For Algonquin taxidermist Laverne Brancamp, no job is too small-or too big.
In business as Vern’s Taxidermy for 25 years, Brancamp has done thousands of fish over the years, many of them shortly after they were caught in the Fox River. It takes about 4 1/2 hours of hands-on work to prepare, stuff and mount a walleye or trout for exhibit, which would be considered a small job. Then there’s the story of that giraffe a few years ago.
“There was a man from Inverness who brought back a giraffe from a safari seven or eight years ago,” Brancamp said. “That was quite a job. I had to rent a room with a 25-foot-high ceiling to do the job, and it took me the better part of two months. Put it this way: I’ve done one giraffe, and I don’t want to do a second one.”
Brancamp has also stuffed and mounted boars, geese, mountain lions, bears, rams, pheasants, weasels, bobcats and mountain goats. Prices start at $75 for a small bluegill; pheasants are $95, ducks are $125, deer heads are $200 and a lifesize bear would be from $1,200 to $1,800. By the way, the “stuffing” is actually a Styrofoam mannequin.
“I got involved in taxidermy growing up in Lake Zurich,” Brancamp said. “My dad liked to hunt and fish, and he’d bring a few pheasants home. I’d pluck the feathers out, dry them and save them. That’s what got me started in taxidermy.
“Later on I worked as a meat cutter for a few years, and I’ve made taxidermy my business since about 1968. I have a client in Texas who sends me ducks and geese all the time.”
What is it about these stuffed animals? “It’s a remembrance,” Brancamp said. “It doesn’t have to be a huge animal or trophy fish, either. A lot of my customers take fishing trips to Canada or Minnesota and they’ll bring a particular fish to me so they can remember their trip. It’s kind of like taking a picture. They’re saving a memory.”
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Vern’s Taxidermy, at 406 S. Main St., Algonquin, is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 7 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The shop also has fishing equipment, bait and supplies. Call 708-658-5813.
