We often see beautiful stuffed animals and birds decorating hunting lodges, museums, cafes and bars, etc. This kind of interior element goes well with various styles and trends. You can put a stuffed bird or animal on a summer terrace, in a large hall of an educational or any other institution, in an office or at home. Perhaps, everyone, without exception, is interested in seeing or having a stuffed animal at home, but not everyone knows how these stuffed animals are made, and this is a rather laborious and very interesting process.
Instructions
Step 1
Take a dead owl and measure with a ruler its body (length and thickness), wings (length), neck and legs.
Write down all the measurements on a piece of paper. This is an important stage in the work: if you did not take measurements from the game initially, then it will be simply very difficult to do this, and in some cases it is completely impossible. At the same time, remember that your scarecrow should be made a little smaller than real ones.
Prepare a cloth to wipe off blood.
Step 2
Lay the owl on its back. Spread the feathers on the bird's chest and, using a wide scalpel, make an incision from the very beginning of the neck to the anus. In this case, the depth of the hole does not matter, so you can safely cut it without fear of making it too deep. However, in this case, the insides of the bird should not fall out, that is, the incision should be superficial.
Step 3
Use a thin scalpel to separate the owl's skin along with the plumage from the meat, cutting off all connective fibers, muscles and a thin subcutaneous film. When doing this, remember. that the skin is easily removed only on the carcass itself, on the legs, wings and head, it is quite difficult to do this. This requires accuracy and precision. Start with the legs and remove a little to the ankle joint, then bite the joint with pliers and release through the abdominal incision. Do the same with the other leg.
Step 4
Cut off the tail and make a cut above the attachment of the tail feathers to the carcass. In this case, the tail should be cut off along with the coccyx. With all these works, remember that the bird's plumage should not be stained with blood, the drops should be wiped off and sprinkled with starch. When gutting a bird, remember - you must free all bones and skin from meat if possible.
Step 5
Cut the bared skull from the carcass and remove the tongue, muscles, and eyes. This should be done through the occipital bone. Clean the finished skin from fat and meat residues. Wipe the skin with a regular paper towel and sprinkle with starch. If feathers are stained, wash them with warm water and soap and dry well.
Step 6
Etch the prepared skin and skull with sodium arsenic solution. At the same time, observe safety precautions and work only with rubber gloves. Insert purchased eyes of the required size or pieces of plasticine, rolled into balls, into the eye sockets.
Step 7
Make a base for the stuffed animal. The base can be made from plaster of the appropriate size that you wrote down on paper, as well as from a wooden blank, then wrapping it with gauze or a bandage from any other suitable materials.
Step 8
Slip the base into the leather. In this case, a thick wire should be inserted into the skull, legs and wings. If the owl's wings are in an unopened state, then they can be fixed by sewing to the body. Sew up the skin of the bird with threads in the color of the feathers.
Step 9
Give the owl the desired pose and tidy up the feathers by smoothing them in the correct position.
The stuffed owl is ready, sit it on a branch and secure it with a wire.
