Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit / A Guide for Those Who Wish to Prepare and Mount Animals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, etc., for Home, Den, or Office Decoration

by Albert Burton Farnham

THE MOLD.—Wash the fish in water to remove dirt and mucus. On a board somewhat longer and wider than the fish, place a sufficient amount of moist sand in which to imbed the specimen to one-half its depth when lying on its side in the desired position. Level the sand and hollow it out for the larger part of the body. Large fish should be displayed straight, with the mouth closed or only slightly open. Smaller and more graceful ones may be shown in positions of activity; rising to fly, breaking away, etc. If the mouth is to be open, fill it with cotton or cloth in order to keep out the plaster. Place the fish in the position you wish it to have when mounted, the side to be displayed uppermost. See that the dorsal and anal fins, and the tail, lie flat on the sand, and that one-half the body appears above the sand its entire length. There must be no uneven places. Viewed from the end, it should appear like Fig. 3; from the side, like Fig. 4.

Heap up the sand all around, about an inch from the fish, to prevent the plaster flowing off the board.

Mix a sufficient amount of plaster to cover the fish to a depth of about half an inch, covering the fins and tail as well as the body. Mix the plaster by stirring a little at a time into cold water until it has the consistency of cream. Place the pectoral and ventral fins flat against the body. Pour the plaster over the fish slowly and evenly (covering the head, tail and edges first), allowing it time to dry until quite hard, perhaps thirty to forty minutes. Then turn the mold over (it will appear like Fig. 2) and, by inserting the fingers in the gills, carefully remove the fish. Lay the mold aside for a time. Wash all sand and plaster from the fish.

SKINNING THE FISH.—If the fish has scales easily dislodged, wrap it, with the exception of the fins and tail, in several thicknesses of tissue paper, which will readily adhere to the moist skin. Lay the fish on your table, on the side which was covered by the plaster and place wet cloths on the fins and tail to prevent drying. Commence at the gills and make two cuts with the scissors or scalpel lengthwise of the fish to the tail, cutting into the abdominal cavity below, joining these cuts (see Fig. 5), removing the strip of skin, including the pectoral fin, with adhering flesh, and the contents of the cavity.

With the fingers, or tweezers, grasp the cut edge of the skin of the back and with the scalpel carefully separate it from the flesh as far as the middle line of the back from the head to the tail. Remove the exposed flesh to the backbone. With the knife, shears or fine tooth saw, split the head lengthwise a little to one side of the middle, leaving somewhat more than half. Do not sever the skin of the body where it comes to a point between the gills, and use great care when removing the flesh from this portion.

You now have a trifle more than one-half the fish to work on. With the scissors cut through the ribs and remove the backbone with some of the flesh. Be careful when cutting through the backbone at the tail not to cut through the skin below. Going back to the head, remove the remaining flesh, and with the curved scissors and scalpel cut away all the cartilage possible from the head; the more the better so long as the skin is not injured. If enough of the cartilage can be removed to expose the muscles of the cheek from the inside, cut them away, taking out the eye; otherwise it will be necessary to work from the outside of the skin through the eye opening, and this must be done very carefully or the skin of the cheek may be broken. With most fishes it is possible to remove all the cartilage from the head, and this should be done to prevent shrinkage. If the mouth is to be open, do not cut away its lining or much of the tongue behind. The tongue is to be split perpendicularly lengthwise and about one-third of it removed. When the head has been thoroughly cleaned, remove the remaining flesh from the body with the skin scraper or scalpel.

The ventral fin which is uppermost as the fish lies on its side and is not to show, should be carefully cut off outside the skin. Do not cut off the ventral fin on the side which is to be displayed. Do not scrape away the silvery lining of the skin if this can be avoided. Some of it will come off. Cut away the bases of all the fins and the tail inside with the curved scissors and scrape away all flesh, working close to the fingers so as not to stretch the skin. Tie the vent inside with thread. Unless the fish is quite small, the skin of the lower jaw must be loosened with the knife or scalpel and the muscles cut away. The adipose, or small fleshy fin on the back near the tail of such fishes as the trout, must be carefully opened from the inside of the skin with a small-bladed knife and the contents removed, to be later replaced with clay.

Place the skin in water to loosen the paper—if any has been used—carefully washing the skin and wetting the fins and tail thoroughly. You may allow the skin to remain in the water until you are ready to put it back in the mold, but not longer than a few hours.