When people want to remember the thrill of the hunt or the look and stance of a well-loved pet, they call upon June Southerland, a taxidermist who has been in business for 35 years.
Southerland, who also is an experienced hunter, owns All Game Taxidermy in Palos Hills. Her first project was a duck, and she since has moved on to larger animals, including a bear. Taxidermy is an art form, she said, that takes years to perfect.
Q. How did you get interested in taxidermy?
A. My grandfather and father were taxidermists. Actually, they were farmers, but they did taxidermy for friends and family. So it was in my family. It’s like movie stars’ kids growing up to be movie stars.
Q. What does the process involve?
A. We skin the animal. It’s sort of like peeling a banana. We shape the skin to a mannequin (of the animal) and replace its eyes and teeth. People request certain stances. If the animal is attacking, they want its mouth open and it to be snarling. Or if it’s a pheasant, they might want it standing or flying.
Q. Who are your customers?
A. Mostly hunters and fishermen. But people ask us to do their pets too.
Q. What’s the most unusual project you’ve done?
A. Probably a lady’s horse. She’d had it for 25 years. I made a rug out of (the horse). It was like a memory of him that she wanted to keep around.
Q. How long does taxidermy take, and how much does it cost?
A. A bird or fish takes three weeks. Animals — a fox or deer’s head — take three to four months. The process for animals is longer and more involved. A fish costs $5.50 per inch, a deer head is $250 and a fox is $275.
Q. Why do your customers want to preserve the animals they’ve hunted?
A. Hunting is a primal instinct that goes back thousands of years. People are meant to be hunters, to kill their food. And (taxidermy) is a beautiful decoration, kind of like hanging a painting on a wall.
Q. What is a sign that taxidermy has not been done properly?
A. Usually a beginning taxidermist doesn’t know the structure of the animal or bird. In bad taxidermy, the animal looks crooked. It doesn’t look natural.
