THE LILAC PAPER.

I suddenly got this urge to put the world to rights and write down the frustrations of being a taxidermists. I called it The Lilac Paper simply because it was the only piece of paper I had at the time when jotting down my original thoughts..

"The wildlife of today is not ours to dispose of as we please. We have it in trust, we must account for it to those who come after" (King George V1)

In our defence

The True taxidermist.

The word (meaning “to move skin”) today brings forth a whole host of different attitudes from the populace – some showing a genuine interest in the craft (because a craft it is), through to utter disgust in what they falsely believe is a macabre trait to wipe out the worlds wildlife for pure profit. The latter, we in the trade look upon as a rather strange hypocritical lot who either assume that the “Victorian” era and ideals are still with us or that the whole country must be put aside to grow lettuce - and farming as we know it should cease to exist. They shout from a distance, whilst waving their leather handbag in the air insisting that no gain should come from the death of one of god’s creatures. From their leather purse they take a few coins and deposit them in the nearest animal charity believing they are doing their bit.

They fail to recognise the value of preservation, they fail to recognise the huge educational resource and they fail to recognise the feelings of a true taxidermist – the pure love and respect of wildlife.

It is unfortunate that – as with every trade – there is an element that corroborates their point of view, an element that have no regard for what they are doing and whose aim is pure profit. This criminal activity will always be there, if it were not, there would be no point of an enforcement agency. Every trade is affected with this problem but nobody stops going to the Doctor – they are not all Dr.Shipman or Crippen or many more. The Police on the whole still have the support of the populace – despite the hundreds of officers throughout history who have “turned to crime”. Even the Government has had its fair share of embarrassing moments. Do they all get tarred with the same brush – No – however all taxidermists seem to be criminals.

It is first and foremost the belief of a true taxidermist that wildlife is there for a natural purpose. The majority of the modern world on the other hand is hell bent on destroying the planet – there are a few however (all too few) that wish to preserve it. The “bunny huggers” as they are known seem to ignore the wider spectrum – they fight on for the rights of animals and think that we, the taxidermists, are the sole cause of extinction. How wrong can they be? I wonder how many taxidermists have handled a Yangse River Dolphin – not many I warrant. If and a big IF, something dies of natural causes – then why not preserve it and educate the world on its beauty. Kids in a classroom who see a Barn Owl at close quarters fall in love with it. This is where there is hope – educate the next generation and if there is anything left for them to look after, then look after it they will. T.V. programmes on wildlife have introduced us to the wonders of the planet. Those wonderful creatures from far away places have entered our homes and our hearts. Strangely enough this has been the point of taxidermy long before TV was invented. The curiosity of the public demanded the Museums to display these very creatures. The one difference was that children and adults could see the creature in natural size. Walk into a school today and the first to make a comment on the size of a Badger is the teacher – “good lord I didn’t think they were that big” - and a Mole, that small. All creatures fit into their Sony 21” Trinitron TV screen. All creatures are therefore about that size. A blind person gets a static shock from a TV screen – to see that person run their fingers over a fox is a sight worthy of note – and a stuffed one doesn’t bite.

CITES Charges - are they fair? what effect will it have on the trade?

Other subjects up for ridicule (and ridicule I will) are:- and/or constructive criticism will be given on:-

The stupidities of the current licensing system or "what stupid idiot thought this one up" with numerous anecdotes

Does the system work?; is it a waste of paper?; are we really protecting the wildlife? etc and why the current system actually encourages breaking the law.

The new Habitats Regulation from the idiots that tried to introduce straight cucumbers

Government Policy - what makes a civil servant tick - and why they make these strange decisions.

How enforceable are these laws?; What's to stop ??????

One, two or maybe more suggestions on how to control the trade through a licensing system.

The introduction of common sense - the most difficult challenge of them all

The future of the trade and the growing "black market"

and much much more.

Page under construction.

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