Taxidermy Progress Reports

LOL

At least if he ends up in Vegas I have an excuse to go get him and I can get lost for a few days!!

Apparently the Kudu made good friends in London and needed a health check after the party on Saturday.
They gave him a nick name "PAOA" (Products of animal origin) and the boys at the Border Inspection Post thought he should get to see a little more of the countryside and get his picture taken.

If you are bored and need some reading on the subject of EU PAOA reqs here you go:
Products of animal origin in international trade | Business Link

Now famous, he was provided his own personal ID number (ref number) and sent on to be "booked" yet again for his trip to his next party stop.

Here is hoping it is home!

I emailed the sender and the import agent and asked them to inform me what was up two days ago after I could not get the online tracking system to provide any useful information.

The response from BA to them was:
"Good day,

Further to my discussion with Dian, the shipment in question was delayed in Heathrow as a result of an unforeseen system outage. The cargo has been rescheduled as is shown below:
BA 104/03MAY LHR SS"

That was one determined Kudu.

I did not bother to check the arrivals tonight. I'd skip the disappointment.

At 20:49 local time I got the telephone message from the import warehouse here,
"The Eagle has landed!"

CFIA to be faxed docs at 07:30 tomorrow. I'll attend the inspection and unveiling in the warehouse just to ensure everything is intact. (That Kudu better not have brought any diseases home from that party!)

Then onto the Customs folks for the final tax discussion, payment and hopefully the trip home. (hurdle)


Big Warnings of late about Pests in shipments arriving from JHB:
75% of the shipments arriving lately have had pests in the crates and have required fumigation. An added cost no one needs.
I'll meet the local vet and ask him what he thinks hunters might be able to do (ask to have done) to reduce the number of shipments arriving from JHB with pests on board.
It would be great if they could track the offending D&P or Taxi's, etc. and share that.
If he has any useful suggestions I'll post them.

Originally Posted by BRICKBURN

(That Kudu better not have brought any diseases home from that party!)

Sounds like it could be a bad deal, I mean if that Kudu had used protection when he was alive you would probably be the one going on his wall, lets hope he learned his lesson and stayed wrapped in plastic this time!

The Vet Certified the Kudu Disease and bug free this morning.

I'll head to the airport and see if I can extricate the crate later tonight.

I managed to find my way through the customs office and got my papers stamped thanks to the generosity and patience of two staff members. Very impressed, not like the last time through that is for sure. I paid the negotiated tax amount and the CFIA Fee ($27) and made my rapid egress.

At the warehouse the process was simple. Pay them the fee $70, back the truck up to the door and guide the forklift operators efforts, tie the box in a leave for home.
One of the warehousemen commented that he would be very happy "to get that stinky crate out of there". I was elated with this comment. I knew they had followed the bug precautions I had requested for my crate. Pre-fumigated.

Time elapsed for the round trip was 2.5 hours in rush hour.

I arrived at home to have the kind assistance of the neighbours, who were over for dinner, to unload the crate and avoid the rain storm that was pending. Four people joined in an moved it into the garage.
I was going to leave the unloading until the morning. I was just happy to have the crate and perhaps I wanted to leave the day on a positive note, sans surprises from unwanted potential shipping damage.....

After the Braai (the South African was cooking) and one or two adult beverages and some celebrating and a little not to subtle pressure from the crowd, it was time to fight our way into the crate. Crowbars and nail pullers in hand. It was like Christmas for everyone.

The only thing that appeared to have moved was the leather package and Kudus horns and that was obviously due to the inspection process.
Everything was secured to the floor or walls and had not moved at all; Amazing. Good use of space and proper balance of the crates weight for handling.
TRACKS FREIGHT had done an excellent job of packing the crate. Impressive.

Safari Cargo, got it to the airport and BA finally got it here.

After seeing the mount pictures sent from Johannes I was expecting some good work.
There was absolutely nothing lost in getting up close, as you will see.
There is no cognitive dissonance in this write up. His work is as advertised.

The Impala and Buffalo skull have been cleaned very well and the skulls were not over boiled at all. Evidenced by the presence of the nasal bones still being present and the bases not boiled away.
They are also not covered in any nasty substance. They both have the scent of natural horn.
I only wish that we could keep the bark and other material from them rubbing their horns. (Not allowed)

The muscle detail is present in the faces, neck, eyes, ears and horn bases.
Kudu, Nyala, Bushbuck, Reedbuck.
No hair slips, etc.
This was obviously aided by Moosa's (My tracker, teacher and Bakkie buddy at Leeukop Safaris) skinning these trophies properly and in a timely fashion. The set up at Leeukop Safaris is excellent for excellent trophy processing. From removal from the field to transport, hanging, skinning and salting.
They take it seriously and I appreciate Moosa's work. Without it there was no possibility for this success. (Nothing diminishing Kemp's PH's or other staff's role, I just know that a good quick skinning job sets the process in motion)


The only thing that I might want to improve on these mounts would be the hardware. I am one for over design when it comes to falling mounts. I'll change them to something I think is more robust.
These trophies are irreplaceable in my mind.


With the risk of making this man too darn busy and thus slowing my trophy work in the future I will state the following: This work is every bit as good and better than work I have had completed in North America and he will get every African trophy I ever get done. European or Shoulder Mounts.
Museum quality is something that gets bandied about a lot when you talk about taxidermy. This work rates right up there and it is no wonder he has won taxidermy awards.
If anyone says do not get your work done in Africa, they have not visited his shop or seen this mans work.

Ubombo Taxidermy (Johannes Meintjes) Mkuze, Kwa-Zulu Natal
Welcome to Ubombo Taxidermy

any photos of the box attack and final unveiling?

Originally Posted by spike.t

any photos of the box attack and final unveiling?

Working on it, as I type. Pictures are 4 and 5 MB so it takes a while to upload...............

Originally Posted by BRICKBURN

Working on it, as I type. Pictures are 4 and 5 MB so it takes a while to upload...............

i know the feeling

Originally Posted by BRICKBURN

The only thing that I might want to improve on these mounts would be the hardware. I am one for over design when it comes to falling mounts. I'll change them to something I think is more robust.
These trophies are irreplaceable in my mind.

Good to hear everything turned out so well. I cant wait to see pics.

AAA taxidermy supply in Calgary carries by far the best hangers available. they are called' the noose hanger'. I defy you to knock a mount off the wall with one. They are quite expensive though ($1.50 each) LOL plus for the smaller mounts you may choose to break them in half and just use half per mount. AAA's number is 1-877-250-8995. To attach just use a 1 3/8" spade bit to hollow a small depression at the balance point of the mount then attach with 1" deck screws. So easy even I can do it.

Originally Posted by Diamondhitch

Good to hear everything turned out so well. I cant wait to see pics.

AAA taxidermy supply in Calgary carries by far the best hangers available. they are called' the noose hanger'. I defy you to knock a mount off the wall with one. They are quite expensive though ($1.50 each) LOL plus for the smaller mounts you may choose to break them in half and just use half per mount. AAA's number is 1-877-250-8995. To attach just use a 1 3/8" spade bit to hollow a small depression at the balance point of the mount then attach with 1" deck screws. So easy even I can do it.

Thats what we need.
Thanks Diamond, I was thinking of them as a potential source of some options.
I'll go with your suggestion.
I'll go the paranoid route on all of the mounts too. These critters will be hanging up above a long drop. Humpty Dumpty's team would have an easier time putting him back together afterward.

I'll get some better pictures of the mounts in day light so the shadows will show some of the details better.

So he finally gave in and came home! Those darn kudu always seem to do that. Go out partying and having a good time, but quickly realize the real world is hard!!!

As a side note I just got my email from safari cargo that all of my trophies are ready. All permits are in place and ready to ship. So hopefully in the next 2-52 weeks my chickens will come home to roost!

Rick that sounds good. Excellent selection of an expectation on shipping timelines.

Originally Posted by Diamondhitch

Good to hear everything turned out so well. I cant wait to see pics.

AAA taxidermy supply in Calgary carries by far the best hangers available. they are called' the noose hanger'. I defy you to knock a mount off the wall with one. They are quite expensive though ($1.50 each) LOL plus for the smaller mounts you may choose to break them in half and just use half per mount. AAA's number is 1-877-250-8995. To attach just use a 1 3/8" spade bit to hollow a small depression at the balance point of the mount then attach with 1" deck screws. So easy even I can do it.

Thanks again.
Found it and will set off to buy a half dozen or so.



Also going to figure out how to get these Euro mounts onto the wall.
The Buffalo should be a blast.

My first Impala and a very nice one.
I blew three holes in the cape with one bullet.
Every time a bullet touched a branch it managed to start expanding and when it hit the animals the holes looked like a 500 going in sideways.
In and out of the neck and into the shoulder. Needless to say no cape so.... Euro mount for now.

Impala on Leather.jpg

I was very pleased to see the nasal bones had not been boiled out of the skull.
I may get a shoulder mount done one day. I do love the Rooibok's color.

Impala Skull.jpg

The Kudu karma came home to roost with a spring snow storm.
So I took him outside to introduce him to his new environment for some payback.
kudusnow.jpg

Tip toeing through the tulips.
Buffalo Tulips Snow.jpg


From the earlier photos from Tracks Freight you could see the jigsaw puzzle of a packing job that was done.

My friend crawling into the crate after it was upturned to get the screws out of the bottom of the crate to loose the Kudu. Last but not least.
Kudu uncrating.jpeg

The Buffalo being liberated from the crate. Being lifted like this you get some perspective on the mass.

Buffalo uncrating.jpeg

I love that pic of the Kudu in the snow. It just looks cool. Now I see why he didn't want to come home. Snow in may! He is used to warm and sunny in may....or any month of the year.

nice, the kudu has a kind of surprised look on his face , is that because of the snow or that he finally made it?

Brickburn, Great story and nice looking mounts. Appreciate the play by play as I get ready to try the same thing back to Canada myself! Hopefully my Kudu won't like to party as much as yours!