Crap Taxidermy

A few years ago, Cream came across a very scary blog called Crap Taxidermy that contained feeds of badly stuffed dead animals. In fact, some of these animal mountings were so hideous, it looked as though some of the self-professed taxidermists had caught their subjects at the moment of their agonising deaths. Rabbit in its tracks… deer in headlights… that kind of thing.

The blog was kickstarted by some dude who wishes to be only be known as ‘Nish’, based out of a garage somewhere in Sheffield, UK.

“I started the page after I saw [what looked like] a pole dancing polar bear in a museum and thought poorly executed taxidermy might interest others.”

Apparently it does.

Soon people were sending Nish pictures of poorly stuffed creatures from all corners of the globe: double-headed bunnies (ie: stitched together to appear Siamese), foxes with eyes that look more mangled than a teddy run over by a truck, and something called a ‘ratipede’ which looks like the bodies of four rodents sewed together to look like one giant furry centipede. And that’s just the lighter end of the creepy spectrum.

Indeed, if you’re keen to check out more, you can visit www.craptaxidermy.com. Or pick up a copy of the site’s first official spin-off book, aptly titled Crap Taxidermy. The mini, er, coffee table book was authored by someone called ‘Kat Su’ but we figure this is a pseudonym of sorts, since ‘catso’ in Italian dialect means ‘bollocks’ or ‘who-gives-a-fuck’.

Anyway, we’ve gotta say that we love Kat’s dedication, which reads “To my tiger mom, Wendy Su… See, I told you I’d publish a book one day… Wait, this isn’t what you had in mind? Fuck’.

By the way, Cream couldn’t help sending one of its own taxidermy-inspired images, published in our own mag a decade ago, and now posted on the Crap Taxidermy site. Although we must brag that our treatment of the artform is somewhat classier than crap…   Antonino Tati

‘Crap Taxidermy’ is published by Octopus Books, available through Hachette Australia, RRP $14.99. eBook $8.99. The book includes a “Stuff Your Own Mouse” guide. Seriously.