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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1981)
Taxidermy takes skill Family stuffs with pride By DOUG BUTLER Of the Emerald They won’t do reptiles or dead pets, but Adams Taxidermy will mount just about any other creature that squawked, growled or ruminated. In 22 years of business in Eugene, Ken Erickson and his family have mounted game an imals from Oregon, Alaska and around the world. ‘'Yeah, we’ve done a few African safaris," says Erickson's wife, Elaine. Among the African trophies they’ve done are cape buffalo, elands and antelopes. There’s even a pair of elephant feet in the showroom. Near them is a bobcat’s head and a Mississippi paddlefish, named for its beaver-tailed nose. The whole store resem bles a natural-history museum. Dozens of small mammals, ducks and pheasants peer sightlessly from the shelves and trophy cases. In the center of the showroom stands the polar bear that Erickson's father shot. Its lip curls in a plastic snarl. An enor mous bison head dwarfs the other heads — moose, elk and caribou — mounted on the wall. ’’It is from a herd that was transplanted to Alaska,” Erick son says. "You can only hunt them once in a lifetime.” Though they mount exotic Photo by David W Zahn Steve Erickson applies a fine touch to a stuffed deer head. species bagged in faraway lands, most of their business comes from “the mill-working guy who just enjoys getting out in the country,” Erickson says. And business has been good. Customers bring in animals primarily from August to December — the hunting sea son. During the other half of the year, they concentrate on preparing the trophies. When Erickson receives the hides from the tannery, he molds, shapes, stretches, cuts and patches them back into their original form. Mounting an animal is a talent Minority workshop opens Minority students with ques tions about careers may find answers at the Minority Affairs Consortium workshop, “Pre paring to Enter the Helping Professions.” The workshop, beginning today at 11 a m., will focus on work available in the helping professions, including coun seling, clinical pyschology, community service and public affairs, and social work. The psychology department’s minority issues committee or ganized the workshop after recognizing the lack of minority applicants to the various majors, says Linda Gonzales, a graduate student in clinical psychology. “We need to make ethnic minority members aware of the job opportunities before they get down to the nitty-gritty of applying to graduate schools,'' Gonzales says. The workshop is designed for both students considering graduate school and under graduates who plan to enter the job market, she says. The workshop will focus on how fields differ from one an other, types of training required for various careers and resume writing. SOAPS BOX Keep up on what’s happening in the soap operas with your personal portable TV G.E. 12" Diagonal Black & White TV Longlasting 100% solid state. Sand color cabinet & easy-carry handle. m Model 0111 $8488 CHARGE IT • Goodyear Car Card • Installment Pay Plan • MasterCard • Diners Club • Visa • American Express • Carte Blanche GOODfYCAU SERVICE STORES Open Mon.-Fri. 8-5:30 Sat. 8-5 164 W 7th and Charnelton 343-2501 Downtown Eugene and a craft best learned as an apprentice, Erickson says. Tax idermists who excel introduce a personal touch into the work. In his work, Erickson says he seeks to create a striking, lifelike figure. It takes almost a year to properly mount a deer head, he says. Such a mounting costs between $175 and $185, while a life-size mounting of a bison would cost $3,500 Trophies are not cheap, Erickson notes, because his family wants to give customers trophies they’ll be happy with for a long time Rotted, tattered or thinly haired animals make poor trophies, so the Erick sons rejected them. Most customers praise the j work. “It’s that one guy in a hundred who says I don’t like it’ that you remember," Erickson says. The insides of the animals are , entirely replaced in the taxider- , mist’s process, and the flesh has been either frozen or dis- j carded before Erickson ( receives the animal. Instead of , skeletal structures, taxidermists j use standard forms to mount the < animals, much as a clothier uses a mannequin. After stretching and shaping the hide over the form, Erickson does the detail work around the mouth and eyes with putty, clay and fiberglass. The teeth are fake, and even the skull is discarded. “Real teeth rot and break,” Erickson explains. Along with their trophy work, the Ericksons have hides tanned as rugs and have deer skin made into purses, gloves and belts. Erickson requires legal proof of government sanction before he’ll work on the hides of some animals, especially endangered species. “Even if it died of natural causes, I need to see a govern ment tag,” he says. When you have a good product, you want people to know about it. Alright, we know we have one of the most comforta ble walking shoes made, with its contoured cork foot bed. That's why the Shakti Shoe Company, for a lim ited time, is offering a cash rebate in the form of a val uable coupon available at participating stores. So it's up to you to take advantage of this opportunity to try out this remarkable walking shoe, and save some of your money, too. We know you'll agree with us. Birkenstock. 2nd Floor Atrium 10th & Olive Mon.-Sat. 11-6 687-0065 ‘Fire Brooks’ wins cash prize for editor An Emerald editorial demanding the firing of University football coach Rich Brooks won fifth place in the William Randolph Hearst Foundation national editorial writinq con test. Emerald Editor Ken Sands, who wrote the unsigned opinion, will receive $300 The journalism school also will receive $300. The Oct. 1 editorial said the University should "begin the excavation of a morally bankrupt foundation” of college athletics by firing Brooks. Brooks and other University coaches were fined last year for their involvement in the phony-credit and plane-ticket scandals. "If legality or morality were to be considered, Brooks would have been fired long ago,” the editorial said. "Whether or not he is guilty of any wrongdoing, he is responsible for the actions of his team, if only indirectly.” Corrections A headline and an attribution n Wednesday's Emerald were naccurate. The headline, which ap )eared on page 3A, said that a >roken window latch in the oom of a Walton-Adams' dor nitory resident who was raped Ian. 10 was never reported. The leadline contradicted the arti :le, which said a University itudy found that the broken atch was reported in September. University Acting Pres. Paul Olum said the study found that the reported window had been repaired in September, but was broken again and not reported — and thus not repaired — a second time. In an article on page 8B, a quote referring to Associate Athletic Director Ed Swartz's standing at the University was erroneously attributed to Olum What was inadvertently attribut ed to Olum was a passage from an article in Tuesday s Oregon ian . BLACK STUDENTI UNION MEETING!!! "Striving for l xcellerm Date: 1-22-81 Time: 8:30 PM Place: Forum General Meeting Please Attend!
