I have always like
birds, and have been studying them since I was able
to read During my younger years I always had collections of bird figures, nests that
I would find, and a few eggs and skulls. Most of the
stuff I wasn't allowed to keep long but while I had
them I'd dreamed of having a hugh collections of such
things so I would be able to show these things to
others so they can learn as much as I had from them.
I also always had
birds, basically give aways that no one else wanted
anymore, like parakeets, and finches, and every now
and than a bird that was abandoned or hurt that I
would help. My parents also let me go up about every
year to raise a few duckling to release when the
birds grew up. I loved going to the zoo but was
always disappointed at the fact most of the birds
there I could find at the pet stores. I always
dreamed of having my own collection to show others as
well... I call these dreams my La-La Land
When I meet my
husband he was a hunter and from him and his brother
I learned how to preserve wings and started a wing
collection. I always wanted a stuff pheasant but
never dreamed I would ever really get one for... well
it is beyond my budget. I never imagined that I would
be doing it for myself either!
One day while hunting the clearance section
in Wal-Mart (my favorite isle) we stumbled on a book
on taxidermy. I was going to pass it up, but my (now)
husband insisted! On our wedding day he brought home
a pheasant! A week later I had what I always
wanted... My stuffed pheasant! No it's not perfect -
it was/is the first bird I ever mounted. I hated the
whole process. I never skinned a bird (or anything
else) in the first place - but when I was done I was
proud! I wanted to do another, but my husband had a
bad year of hunting and I got nothing more to do. I
had a few donations from people but it wasn't enough.
Spring came around and It was time to take
my yearly trip to get a few baby ducks to raise (a
tradition since I was in 2nd grade) but this time
instead of spending my money on live baby ducks, I
got a dead adult male mallard and 3 dead baby
ducklings. All of which I mounted in a week! And
somehow practice kept falling in my lap, and with
every new mount I got better and learned more.
Now, I never planned on selling my work to
the public, but when my son. P.J. was born I had a
hard time going back to work, I paid half my wage to
a baby sitter, who spent more time with him than I
did! So I took a day off to think and took the trip
to get some more birds (Maybe that would cheer me
up!) My birds came out better than planned. A few
weeks later I quit my job and started selling my
wares on ebay - my life long collections and the few
of the baby ducklings I had done for myself. They
went great - and I got more request for them off of
ebay.
As more birds sold I
got requests for different birds, different poses,
and pictures of my work. This site was created and
the search was on. I contacted breeders nd made
agreements to buy unsellable or dead babies from
them. Each year I find new breeders offering
different breeds.
Fancie's Taxidermy
has been growing slowly ever since. See Fancie's
Avain dream to learn the future of this buisness. See
Fancie's blog for newer updates and latest opinions
and rants.
had collections of bird figures, nests that
I would find, and a few eggs and skulls. Most of the
stuff I wasn't allowed to keep long but while I had
them I'd dreamed of having a hugh collections of such
things so I would be able to show these things to
others so they can learn as much as I had from them. 
One day while hunting the clearance section
in Wal-Mart (my favorite isle) we stumbled on a book
on taxidermy. I was going to pass it up, but my (now)
husband insisted! On our wedding day he brought home
a pheasant! A week later I had what I always
wanted... My stuffed pheasant! No it's not perfect -
it was/is the first bird I ever mounted. I hated the
whole process. I never skinned a bird (or anything
else) in the first place - but when I was done I was
proud! I wanted to do another, but my husband had a
bad year of hunting and I got nothing more to do. I
had a few donations from people but it wasn't enough.
Spring came around and It was time to take
my yearly trip to get a few baby ducks to raise (a
tradition since I was in 2nd grade) but this time
instead of spending my money on live baby ducks, I
got a dead adult male mallard and 3 dead baby
ducklings. All of which I mounted in a week! And
somehow practice kept falling in my lap, and with
every new mount I got better and learned more.
Now, I never planned on selling my work to
the public, but when my son. P.J. was born I had a
hard time going back to work, I paid half my wage to
a baby sitter, who spent more time with him than I
did! So I took a day off to think and took the trip
to get some more birds (Maybe that would cheer me
up!) My birds came out better than planned. A few
weeks later I quit my job and started selling my
wares on ebay - my life long collections and the few
of the baby ducklings I had done for myself. They
went great - and I got more request for them off of
ebay.