Is it normal i think taxidermy is so bizarre?

77% Normal

I find it a creepy, gross and cute. I also think it is seriously freakin' weird! Who gets excited about removing the insides of poor dead creatures and stuffing them with fluff? It's just such an odd art form. Is it even art? It depends on how it's done?

Vivid Memory: When I was really little (maybe 7-ish), I enjoyed making clay sculptures for my mother. One day I was trying to make a bird. The body and the wings; no problem. The head; it wouldn't work. Not only would my muddy head not stay on the perfected body, the beak look all blunt and wrong. I gave up, but I saved the body. Then later that day, I came across a dead bird the cat had killed. It was fresh, no maggots. I got my dads metal shovel and delicately used it to remove the head. It came off easily without any gore so I was not deterred. A little more mud and it fit perfectly onto it's new clay body. I presented it to my mother. It made her very angry, I was in so much trouble. :(

So maybe my feelings about taxidermy have been tainted by my childhood experience. is it normal to think taxidermy is taboo?

Voting Results

77% Normal

Based on 97 votes (75 yes)

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Comments ( 26 )

Sir Reginald Fisticuffs III

11 years ago

Much to the contrary - taxidermye is the leisurely pursuite of gentlemen! Stuffinge animals with the sheared tresses of other beastes is surely an emblem of the trumph of mankinde!

Signed,

Sir Reginald Fisticuffs III

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  11 years ago
  
  Dear Sir Reginald Fisticuffs III,
  
  Does that apply to ladies as well?
  
  Yours truly,
  Anonymous Poll Creator
  
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  - Sir Reginald Fisticuffs III
    
    11 years ago
    
    The moderne etiquette of a lady demands that she not besmirch her petticoat. The handlinge of field beastes would surely tarnish one's repute!
    
    Signed,
    
    Sir Reginald Fisticuffs III
    
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    - jondoerandom
      
      11 years ago
      
      ROFL!
      
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dappled

11 years ago

I have a friend who is obsessed with it. Every birthday he gets a stuffed badger or something. But yes, it is weird. I visited a lot of stately homes as a kid and seeing stuffed tigers and lions was, to be honest, a bit of a thrill. Touching them was a rare privilege given that you couldn't do it while they were alive.

But then I saw one tiger that had been stuffed very badly. The eyes were wonky, it had lost some of the shape of its face and the body was awful too. A peculiar kind of sadness and anger crept over me and, to this day, has never left me. It's bad enough that a beautiful animal was shot just to be stuffed and put on display, but that it was stuffed so badly? It almost seemed to make a joke out of the life of the tiger. It's actually upsetting me to write this.

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  11 years ago
  
  I still remember petting a stuffed iguana when I was four. I was mesmerized by the papery feel of it's sparkly green and blue scales... Until I was told to "stop touching" it. I touched twice more after that, I couldn't resist.
  
  A friend brought back a big stuffed frog from Mexico once. That was bad. It had on an ugly floral button-up blouse on and was holding a fake saxophone while it stood upright on it's back legs. It was so gross and horrific, but so terrible that it was somehow intriguing.
  
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SLAYERoftheWICKED

11 years ago

you dont "stuff" an animal.you mount it.

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- Justsomejerk
  
  11 years ago
  
  I am so hard right now!
  
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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  11 years ago
  
  But "stuffing" sounds kinder than "mounting".
  
  Teddybears are stuffed with fluff, so real bears are stuffed with fluff too.
  
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  - SLAYERoftheWICKED
    
    11 years ago
    
    no,real bears are not stuffed with fluff.a real mounted bear is a foam mannequin with the bears skin wrapped around it.
    
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Who_Fan4Life

11 years ago

I hope someone stuffs this guy when I die!

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- iEatZombies_
  
  11 years ago
  
  With candy?
  
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NocturnePonyFan

11 years ago

Nope. Chuck Testa.

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purpleflower

11 years ago

When it is in a museum, I think it is the most fascinating thing, But if it's in someone's house... I try not to stay there too long.

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myweirdself16

11 years ago

Taxidermy for science and historical purposes I'm okay with, but when people make trophies or just make a joke out of some poor organism's body I personally think it's wrong.

There are just certain things I wouldn't call "art" either. However for me, being somewhat of an artist, taking pictures of an already freeze-framed animal that I might not see unless I walk through a jungle is very helpful.

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OswaldCobblepot

11 years ago

Taxidermy creeps me out. Always has.

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KeddersPrincess

11 years ago

I stuff humans for only $9.99.

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alv1592

11 years ago

I think it's kinda creepy. I mean, you're keeping a dead animal. I wish I could keep my pets forever, but I know they'll be gone someday, and I'll simply remember them by keeping pictures and remembering the good times.

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[Old Memory]

11 years ago

It's very creepy indeed.

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Finding_Peace_In_A_Mad_World

11 years ago

I , personally am not a big of it. I had a friend once who's dad had tons of those animals all around the house and it just creeped me out.

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Aless

11 years ago

personally i freakin love it i mean the ability to keep something dead as it was once is pretty awesome no ?
perhaps a bit weird since it was once alive but if it were up to me when i die id wish for my partner to keep me stuffed lol ...maybe...and it is art lol

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  11 years ago
  
  I thought it was cute in the movie, Dinner For Schmucks. Those mice were adorable.
  
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Captain_Kegstand

11 years ago

The picture that you included is one of the worst examples of taxidermy I have ever seen! HaHaHa!!!

I don't mind normal taxidermy, but find it strange when people mount deer asses with fake eyes and teeth and sell them as a big foot joke. So weird!

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jondoerandom

11 years ago

Hmm.. i don't see a point in taxidermy, really. Unless it's for museums and etc.

Although I don't see anything wrong with it anyway. I wish we could do it on dead humans as well. Since it's taboo to display your enemies' heads on spikes on your gates (yeah, it's a health hazard, and there are lots of flies and smell for a few days). I think that a whole stuffed corpse could be a really nice addition to my house!

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  11 years ago
  
  I watched a movie a couple of years ago (Tideland) that was about a little girl who moves to the country with her father (Jeff Bridges). He dies and his female neighbour, who's been in love with him since they were children, does him the taxidermy way after he croaks. It wasn't a scary show, just mega creepy.
  
  People do not look good when they've been stuffed.
  
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  - jondoerandom
    
    11 years ago
    
    I dunno, the ancient egyptians were pretty good at that! maybe we could learn a thing or two from them, lol.
    
    I'll check out that movie, cheers!
    
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Are You Normal?

Is it normal i think taxidermy is so bizarre?