Taxidermist advice? Preserving/transporting old mounts

[Swamp_Yankee]

My 91 year old grandmother is nearing the end of her battle with Alzheimer's, which has been very tough on my parents (she has been living with them for the last two years) and the other day my dad asked if I would want any of my grandfather's (he passed about 25 years ago) mounts as soon they'll have to begin the process of cleaning out the house, etc...  Of course we want to keep as many of them in the family as we can.

Some of these mounts could be as much as 60+ years old and the newest has to be 30+ as he wasn't able to hunt for almost the last 10 years of his life.  As much as I want to preserve these pieces of family history I'm terrified at the thought of taking them off the wall let alone loading them in a vehicle and transporting them.  I would be very grateful to hear from an experienced taxidermist about what they would do in such a situation.  These are shoulder mounts with no plaque or mounting board behind them.  There are at least 10 of them as well as a full bear skin which has been hanging on the wall since the late 70s.  I can try to post some pictures if that's helpful.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Swamp_Yankee

[Zipper]

Sad situation that many of us will be in someday. I basically stopped getting anymore mounts because I can see my wife giving them away or putting them in a dumpster. Let's face it mounts mean something to us, that's about it! Many wind up in the trash.

[LPJR]

Sad to hear this Yankee. Hopefully Jay can provide some insight into this for you.

God bless your family during this time, and your grandmother finds peace. 

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

Sorry to hear about your grandmother.
I wouldnt be afraid to take the mounts off the wall- especially shoulder mounts. They should be able to be handled without too much concern..
Rugs may be acid rotten / brittle.. be gentle and try to support as much weight as posisble.. dont hold it by 1 leg or it may tear.
I'd probably roll it over a round tube rather than fold it to try and avoid it cracking to move it. You gotta feel it out as you go. Be extra gentle if it seems fragile.

Use an air compressor to blow out all the dust from the mounts. If they still have tags for them (which by law you need as long as you have any part of the animal[emoji849]) you can bring them to a taxidermist to have cleaned and touched up.

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

[rocky]

Another thing to look for is.....BUGS! You definitly don't want to introduce them into your house if you have mounts there already.

As Jay said already a taxidermist can inspect and clean them. A little cleaning and touchup paint can go a long way on a older mount.

Edited July 8, 2019 by rocky

[Tarhunt]

Just now, rocky said:

Another thing to look for is.....BUGS! You definitly don't want to introduce them into your house if you have mounts there already.

Yep. Carpet Beetles tend to get into mounts and damage them. 

[Swamp_Yankee]

9 hours ago, JerseyJaysTaxidermy said:

Sorry to hear about your grandmother.  I wouldnt be afraid to take the mounts off the wall- especially shoulder mounts. They should be able to be handled without too much concern.

Rugs may be acid rotten / brittle.. be gentle and try to support as much weight as posisble.. dont hold it by 1 leg or it may tear.
I'd probably roll it over a round tube rather than fold it to try and avoid it cracking to move it. You gotta feel it out as you go. Be extra gentle if it seems fragile.

Use an air compressor to blow out all the dust from the mounts. If they still have tags for them (which by law you need as long as you have any part of the animal) you can bring them to a taxidermist to have cleaned and touched up.

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com
 

Thanks Jay.  I should add that I don't have any shoulder mounts of my own so I've never hung one, etc...  What parts of the shoulders/neck/head should you handle it by?  Any parts to avoid handling (antlers?, etc...)?  As for the rug it appears to have a hem around the entire edge-does this mean there is some kind of a fabric backing to it?  If so is that better? 

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

Shoulder mounts you can handle by the antlers if they and the skull cap feel sturdy.
The bear rug backing probably wont help much if the skin is acid rot..

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com