 carved shield. The skull is blanched, and on it is 

 usually painted the date of killing, with the 

 owner's monogram — surmounted in most cases 

 by a coronet of some sort, for the European 

 big-game hunter usually belongs to the landed 

 aristocracy. 



Few animals have heads so lacking in grace 

 and beauty as the moose. The sacrifice of beauty, 

 accordingly, will not be great if the sportsman 

 accepts a suggestion from German or Austrian 

 source and has his moose antlers mounted on a 

 standard such as is often employed in mounting 

 the antlers of the red deer in the Continental 

 countries. The trophy thus becomes a decorative 



