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Career Advice on How to Become A Taxidermist For some people Halloween is just not long enough or creepy enough. Thankfully, for these souls there is the job of taxidermist. Taxidermists, when all the trappings and social niceties are stripped away, have one seriously creepy job. The taxidermist takes a dead animal; usually something peaceful and harmless killed by a hunter from several hundred feet away, and mounts it. Yes, people actually get paid to stuff wild dead animal carcasses. It’s too weird to make up, so you know its true. |
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Career Facts:
If the idea of taking a dead animal, removing its skin, treating it and slapping it on a polyurethane form of some sort sounds like a good time, well, lucky you, it looks as though you may have found your calling in life. But don’t be fooled into thinking that the job is boring. As a taxidermist you will have the exciting opportunity to not only stuff mammals of all sorts. You will also have the opportunity to stuff birds, reptiles, and even exotic animals like the duckbilled platypus, if you are very, very lucky.
Now being a taxidermist is not all fun and games. There is more to it than showing those uppity woodland creatures “who is the man” is and shoving stuffing into their hollowed out skin. This work requires knowledge of anatomy as well as skills such as tanning and even painting. Its not sissy work either, only real “manly men” can perform work like this. So ladies think long and hard before attempting to enter this exciting profession that gives so much back to society.
Career Opportunities and Job Outlook-Unknown:
It is difficult to say how much longer the incredible art of taxidermy will be with us. Considering the rate at which wild species are being driven extinct one might want to act fast and get in on the action now.
A Day in The Life:
A day in the life of a taxidermist may involve listening to stories of manly men battling enraged wild deer from a quarter of a mile away, with little more than a high powered large caliber rifle. They are likely to spend hours mounting the dead animals so they may be displayed proudly on their customer’s wall of impressive accomplishments.
Average Salary:
The statistics on what taxidermist make annually is a bit scarce. In general, somewhere around $20,000 to $25,000 seems to be the norm.
$20k – $25k
Career Training and Qualifications:
A love of animals?