apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I am REALLY fond of antlers, but you can get ones which are naturally shed, extremely old or "lifelike resin". I have all of these (and did before they were so trendy) but wouldn't actually display a deer's or moose's head.

I'm not all that crazy about the real taxidermy stuff, but for some reason I do like some of the fake ones.

It's a little off putting in a dining room but other than that, it's fine.

Taxidermy or not, the food at Freeman's is EXCELLENT.

Macaroni and cheese with a side of minty-butter peas...!

I don't want/allow any dead animal's body parts displayed on the walls in my home....period.

Anything can fall off the wall and hurt someone if it's not hung correctly. It's not "over" as a trend, restaurants have themes, I don't really like them much for myself, but I would not hold this against a restaurant/bar in some protest of disgust if the food was good and the staff was friendly. I'm not following the logic of an accident spelling the end of a trend. Next thing you know, they'll be hanging sports equipment and street signs and possibly rock 'n' roll memoribilia and whole portions of automobiles on the wall. We'll really be in trouble when they start with the chandeliers!

In Baltimore there is this store that is one half pet store and one half taxidermist. So, you walk in the front door and literally to the right are the stuffed animals and to the left are the live ones...no real separation. And, the worst part, the taxidermist sign is very small so the first time I went, I was only expecting a typical pet store and the first reaction was very overwhelming. I couldn't imagine taking a child there to buy a pet!

I'll echo the sentiment that mounted antlers alone are very cool, but I dislike it when the animal's entire head is on display. I do find that mounted antlers can add a lot of character to a space.

I don't mind the occassional bit of taxidermy...
...but when every bar, hotel and model home have a stuffed animal (real or faux) - it's become cliche

Dead animals on the wall are creepy and depressing. I couldn't possibly enjoy myself in the presence of a carcass. Definitely NOT.

My Uncle Anton has one of those.....UGH!!!!!!!!!!

I don't get this trend at all. I wouldn't hang my dearly departed Uncle Bobby's head on the wall, why would I hang a dead animal over my couch? Go ahead. Tell me how it's not the same thing at all.

As I've mentioned before I had a bear skin rug once. I liked it but then I just kind of felt bad for the bear.

And while I could lead myself to believe that the bear died of old age (a la what Judy Dench says in As Time Goes By when she's holding that moose head) eventually I just had to get rid of the bear skin rug.

Lately, I've been fascinated by Victorian bird scenes in glass cases. You know, the kind with the stuffed birds inside. Hmmm. Maybe, I should get one them?

Weasel Dearest is Mr. Dangerous

Acceptable uses of "taxidermy" aka fake...

http://www.ticketbiscuit.com/BottleTree/images/bottletreephoto.jpg

If you shot your Uncle on a huntin' trip you would have bigger problems than figuring out where to hang the head.

Bugaboo Creek uses fake animal heads. Fake animated illuminated animal heads.

Taxidermy is so creepy...just the fact that the animal was alive and now it's dead... you would never do that with people!!

That said, I love the faux taxidermy I've seen: http://www.cribcandy.com/list=faux-taxidermy/14ccb8d8c2456020a58c3ee5ef9e614c&pageoffset=0

Real or fake, I don't like it.

I've been unimpressed with the trend since it started.

Mind you, I've worked in the basement of a natural history museum in the past (my fave job ever) so I'm certainly not grossed out by these items. And I do have a few animal "bits" on display in my home. Let's see--there's a skunk skull, a tail feather from a red shafted flicker, a shark jaw, countless shells from beachcombing...

But then again, I'm formally trained in natural history and I've chosen them because they speak to me about the beauty and serendipity of biology. I doubt that the owner of a trendy Manhattan cocktail bar has ever put much thought into the oh-so-predictable deer head on his wall, and I resent that because it cheapens these animals by turning them into "decor."

i love taxidermy.

but...i only like old mounts. i like them when they've been around forever and are a little creepy. i'd never buy a new mount. i know that probably doesnt make it any better.

it's weird, because i hate guns and the thought if killing an animal for sport nearly brings me to tears...but if it died of natural causes or it was killed to control population and to eat....then i don't think there's anything wrong with it. i know several taxidermists who make absolutely gorgeous mounts from roadkill.

i have a taxidermied peacock, 4 mounted deer antlers, and a set of elk antlers which I took from a mounted elk head that was falling apart. i used to have half a deer, but i sold it when i moved into a studio. i would love to eventually have some old English birds and a fox.

dead animals displayed on walls, people, floors, etc. is NEVER hot. PERIOD. disgustful, distasteful, and just plain wrong.

I have some antlers, a deer head, and a bobcat in my home. I live in a log cabin in the Ozark Mountains. These were "acquired" by my husband in the time honored traditions of this area. Do I hunt? No. Do I appreciate these mounts, yes, for the most part.
I do think it is silly for homes to display taxidermy when the occupants rarely explore past the parking lot of their favorite mall. Taxidermy is appropriate for display when it is meaningful to the occupants of that home, business, etc. Otherwise, I don't believe it is appropriate.

White xb

If you killed it and ate the rest of it then it's cool.

Nothing is more appetizing than a dead bird stuffed and hanging above the table. Or any stuffed animal for that matter. I'm not a vegetarian, so dead animals don't bother me for that reason, but the idea of keeping something dead around to look at is kind of weird.

I really want a squirrel, standing on his hind legs under a cloche.

I saw the most beautiful fox in a shop in seattle on cap hill recently.

A peacock would be awesome!

I do think the "trend" is a bit silly see linda's, kings hardware etc. in seattle. but damn i have always wanted that squirrel.

sooooooooooooooo last year! lol. but, seriously... it kinda is.

A friend of mine stayed at a B&B in Wisconsin in which the owners displayed their taxidermied pet cats in the dining room. The owners couldn't stop talking about their dead felines during breakfast... quiche lorraine and dead cat do not a palatable combination make.

Severed body parts on display? Not hot.

I don't mind the tongue-in-cheek nods to taxidermy though (in ceramic, plexi, wood...).

I love taxidermy. I think it is silly and elegant and nostalgic, and it's one of the few things I demand in my house. I suppose I am a bit avid, though, with over fifteen pieces in my collection.

I just like dead things.

They're not "things". They were living beings and now you display their carcasses as decor.

I don't think you can really say the TREND is dead though, when people have been doing this forever.

It's kind of a trad country house staple.

I LOVE it when it as done in a kitchy way. Not an actually animal on the wall but an all white carving of a dear head or something like that can be great. I'm actually in the middle of making a peice for my bedroom right now!

bad feng shui

Just took a course where we discussed taxidermy art. I'm considering buying a foam taxidermy form that they use underneath the deer for getting the proper shape and size... it looks like a prehistoric lizard-like creature... considering painting it to match the decor... aqua blue? They look especially creepy when you glue glass eyes on

http://www.mckenziesp.com/taxid_store/Print_catalog/t1.asp?page=8

-haley-'s link is cool. It is really cool to look into what alternatives people will come up with to avoid using a real animal head. I was thinking that people like fresh cut flowers, more than artificial anyway, in that you have to spend to get quality silk reproductions. Or you could just get inventive and make fakes that are like the product of an assignment to reproduce the figure according to your own rules and talents.

I recall seeing human head busts a little bit ago:
http://www.designverb.com/2008/04/29/bert-simons-paper-portraits/

Mounted heads are repulsive—especially in a place where food is served. When I see taxidermy of this sort, I immediately think of roadkill and maggots. Bon appetit!

I'm wholeheartedly against taxidermy, but more because I'm an animal activist than anything. To me it's not any worse than the dead bugs people display sometimes, or even eating meat.

Stylistically, I don't care for the look of it (even the faux ones). It reminds me too much of old musty ski or hunting lodges.