2018-08-18

Get stuffed: preserving animals

① A good taxidermist needs the patience of a scientist, the eye of a sculptor and the stomach of a surgeon.

② The faint-hearted need not apply.

③ From today at the Saffron Walden Museum, north-east of London, an exhibition will explore the history of humans preserving the bodies of animals—by gutting them, stuffing them and then rearranging their skin.

④ Gruesome as it may be, the practice stretches back to ancient Egypt, where the pets of the Pharaohs were embalmed so they could be buried alongside their owners in their tombs.

⑤ Many famous animals have since experienced a similar fate.

⑥ In Saint Petersburg there's one of Pavlov's dogs (no drool remains).

⑦ In Melbourne Phar Lap, the champion racehorse with the extraordinarily big heart, still stands tall.

⑧ And Athena, the beloved pet owl of Florence Nightingale, has a permanent home in London.

⑨ Taxidermy has a reputation for being creepy, but it offers some fascinating slices of the past