Wow, that last photo is so gruesome. I can't say that I've ever had any attraction to this look, but we inherited a taxidermy fish a few years ago, which has become a focal point in our living room. You can see it here:

http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/visualingual-home-sneak-peek-part-1/

For me, the difference is that there's a family story behind it. It's not just a random bit of decor.

Keep calm and carrion

@Staceysk - you gave me my first big laugh of the day, thank you so much.

here in utah we have a pawn shop that specializes in mounted animals. Not my look, but I occasionally go there just to wonder at the stories behind each of the heads.

I do love skulls - and part of my decor is a coyote skull and a big horned sheep skull - both found objects. I love that last picture!

Also love the wire sculpted mounted heads, anyone know a source for them?

I've never seen any taxidermy collections as over the top as Wilbur D. May's. He was a big game hunter and department store magnate. See his collection here:

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2010/03/02/dd-destinations1_0501283437.jpg

@Staceysk - HAHAHAHA

I've never been much into this trend, but I have to admit it looks pretty cool in some spaces.

When human heads are put on walls that's when I'll surely be impressed.

Not a fan of this post. Take a moment - especially in the case of wild animals who are killed for sport - to think about the horrible way in which this "decoration" died. Seriously, I hate to be the pain in the a$$ here, but come on - animals are not home decor. Would you mount a cat or dog's head on your wall? Especially one that had been brutally killed?

The last picture is bordering on offensive to me. Reminds me of a noose. Enough said, I hope.

As for the whole taxidermy as decoration thing, it's almost as old as prostitution, isn't it? Can it really be considered a trend? It's not for me or my home, but neither is MCM.

Um, I like seashells and feathers I find... I can also see the beauty in found skulls and bones, although it's not really for me. I'm sooo not a fan of taxidermy--freaks me out every time!--and I'm pretty over faux animal heads, too.

I am so tired of seeing horns/antlers and cow hide rugs, and taxidermy just icks me out.

Meh. Wild animals stuffed and mounted doesn't bother me, mostly because while I don't hunt, and I don't care for it, I also don't think it's evil or "wrong."

@echrisp - I thought about it, and maybe I'm just a little less of a bleeding heart type, but it doesn't bother me. I am okay with hunting for population control. I'm even okay with hunting for pleasure in cases where people eat the food they kill. I'm not a fan of hunting for pleasure in which the animal's meat is not used for anything but not because I think it's wrong or evil. I just think it's wasteful.

Thumbs down.

Ugh...worst...post.....ever.....

Uh, yeah. I'm sure my vegetarian husband would love this. Are you city slickers so far removed from normal life that you actually see this as a cute novelty? I'm not against hunting (in fact I really enjoy venison) but I've always found head mounts to be grotesque. But I think it's even worse to put a skull up that you bought at a nick nack shop. There's just something very flippant about it. If you're going to put a head on the wall at least have the guts to kill it yourself.

Apartment Therapy posting rule #1, if you need more readers simply post inane blurb and photos about books as decoration or animals as decoration. Guaranteed to get tons of comments.

These are all beautiful images and I don't think this trend will be going away anytime soon. Taxidermy is just another way of utilizing some of the beautiful things our bountiful earth provides us. There is absolutely no difference between this and the leather shoes we wear.

Eh, whatever. I grew up with two large deer heads, a pheasant and various other antlers mounted in my family's very small family room. I have a hard time of thinking of them as a "trend."

@laurabelk - People decorate with crosses when they're not religious. They put up celtic symbols when they don't know what they mean. They use Indian prints of gods when they can't tell them a part. Buddhas are featured in homes of non-Buddhists.

They're being flippant too, albeit in a different way. I don't see how putting an animal skull up for decoration is any more flippant than people who use ethnic or religious symbols for decoration. In fact, I think using religious symbols as decoration is far, far worse.

Didn't we have a "decorating with death" thread recently? Yes, we did: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/living-room/decorating-with-stuffed-birdslog-cabin-chic-or-just-plain-wrong-138228

Anyway, bird or bovine, they're still creepy.

@ Staceysk clever.
I'm not feeling this trend. It's bizarre and sad. Next thing we'll be promoting are mounted human heads.

Thumbs down. Decorating your home with dead animals is not the kind of energy you want to place in your house.

I feel the same way about this as I do about people wearing fur. Unnecessary cruelty.

Oh for heaven's sake people!! There is a huge difference between animals and humans. I live in the Ozarks and much prefer the animal head "trend" than the refrigerator on the front porch "trend".

I find this blog interesting about antlers. The antlers on the bike, instead of handebars is a new take on this trend.

http://www.trendey.com/tag/antlers

Next, please.

I can't do it. I'm considering veganism, I read three book reviews for my Library today on animal morality/consciousness/rights, I hate to see cruelty perpetrated on animals... I can't use their body parts as decor. Leather upholstery on one chair is as far as I can go.

I DO have a pantheon of sculptures from many religions, and find them fascinating, as an atheist. Displaying religious artifacts which don't hold meaning for you is a non-statement. I do not actually respect ANY religion, although I do respect your right to have one and believe what you choose to do. So my collection may bother some, but for me it's just a version of archeological interest.

Your mileage may, of course, vary.

@whitexb - Hahahahaha. My personal peeve is Adirondack chairs.

SherryBinNH - to me, there's a difference in displaying religious iconography because you take an interest in it, or because you know about it. People who decorate with Buddhas because their theme is "zen" are idiots, IMO. Those are the people who annoy me, and I'd be more bothered by that than an animal skull or a pair of antlers. If I saw a moose head on the wall, my first inclination would be to walk around it to see whether its eyes followed me.

@ whitexb - I'm not sure that there is a huge difference between humans and animals. Apartment Therapy put out a big old post of bait and look how many of us have bitten! Just can't shake those animal instincts. :)

I can't believe they killed a baby rhino. Oh, wait...

I probably shouldn't admit this but I keep a human skull in my living room. But of course it's plastic and I got it from the Martha Stewart Catalog (when she still had a catalog). I was an art major in college and in addition to drawing pictures of living people we also drew a lot of bones; one of my art professors had a real human skull she used to use for this. I never did ask her where she got it or if it was anyone she had known.

I have a large collection of fossils, and a few found animal bones in my home, but somehow mounted antlers or heads has a kind of creepy "look what I can kill" machismo, even though most of the time the person displaying them likely didn't kill them. Somehow that's even weirder to me. The totally faux ones are just...weird to me. I don't see the appeal.

My old roommate's dad was a taxidermist. I think it's icky. Thankfully, there's a line in my brain that says "not for me!" but also a line that says "it's okay for someone else to stay employed."

@staceysk
... you win all the internets.  Forever.

@Pi, "The greatest magic is transmuting the passions."

Budda

@Staceysk - I think I love you.

I hold that this trend is not cruel or creepy.

Many bones are just beautiful, serving as the architectural support of a living body and revealing incredible adaptability and utility upon close inspection. I happen to love studying animal shells, beaks, skulls, and especially the coccyx of birds.

Realistic models are good or better than real (as with starfish and coral), but sometimes one may find oneself in possession of an animal part that is beautiful, and/or could not otherwise obtain a replica, and/or wishes to study the object itself, inside and out.

Once the shell (or horn or bone) has been separated from it source, regardless of whether it was annually shed or the animal died, the source animal is not using its /body part/ any more. The method of its death could have been a skillful hunt or a slaughterhouse, some blissful old age, or unknown; death is part of life and is not to be hidden from view or from thought.

Having or enjoying something that was once part of a living thing strikes me as normal and natural, not creepy.

Preserving and caring for such an object so it can be appreciated or studied seems to me to be an ethical use, not cruelty.

Choices to use natural resources should minimize waste and pain, and maximize utility and beauty, and choosing the highest value may not be 100 black versus white. Harsh judgement based on "meat is murder" ethics may be the claim of some, but I propose that a decision based on utility and compassion arguably supports the incorporation of "wild crazy animal heads, etc. as wall art."

Full disclosure, I own an inherited cowhide rug and look forward to eating a pork sandwich, an infrequent indulgence to be savored.

I also used to keep a replica of a human skull on display, for memento mori and scientific study ... though I would not go kill a human under any circumstances merely to obtain one as an art piece.

Thanks for liking my comment, y'all! xx

Simmer down, people. I personally find skulls and antlers beautiful - some people don't. Some people find floral chintz beautiful - I don't. Different strokes for different folks. Don't denigrate someone's taste just because you don't share it.

I don't understand how skulls or mounted heads are any creepier than leather sofas.

I would object to the whole carcass being wasted. If you eat the meat I have no objection to still using the horns or antlers or bones of the animal.

I've wanted a Alaskan King Crab for years thanks to Deadliest Catch. I also like Horshoe crabs but don't generally care for taxidermied or antler/bone decor.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PhotographyHere