If You Were a Taxidermist, Would You Taxidermy Your Own Pets?
August 31st 2008 21:00
Photo by Sarah Hartwell. Used in accordance with the terms of Wikimedia Commons’ GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
Several weeks ago the Good Weekdend magazine interviewed Julia De Ville, a taxidermist, artist and jeweller, on her favourite possessions (28/6/08). De Ville mentioned taxidermied animals. In fact, she has 10 taxidermied animals at home as well as 20 pieces she’s incorporated into jewellery. What a ghoulish hobby. Even more ghoulish is De Ville’s plan to taxidermy her own dogs when they die. It gave me the willies just thinking about it. I mean, it’s one thing to taxidermy animals you’re not attached to, it’s another to taxidermy your own pets. That’s my conclusion anyway. Even though, as quacker owners, my sister and I wanted our ducks taxidermied when they died, there was no way we were going to do it ourselves. No, we were going to leave it to the professionals.
I wonder how it would feel to taxidermy your own pet just after it died. Surely the sorrow you’d feel would mean you’d do a less than perfect job. How would you be able to concentrate?
This leads me to the topic of doctors operating on their own relatives. I always wondered if doctors do do this. I asked my doctor about this and he said even though there’s nothing to stop them from doing so, most doctors won’t operate on their loved ones as they feel their emotional attachment is going to cloud their professional judgement. Not to mention their work performance.
I don’t think it would be much fun to be a taxidermist. It would be the same as doing autopsies for a living. Fascinating? Yes. A great conversation opener at dinner parties? Definitely. The ideal job? I don’t think so. Just imagine the smell from having to open up dead animals. The thought of cleaning out their organs so they can then be mounted makes my stomach turn.
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