BIRDS OF PREY

BALD EAGLE
For Most, A Once in a Lifetime Encounter
by George Roof

Even though you think you will never mount a bird of prey, never pass the opportunity to collect all the reference that comes your way.

When Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Smyrna, Delaware, needed some birds mounted, I was the only taxidermist home that day. I mounted a Cooper's hawk and a pair of barn owls in dioramas. When I returned the birds, the outdoor recreation director asked if I would now make some repairs on two animals used for their programs. A beaver and a bald eagle arrived with all the required letters from the Department of Interior. Both had been mounted over 60 years ago, and "repair" was hardly what they needed.

I removed the old, greasy oil and latex paint, and did what I could. With their return, I sent a note, which read, "The mounted eagle is a tragedy, and is a disgrace to exhibit such a specimen to represent our national symbol." I indicated that hundreds of eagles were being stored at the National Forensic Laboratory in the northwest, and surely one of them could be obtained. If they could beat the bureaucracy, I would gladly...