Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D55406-3
Date(s)
- 1950-12-28 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
J.H. Gipple, taxidermist, creates the artificial bodies of a cougar attacking a deer for the Washington State Historical Society's diorama. Taxidermy is the art of putting a real animal skin on an artificial body. First, every part of the animal is measured so that the artificial body will fit inside the skin. The skin is removed from the body and tanned and the skeleton is saved. A body frame is created, either from wood or actual bones, and then covered with wire mesh and straw. In this picture, the frame is coated with a material in preparation for the addition of the skin. The cougar is suspended from wires in the ceiling to approximate an pouncing position. The cougar was killed near Eatonville by Robert E. Albaugh of Tacoma. The animal measured almost eight feet in length. (TNT 4/8/1951, pg. A-4)
Washington State Historical Society (Tacoma)--Exhibitions & displays; Taxidermy; Dioramas--Tacoma--1950-1960; Exhibitions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Gipple, J.H.; Pumas--Tacoma--1950-1960;