Prey Taxidermy

07/11/2024

Upcoming class! We have a few spots left in our July 20th Red Fox & Coyote class - including open mouth! We won’t be having another mammal course until late fall and then early 2025.

Did we mention that we were just featured in Smithsonian Magazine? More on that soon!

Here are some in-process photos of our April class with our diligent students working hard on their taxidermy skills.

You can learn more by visiting my profile.

📸 by

05/17/2024

Introducing “Flock You” Fridays! In this blog series, we here at take a fun look at some aspects of taxidermy (or taxidermy-adjacent topics) that ruffle our feathers. We dispel misinformation and educate you along the way!⁣
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Our introductory blog, “Flock You, Borax” is written by .pajaro and discusses the reasons behind not using Borax as a key preservative on mammal skins. We’ll also give you information about the proper way to tan a pelt so it will last for years.⁣
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Let us know if there’s some s**t that really gets your Gopher!⁣
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Check out the post on our website — www.preytaxidermy.com/blog — and let us know your thoughts!

05/15/2024

Hey, it’s one of our favorite people, Tim Bovard from the NHMLA, profiled by ! 👏⁣
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Tim is ’s mentor, and he’ll be joining us as an instructor in our Wrapped Body Red Fox⁣ class this October (more info on our website). 🦊 We feel so fortunate to have him co-teach some of our advanced classes!⁣
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Check the Iink in our IG profile to learn all about North America’s last remaining full-time museum taxidermist — and then come learn all about taxidermy from Tim himself in October.⁣
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For our students who have taken a class with Tim, do you have any favorite memories (Tim-ories?) of this taxidermy legend?⁣
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(📷 credit: James Bartlett)⁣
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05/10/2024

Taxidermy made it to HBO 😂 Taxidermy.net was highlighted on HBO on the John Oliver show! The segment is at 55 second in. Too funny!

https://youtu.be/42xZB80sZaI?si=Eqj11jQTrHbh7bJ9

John Oliver explains why public libraries are under attack, where those challenges are coming from, and how you really spell “Berenstain." Trust us, it’s not...

03/12/2024

Taxidermy curious or looking to learn more about museum taxidermy? Come to our Taxidermy Lab 101 evening event. Raffle for $200 off any future taxidermy course! - https://mailchi.mp/0e65d5f9a2d5/finally-prey-taxidermy-merch-5445862

03/12/2024

‘Wrapping bodies’ is both a traditional way of making taxidermy forms and a highly effective way of making custom forms. These forms are created with wood wool, wire and string. Very green! Each part of the anatomy is created separately based on the body of the animal, tracings or educated trials based on reference material. Here, one of our apprentices, is created a wrapped-body Red Fox with only reference from another fox, online reference and anatomical illustrations. She is using a commercial fox head, but you can also create your own.
Once the basic anatomy (body, limbs, neck, tail, head) are created, the armature assembled, is roughly posed, and smoothed with more string and cotton. Because the wrapped form is relatively soft, it can be more accurately posed after the skin is on.
We are honored to be having Tim Bovard of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles teaching this course along with myself, .pajaro and the rest of the crew.
Find your way to our site for more information and sign up for this course.

02/02/2024

Mammal class graduates! So proud of all our students from the 2-day beginning mammals course. Our students made fantastic Raccoons and took home lots of resources for their own creations. This was a truly wonderful group of humans and I hope to see them back at Prey for another workshop. And, we can’t wait to see what they create!

If you are looking for upcoming classes, look at our classes page on the net. We just posted a Red Fox course for graduates of our beginning mammals courses. We also have two sudden openings for Birds 101 next weekend — AND graduates of Bird 101 can take Quail in March with my mentor, Tim Bovard of The Natural History Museum.

Lots of courses and events coming up. We’re so honored to be bringing people into the world of museum taxidermy and our truly unique community here at Prey.

*If we didn’t post your photo from class it’s only because we didn’t hear from you about permission. We loved you all!

01/16/2024

I’ve just realized that in March I have been teaching Birds 101 for exactly a decade! So much has changed in that time. Overall, the traditional taxidermy methods remain, but my techniques and skills to teach it have certainly evolved. Not to mention the studio space!

I look back on that first class and am still very proud of it. And, my students’ work has always been a great source of pride for me. But, I won’t deny that I’m especially proud to how the curriculum and class structure have developed lately.

We now have a large monitor for students to watch each demo magnified, diagrams for anatomy and wiring, a large crew of Prey staff to assist students, a pdf of detailed step-by-step instructions and some of my favorite grooming tools to take home.

Aaaand I’m proud to announce that Prey is now providing our class graduates with gorgeous Victorian-style certificates of achievement for each class they complete. Each one is printed on fine linen paper and is adorned with our Prey Taxidermy wax seal. We know these stunning certificates will be displayed with great pride.

(Previous students will get the opportunity to purchase them for their completed courses soon.)

We do have a Birds 101 coming up in February with a few open spots. It may be our last one until the summer. I hope to see some new faces in class. It’s near Valentine’s Day; fall in love with taxidermy like I did so long ago.

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12/17/2023

Little preview of the work we did in our workshops in Italy. This is with his fantastic Red-Legged Partridge. We ended doing birds from a third-generation Italian bird farmer and also ate them! Farm to table… to taxidermy.
This was a week-long intensive and challenging workshop. I cannot wait to show more of my students- who traveled from France, Germany, Australia, Canada and the USA. I was so proud of them and forever grateful for their incredible work, motivation and the connection we all made. More to come!

12/17/2023

12/05/2023

It’s time for the world to know that you’re reviving this ‘dead art’.
This holiday season you can deck yourself with new Prey-branded apparel and accessories!

Check it out: https://www.preytaxidermy.com/collections/merchandise

Choose from hoodies, our birding cap, patches, the ‘Tim’ sweater, a Prey tote and the classic ‘Animal Bits’ apron- all of which are emblazoned with Prey’s iconic European Starling skull logo.

Holiday orders should be placed by December 10th, 2023

Because we’re just starting out with our merchandise, for the time being we’re only shipping within the US. We’ll keep you updated when that changes! More merch items, designs, sizes and colors to come.

**We're also looking for our diverse student population to model our merch!
Tag us at in your merch and if we use your photo you'll get a free piece of your choice!**

12/04/2023

January small birds course at Prey Taxidermy! 🐦‍⬛🎁❄️
Just in time for you to give that strange someone the gift of learning taxidermy— or maybe the gift is for you!

https://www.preytaxidermy.com/products/jan-small-bird-taxidermy-class

Our European Starlings class (AKA Birds 101) is the gateway to your taxidermy journey. And, is the required prerequisite for several upcoming courses— such as our February Quail course with Tim Bovard of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Learn museum taxidermy techniques in our professional 1800sq ft taxidermy studio. All tools, supplies and specimens are top quality and provided for you. There is no other course that offers this level of instruction in the world.

*These specimens are non-native, invasive pests that destroy crops and the nest of native birds. These were collected as part of eradication and not for the purpose of taxidermy.*

Photos by Suzanne Strong SuzanneStrong.la

11/14/2023

Who’s got cats and bats on his shoulders and teaching is quail this weekend?
This guy! 👆🏻
It’s Tim Bovard of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and he’ll be at Prey this weekend teaching quail. I’m talkin’ Mountain Quail. I’m talkin’ California Quail. Gambles Quail? We got ‘em!

Ok, enough of sounding like a used-cars salesman. That was fun though. This course has been sold out for months however we just had someone who sadly had to drop out. Join us for this rare opportunity to learn from one of the few remaining museum taxidermists and my mentor teaching various species of quail that he hunted and ate himself.

*This class is for returning Prey Students (or experienced taxidermists) who have completed our European Starling course.*

See the link in my profile for sign up.

08/26/2023

Want to learn taxidermy? Join us in Italy for an immersive master-class experience. October 2023

At the International Center of the Arts in Monte Castello Italy, Prey will be teaching both birds & mammals courses.
Accommodations, local travel, private chef, excursions to Rome & Florence, and support to get your final pieces home will all be provided by ICArts. 
It’s a truly an amazing opportunity to learn the craft in this extended course abroad. (Seriously, nothing like it in the world.)

This intensive workshop will be a hands-on immersion into the art and science of taxidermy for conservation and public education. Students will creat ...

08/11/2023

How do you mount an animal that is swimming or in-flight?
The most important aspects are:
1) Structural stability
2) Sight lines

Structural stability means that you’ll usually want to stay away from string or cords as support unless you have little to no wind or other variables that might cause movement. Wire / rod is a better alternative if you can conceal & anchor it.

On this Otter form, I have 2 points of attachment. One threaded rod would probably hold, but it could spin. I have 2 or 3 points of attachment when I can.

Sight lines can hide a lot! On this swimming Otter, you’d really have to get closely over or under to see the connection. Outside of the competition world, if someone wants to crouch down super far and get in super close, who cares? You can also paint things out, add habitat, put on a piece of drywood with sea brush. Get creative!

This assembly:
We have used threaded rod that will be inserted into the Otter form and supported on a temporary wood stand.
To permanently affix the form to the rod, Bondo will be squirted into the holes in the form that I drilled. Then the rods are pushed into the holes- holding our Otter in its pose once the Bondo is dry. (I added additional nuts & electrical tape to the rod to mark desired depth.) The skin will be sewn around the rods when mounted.

This Otter form belongs to one of our students doing an advanced course at Prey. Once their Otter is mounted, dry and finishing work is completed, they can take their Otter off the stand and install on whatever they want!

To find out about advanced classes at Prey, you must complete one of our beginner-level courses like Small Birds or Beginner Mammals. We often don’t post them publicly.
If you have taxidermy experience, email us via our website & submit photos of your projects.

Stand-by for photos from this Otters class! (All specimens are from depredation/ abatement. Deaths not related to the art.)
Link in my profile to upcoming classes!

08/08/2023

HUGE announcement— and we answer all your taxidermy questions on our Instagram Live tomorrow August 9th at 5:30PM PST / 8:30PM EST
Just head to instagram.com/allis at that time and click on our profile pic.

07/11/2023

Anyone else have a ‘pet’ house spider? Lesley here catches most any fly I see around the house within 24 hours.
I felt like she needed to be celebrated & protected.

PS - Lesley is also my sister’s name 😂

07/10/2023

Every wonder what the inside of a Sea Lion flipper looks like?

It’s really not much different from you and me. Here’s my hand next to a female California Sea Lion front flipper. *Swipe at your own risk to see the skinned digits.*

Ok, maybe it’s just a little creepy. I wouldn’t want this tapping me on the shoulder in a dark corridor.

(California Sea Lions are a protected species. This one died of natural causes and was mounted for a museum.)

06/24/2023

Spent some time with some very, very, very old friends. In fact, these Galapagos Tortoises are over 100 years old!
Its always important for me to see live animals - for reference material, behavioral education and honestly for my spirit to see them alive!
I will be sharing more photos, videos and amazing information about them soon. In the meantime, just imagine spending a sunny afternoon with a 125 year old 460lb lettuce lover.

🐢

Check out Allis Markham's video.

06/22/2023

clips from last weeks online taxidermy course. In this session created a custom polyurethane foam taxidermy head-form for a Serval.
You can still sign up! You’ll receive a recording of this course and the next two to keep forever.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/experiences/taxidermy-techniques-course

First, we created a deathmask of a Serval (died at a zoo) using alginate & plaster. Then we used that deathmask to create a bondo 2-part mold. Into the 2-part mold we poured our polyurethane expanding foam that hardened into our custom head-form for our taxidermy manikin.
These skill enable you to mold and cast basically anything!

Tonight we’ll be learning mammal skinning and tanning. And, each skill comes with supply lists, tool lists, instructions and other helpful documents.
Hope to see you there!

Check out Allis Markham's video.

06/15/2023

I love all the interesting skills I’ve learned by doing taxidermy. It’s like being a scientist, a butcher, a leather worker, a woodworker, a model maker, a painter and a miracle maker (hopefully!) I’ll be excited to share more tomorrow!

Here’s us releasing our polyurethane head form from a 2-part mold we created with the Serval deathmask (in the previous video). Lots of other steps in between which you can learn tomorrow in our online course BUT you do NOT have to watch in live: you’ll get video recordings to download forever.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/experiences/taxidermy-techniques-course

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT81tTpMe/

Check out Allis Markham's video.

06/07/2023

We have just 2 spots left for fox class June 17th!
But what are classes like at Prey? Well, I don’t think you’ll find any taxidermy class like it in the world.
These are some photos some mammal classes we did. We have a 1800 square foot working taxidermy studio where students can see how specimens are created for museums across the country. — And, we teach those same museum-level techniques to our students.

We always use the best tools, supplies, forms and specimens. Our specimens are collected from depredation / pest control and are rigorously prepared by our staff to make sure every student has the best specimen to work with.
Students always use properly tanned skins, the best forms & eyes available, earliners, gorgeous wood bases, professional grade tools and we allow students to choose poses — even open-mouth for some courses!
There are at least 4 or 5 staff so that every student gets personal attention and hands-on help. In some of our more advanced classes we even bring on my mentor, Tim Bovard, from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Basically, we don’t play around or cut corners. We teach taxidermy.

But, we do have fun! In our classes you can expect to meet people who are the same ‘weird’ and curious as you. Our students love animals, art, science— and often each other! We hope to see you here.
Head to PreyTaxidermy.com to learn more!

06/06/2023

When you remove the skin of an animal, you cannot help but use your own anatomy to understand how that animal might work. The crazy thing is that in many cases you see that we all have the same basic mechanics - just arranged differently. This is the skinned front paw of a Mountain Lion as compared to my hand.

You can learn proper mammal skinning techniques as part of my upcoming online courses June 15, 22 and 29. You also get to keep the recordings forever.
This 3-part series also includes a death masks into headforms class and a course on skull cleaning & articulation. I hope to see you there. https://www.atlasobscura.com/experiences/taxidermy-techniques-course

05/15/2023

Learn to create death masks and more in my upcoming online course.
I’ll be teaching a series of 3 online courses in June focusing on both beginner and advanced taxidermy skills. And guess what? You can keep the videos and documents forever.

I’ll be live online teaching the following sessions:
- Creating death masks to cast a head form
- Skinning and tanning a mammal for museum-level mounts
- Skull cleaning & articulation

Sign up here! https://www.atlasobscura.com/experiences/taxidermy-techniques-course

Photos:
- Behind-the-scenes at NHMLA. The wall of death mask reference.
- Death mask to cast polyurethane head to taxidermy head form.
- Cat skin test-fit over head form.

I hope to see you there!

05/01/2023

Reference is key, but it’s important not to fight the natural issues a specimen might have to achieve an exact pose.
I was given this photo of a Wood Thrush to try to match for The Bird House at The Smithsonian’s National Zoo. I absolutely love these types of challenges.
While I wanted to get as close to their reference as possible, this Thrush had a broken right wing and some of the neck feathers were missing. Therefore, the wing position is slightly different and the neck is more condensed.
These are very very slight changes, but often I have to do a different pose altogether. It’s kind of like doing your hair: some days it’s just going to do what it wants to do.
That’s my zen message for the day.
**Protected specimen worked on under federal MBTA permit**

04/30/2023

Peek-a-boo.

Sometimes I use my partner’s Tesla to deliver taxidermy for museums that are far away. It’s fully electric, has an auto-drive feature, and the seats fold down far enough to fit one standing American White Pelican.

04/29/2023

Symmetry is a process. I’m currently working to re-sculpt a Bobcat head (almost completely) and I’m trying to make it as symmetrical as possible before I add more detail.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned is never to trust my own eyes or my own brain; they make assumptions and fill in gaps. You want to find ways tools to realign your thinking.
When I was training at under Tim Bovard, we had a mirror in the taxidermy studio. It turns out that it was not for me to check my hair.
We would hold up the piece to the mirror and see what stuck out to us. It was amazing! I saw all the flaws that my eyes glossed over. Dang, back to work!
Here, you can see a took a pic of the face form and added grid lines. I have a lot of work to do on this! There almost no back jaw muscle on the right side. Whoa!
There’s quite a few other changes (bigger chin, etc) but at least you can see part of my ‘check yo self’ process. I hope this helps!

04/27/2023

This is what your Ruddy Duck tail looks like. This is what it looks like on drugs.

Ok, clearly I’m kidding about the drugs. Unless you consider drugs being some fun in the sun after winter and wearing out your tail feathers.

We deal with specimens usually from salvage for museums, I get what I get and (like on Fashion Runway), I have to ‘make it work’. Sometimes making it work involves using more than one specimen of the same species to make one good bird for the final piece. We call these ‘Franken-Birds’ around here.
Bad tail? Find a good one and sew it on. Bad wings? Find a donor bird with good ones. Bad mood? Get over it.

Now, we don’t always have an extra bird from the client so then we use a pose or even habitat to cover these bad areas. And yes, sometimes we have to tell the client it’s not viable but we try our best. Even a prime specimen doesn’t turn into a perfect mount— there is no such thing! But I do learn from every challenge and that’s the real ‘drug’ for me.

PS - We have so many classes coming up! Check out the link in my profile to view classes and sign up for our mailing list. Mammals and birds!

04/11/2023

Taxidermy event this Thursday!
I’m super excited to announce that I’ll be doing a talk at The Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz April 13th! A truly unique and wondrous place.

I’ll be giving a talk on the process of taxidermy for education & conservation and my person philosophy on the craft.

Admission is a suggested donation and you can follow the link in my bio to reserve tickets.

See you this Thursday at 7!

01/30/2023

Is a rat a good beginner specimen for taxidermy? Yes and no.
Yes, because they are easily available from pest control but also no because small animals are generally more delicate and small details are difficult. Rodent faces are also quite complex.

I would say, it’s easy to taxidermy a rat and hard to taxidermy a rat well.

Here are just some of the steps I took in my attempt to taxidermy a Norway Rat well.
- I created a death-mask of a Norway Rat using alginate and then pulled two plaster casts.
- I filed & sculpted over one death-mask as to create some life / expression and provide more material in my form for altering later. The other was for reference.
- I made quick bondo mold and filled with 8lb polyurethane foam. It gave me a big, but alterable facial form to which I added some teeth I made.
- Using the posed carcass as reference, I wrapped a body from wood wool, cotton, wire and string.
- The skin (which was prepped completely with every toe removed to the nail, ears opened, etc) was fully pickled with formic acid and wet tanned with Lutan F
- The ears and toes were filled with bondo & shaped.
- Glass eyes added and a slightly possible tail with a silicone inner core was created.
- Test fit, alter, test fit, alter, etc until finally mounting, drying and doing finishing work.

Was this overkill on both time & materials on a rat? Yes and no. This rat is going to be part of traveling museum diorama crated by .loud.cow So I needed to make him extremely realistic from a close distance.

Is he a perfect Rat? No. Never met one. But he was a perfect opportunity for me to focus on some of the intricacies of doing small mammals.

Plus, he scared people around the studio kitchen.