Daniel Meng of Bismarck, N.D., prepares his pieces for the championship contest.
Photographer: Aude GuerrucciFeature
At the World Taxidermy and Fish Carving Competition
Every two years, the world’s taxidermists gather to show off their best work.
On a stormy day in Springfield, Mo., the Expo Center was full of menacing bears, jumping lions, flying birds, and swimming fish, all remaining pretty still as they got their hair blow-dried, feathers tweaked, or scales retouched.
Every other year since 1983, taxidermists from all over the world gather for the World Taxidermy and Fish Carving Championships. Since the 1990s, it has been organized by Larry Blomquist, owner and publisher of the taxidermy magazine Breakthrough.