Care of your trophy doesn't end when you bring it home. Using a soft brush
attachment for your vacuum, clean the dust off the hair, cobwebs from the eye
lashes and be sure to clean behind the ears. Always brush with the hair.
A light coat of furniture polish on antlers to brighten them up is ok,
but NEVER apply anything to horns. Clean the eyes with a soft lint free cloth.
To clean a rug, hang it and beat it with a switch before vacuuming. The hair on
longhaired animals like bear, wolf, coyote, etc. can be brushed against the
lay of the hair to fluff it up. If your mounts have small cracks you may want
to take them back to your taxidermist to have them repaired.
Birds and fish are very fragile and should be cleaned with a feather duster or
very lightly with a brush on a vacuum. You can use Q-tips to clean the eyes,
beak and feet of birds.
Never hang your mount above a fire place that is used often. This will destroy
a mount faster than anything. Also, try not to place your mounts where they will
receive lots of direct sunlight or the colors will fade with time. Try to keep
your trophy dry to keep mold from ruining it. The biggest threat your mount
will face is from small bugs called dermestids. They will quickly destroy your
mounts unless they are caught early and heavily fumigated. If you suspect you
have dermestids (they cause the hair to fall out), get all your other trophys
out of the house to avoid them being ruined also. Call your taxidermist to
get further instructions on dealing with dermestids.
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