IT IS A TRUE PLEASURE FOR ME TO WRITE THIS ARTICLE! Hav-ing been involved in taxidermy almost since the day I wasborn, I have learned the ins and outs of every level and areaof taxidermy within the United States. Recently, I visitedFinland, Sweden, Russia, and Holland. It has been an honor

to travel and meet fellow taxidermists throughout the world, and tolearn of their profession and cultures. The knowledge I have acquiredin my travels has allowed me to gain a new perspective on the stateof taxidermy throughout the world. This perspective has enabled meto formulate an individual insight into world economies and cultures.In regard to taxidermy, what I have learned about taxidermy through-out the world allows me to formulate an educated opinion of thedirection and future of taxidermy within the United States. Pleasetake notice that this article will combine facts with personal opinionsthat my experiences have provided.

Before I go any further, I believe that the United States offers thebest economy, culture, and geography for taxidermy. The reasons forthis belief are many, and I’ll highlight a few to demonstrate mybeliefs.

How can the state of taxidermy in Europe possibly reflect thefuture of taxidermy in the United States? In simple terms, the UnitedStates is younger and offers more land (per person) than most ofEurope. Being that we are younger, we have had less time to growand populate the land. Even though Europe has been the site ofmany wars, the population has grown to be more dense than in theUnited States. Since there is a direct negative correlation betweenhuman population growth and wildlife population growth, a morepopulated land mass, such as Europe, has less space for wildlife. Ashunters in the United States, we have an advantage over European

hunters. Our advantage is known as “public land with easy access,”which makes it possible to hunt even if you do not own property.This is not as common in Europe. The land in Europe is almost allprivately-owned, which limits hunting to land owners and clubs,which are very expensive. The private control of land limits huntingto a much smaller group of people. Also, it is much more difficult tobecome certified to hunt in most of Europe. You must attend specialclasses in which you must demonstrate your accuracy as a marksmanas well as your ability to identify animals. So, even though sporthunting in Europe is healthy, it more limited due to the geographicallimitations imposed by human population.

While sport hunting in Europe is affected by geographical limita-tions, hunting in the former Soviet Union is limited by economicaland cultural barriers. Traveling to Russia was truly an eye-openingexperience! (I once thought a night in New Orleans during MardiGras was shocking!) Well, experiencing an entirely new culture thathas been developed under completely different principles and beliefstook much getting used to. The economical variable that limits sporthunting in Russia comes down to one thing—MONEY, which theydon’t have much of. You have to have disposable income in order tohunt. The Russian economy is so depressed that only a very, veryselect group of people is able to hunt. The people that have thedisposable income to hunt are mostly government officials or “newRussian mafia.”

While we are on the topic of Russian government and mafia, Iwould like to deviate from the topic of hunting for awhile and focuson a global economic problem (stay with me, I have a reason forthis). In general, the Russian government and the mafia are one andthe same. The mafia pays government officials to ensure that they are

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Petrehoff was the summer palace of Peterthe Great. The day I visited Petrehoff wasduring the summer and the starting of the

fountains. It was beautiful!

by Dan Rinehart

A Look at Taxidermy Around the World

St. PetersburgRUSSIA

BREAKTHROUGH Issue 59 Page 81

AROUND THE WORLDallowed to perform their black market business without hindrancefrom the government. The government officials depend on the mafiafor kickbacks that allow them to become wealthy. Both the govern-ment and the mafia depend on each other for their wealth. Whenthe Soviet Union fell, the mafia and the government RACED to seewho could make the most money by selling off the assets of Russiabefore the other. If you think that there are not Russian nuclearwarheads in the hands of dangerous individuals and groups, thinkagain.

The people who lose from this unwritten agreement between thegovernment and the mafia are the average Russians. It is IMPOSSIBLE

for honest business people to be successful in Russia! Think about this.Would you be able to remain in business if the United States govern-ment demanded that you pay over 80 percent in sales tax and you

had to compete againstAl Capone?! Any aver-age, free-market individ-ual would realize thatsuch a large tax andcompetitive environ-ment is ridiculous andwould strangle anybusiness. Well, he wouldbe right. There is noway to do honest busi-ness in Russia. So, howdo the very few honestbusinesses make it inRussia? Well, they arenot completely honest,that’s how. They don’tpay the taxes (at least,all the taxes). You wouldassume that the Russian“IRS” would be doingsomething about this.Well, nothing is doneabout it because thelack of taxes provides insufficient government funding to enforce thetaxes. You can see that it is a vicious circle that makes absolutely nosense, that is, to me. The final result is that the close relationshipbetween the government and the mafia make it difficult for capital-ism to survive and grow.

So, let me ask you this question: why should the United Statesand the economies ofthe world provide bil-lions of dollars to acountry that is not trulycommitted to thegrowth of free-marketsand capitalism? Theanswer is simple. Inorder to promote worldstability, the World mustbe willing to finance afaulty economy andkeep it afloat. We canbe certain that millionsof dollars of funding arebeing wasted and find-ing their way into thepockets of the govern-ment and mafia. How-ever, the alternativewould be a total col-lapse of the Russianeconomy. Such a col-lapse would have a farmore devastating impacton the world (Europeand Scandinavia espe-cially). If such a collapse

This is a fox that was on display in their studio. Fox-es in Russia are huge! A medium-size fox would bemuch larger than a large fox here in the UnitedStates. They are almost the size of an average dog.They are something to see!

The most exciting mount I saw in their studio wasthis jumping Kodiak bear, designed and mountedto be suspended in midair from the ceiling abovea pool table. I misunderstood and believed the bearwas for Russian President Boris Yeltsin. I recentlylearned that it was not for Yeltsin, but for a presi-dent of a big company. Nevertheless, it was a veryexciting and special mount.

This is the business procedure of Russiantaxidermists Vladimir Sukcharev andAlexander Sokolov. First, they meet withthe customer to determine the pose. Thenthey develop a miniature clay sculpture ofthe pose and habitat. Once the customerapproves the clay sculpture, they beginsculpting a lifesize mannikin in prepara-tion for mounting.

Here you can see Vladimir holding theminiature clay sculpture next to the com-pleted mount. The finished mount is iden-tical in every way to the smaller sculptureand is now ready for the customer.

and developed a very successful taxidermy business. VladimirSukcharev and Alexander Sokolov own and manage one of the pre-mier taxidermy studios in Russia. When I first arrived in Russia, Iwas introduced to taxidermists and the curator at the ZoologicalMuseum of St. Petersburg. I had a meeting with these people, and itwas at this time that I was introduced to Vladimir and Alexander. Atthe time, I didn’t know that they were private taxidermists in businessfor themselves. I was very excited when Vladimir and Alexander toldme about their private business and invited me to visit their studio.This was my chance to see true Russian taxidermy and witness howthe art of taxidermy has developed since the collapse of the SovietUnion. I made plans to visit their studio the following night.

I had no idea what to expect. The only exposure I’d had withtaxidermy in Russia was at the Museum of St. Petersburg. Although Iwas hoping for something special during my visit with Vladimir andAlexander, I didn’t expect anything above average. Furthermore, I wastold that private Russian taxidermists use the cheapest supplies possi-ble for greater profitability. However, when I arrived at their studio, Iwas excited and relieved to find truly high quality taxidermy thatdemonstrated both advancement and understanding. I believe I hadthe fortune to visit one of the finest taxidermy studio in Russia.

As I began to talk with Vladimir and Alexander, I was shocked tolearn that taxidermy, as a business, has only existed since the fall ofcommunism. It was explained to me that taxidermy was never on a“list” of professions within the communist system, therefore, wasnever a recognized profession. Anyone who wanted to do taxidermyhad to do it secretly, on his own. This is a perfect example of howcommunism wastes the human spirit of progress and motivationinstead of helping it thrive and help make an economy stronger.

This studio was more than a taxidermy studio. It was also a devel-oping supply company. I describe it that way because every animalthat they mount is an original sculpture and pose. Vladimir andAlexander not only lead Russian taxidermists in using polyurethanefoam mannikins, they also create clay sculptures from which theycreate fiberglass molds. Just as we do here in the United States, theythen create a foam mannikin by pouring liquid foam into a mold,letting it rise and cure, and then separating a foam mannikin that isused in a mount.

By producing their own sculptures and molds, Vladimir andAlexander have started and are developing the first taxidermy supplycompany. However, when I asked them what their sales were on

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were to occur, millions of Russians would have no alternative but toforce their way into neighboring countries. For example, the peopleof St. Petersburg, Russia, would have to force their way into Finlandin order to survive. The Finnish economy would be stressed to sup-port all these people and might fail itself. So, I believe we supportthe Russian economy to neutralize the devastation that an economiccollapse would create. Don’t expect the Russian economy to reboundanytime soon. However, realize the importance of preventing eco-nomic failure and why we finance Russia. I guess that I would haveto conclude this thought by saying that the Russian mafia and gov-ernment are going to continue to get richer without great growth infree-markets and capitalism. I find this very sad, having seen beggarswith starving babies on the streets of St. Petersburg.

Okay, okay. I got off the topic of taxidermy. Actually, I didn’t getoff the topic of taxidermy. This economic suppression is forced onthe Russian people by the government and mafia, and prevents themfrom building wealth and developing the disposable income necessaryto support sport hunting. Obviously, without sport hunting, there isno taxidermy (except for museums). Most Russians still live in largeflats (apartments) that were built under communist control, by pris-oners. The communist system did not allow for any extravagance.Therefore, an individual was only allotted the living space he or she“needed.” These flats provide only enough space for living, and donot allow extra space for developing a business, such as taxidermy.Anyone who has the desire to become a taxidermist finds it muchmore difficult to develop a business than we do in the United States.

Even though the economic and cultural barriers make it hard forRussians to succeed, I met two taxidermists who have beat the odds

St. Isaac’s Cathedral is one of the largest and most beautiful cathedrals in all ofRussia. The inside walls are covered with giant religious paintings that have beenrestored since the fall of communism, when they were not allowed.

During my visit, Vladimir and his assistant were finishing the sewing and facialwork on a very large wolf. Again, the mannikin was an original sculpture.

AROUND THE WORLD

wildlife population.The result would befewer acres availablefor hunting through-out the United States.A decrease in deerkills would result,creating less revenueto support the taxi-dermy profession. Tosecure a future fortaxidermy, the mostimportant thing weneed to protect is thenatural habitat which sustains our precious wildlife. This is a daunt-ing task, considering that human habitat (houses, apartments, golfcourses, shopping malls, tennis courts, and interstate highways) willalmost always take precedence over wildlife habitat.

Regarding how Russia possibly reflects the future of taxidermy inthe United States, quite simply, without disposable income, there isless taxidermy performed. Therefore, fewer people can afford theluxury of having a mount done or investing in a taxidermy educa-tion. Never forget that taxidermy is a luxury, and luxuries are sacri-ficed in economic hard times.

The opinions I have written in this article are personal and obvi-ously open for discussion. If you would like to discuss these topicsfurther, I would enjoy hearing from you. At minimum, the opinionsare food for thought. Thinking never hurt anyone; lack of thinkingcan be devastating. ■DAN RINEHART is from Janesville, Wisconsin. He has won threeInternational Fish Taxidermy Championships (IGT) and one Interna-tional Fish Carving Championship (IGT). In his spare time, he loves totravel.

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AROUND THE WORLDmannikins, I was surprisedto learn that they are unableto sell them. When I askedwhy, I discovered that therumor of Russian taxider-mists being frugal was true.Russian taxidermists areunwilling to buy foammannikins, even if theresulting mounts will be ofbetter quality. Russian taxi-dermists don’t have themoney to purchase foammannikins, even if theywanted to. Anything, suchas straw or string, etc., isused to fill and get a com-pleted mount. This is easyto understand in an econ-omy in which survival issuch a struggle. So,Vladimir and Alexandercontinue their sculpting andthe development of theirsupply company, with onlythe hope that the Russian economy will someday rebound, and taxi-

dermists will have the money topurchase their mannikins.

The taxidermy that Vladimirand Alexander perform is 100percent original. First, they speak

with a client about what type ofpose he or she would like for

the mount. From that firstconference, they develop aminiature clay sculpture of

the pose and habitat of themount. They once again meet

with the customer to show him theminiature clay sculpture. If this is what the

customer desires, they begin sculpting the lifesize mannikin in prepa-ration for mounting. The finished mount will be identical in everyway to the smaller sculpture.

Every step is performed and completed in their studio, and allsupplies are made themselves. Because of the large selection of taxi-dermy supplies available in the United States, it may be hard for youto imagine the effort that goes into each of their mounts. Just imag-ine for a minute if you had to produce all your own supplies, includ-ing mannikins! I would have to say that your workload would be farmore than double. It is also fair to say that you would have to havemuch more knowledge. Mounting an animal is one thing, but creat-ing an accurate original mannikin is another. Yet Vladimir andAlexander have mastered all stages of taxidermy, from an originalmannikin to a finished mount.

In conclusion, I believe one aspect of the state of taxidermy inEurope reflects what could happen to taxidermy in the United States.Because of the expansion of human population, wildlife habitat couldbe decreased to a point which would cause a substantial decrease in

Their display room also included a lynx, mooseand boar.

I was particularly interested when I spotted a pedestal fish mount ready for paint-ing. The fish closely resembled a walleye, but on further inspection, I noticed dif-ferences in the head structure, which had similarities to a largemouth bass. I fig-ured this fish must be some kind of a subspecies of our walleye. Oh yeah, did Imention the size of this walleye? It was over 40 inches! I guess they grow thembig in Russia! This fish was caught in the Neva River, which runs through St. Pe-tersburg. From looking at the river, I don’t think I would want to eat the meat fromthis fish, or any other! Alexander and Vladimir have earned many certificates intaxidermy, as well as winning a Second Place at the European Taxidermy Cham-pionships.

Left to right are Alexander, me and Vladimir. Vladimirand Alexander are truly accomplished artists and taxi-dermists. I would like to congratulate them on theirsuccess in a tough economy, as well as to thankthem for their hospitality during my visit to Russia.