The Woman Who Shot Elephants for America's Natural History Museums
Delia Akeley is probably best remembered as a "wife-of," having spent two decades married to famed taxidermist and conservationist Carl Akeley. But Delia was a fascinating adventurer in her own right, an early primatologist, anthropologist studying the pygmy peoples of Belgian Congo, and skilled museum-backed…
Worth It: Magic Pants Made From Human Skin
Sometimes, my problems feel so cliched. Am I happy? Am I loving and supporting those I care about in a way that they deserve? Will I die alone? And most importantly, how can I enhance my own magical powers when I am not personally all that magically gifted? Thankfully, the answer to my final question has been…
Don't Pierce The Shitbag: Adventures in Taxidermy
I was psyched when Brooklyn Tattoo artist and taxidermy artist
Sue Jeiven invited me to her Greenpoint apartment for a private class in anthropomorphic taxidermy—the preparation and display of dead animals in an humanlike elaborate mise-en-scene, complete with tiny human accoutrements and frocks. (All of the animals…
Immortalize Is Like 'Project Runway for Taxidermy'
Here's a show where people take dead animal carcasses and turn them into jaunty hats. In contest form! Just like you were asking for! Finally! I honestly love seeing the nuts and bolts of how people do their jobs—particularly people who are genuinely good at stuff—so I am not tired at all of the current TV trend of…
Unicorns, Flying Cats, and Yetis Up For Sale
Yesterday items from a Victorian taxidermy museum were auctioned off in England, including a winged cat, a man with an elephant's head, and a fanged monkey/bird creature. Today Show report after the jump.
Beth In The Believer Or, When Queer Feminist Punk Bands Meet Paris
Writer Michelle Tea followed Beth Ditto through the whirl of Paris fashion week, and lived to tell The Believer. What's interesting about Tea's account is that it places front-and-center one of the fashion industry's biggest unstated issues: Social class.
Where The Wild Things Are
Sarina Brewer is a self-described "rogue taxidermist" who travels with hacksaw and cooler so as to transform roadkill into winged monkeys, conjoined animals, and "carcass art." [Bust via Utne]
Girl Power
A tipster just drew our attention to the awesome digital version of one of our favorites: 1903's Three Hundred Things A Bright Girl Can Do (not to be confused with Three Hundred and One Things A Bright Girl Can Do, A Hundred Things a Girl Can Make or 211 Things A Clever Girl Can Do.) Among 298 others, she can do…
She's Crafty
Different women have different hobbies. Knitting, gardening... Taxidermy? The Washington Post's Melanie Kaplan tried her hand at critter sculpting one weekend in Duncannon, PA. Her "taxidermy sensei," Gary Bruch, used to make ice sculptures. Now he creates replicas and skin mounts of fish. Ms. Kaplan spent the first…

