INTRODUCTION: IN THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS OF taxidermy, I have seen nothing in the industry blossom as much as the area of artificial habitat. It used to be the norm to see bobble-headed deer hanging in Dracula movies or stiff-legged birds standing at attention on wooden ovals. Now, deer interact with mock scrapes, waterfowl blast through a curtain of frosted, char-colored cattails, and fish exit a glistening illusion of mirrored water molecules. What a change! And, I might say, it was about time!

 For some years, I have been writing articles about habitats and how to re-create them. I have tried to stress the equal importance of artificial habitats as a means of telling "the rest of the story," as Paul Harvey would say. I have also tried to emphasize the importance of totally realistic, and more importantly, durable interpretations. It does no good to get every bit of meat off a deer head and then turn around and pickle, not tan, the skin. The deer may look good for a few years, but in time, it will crack and become and look like a character from one of those Dracula movies.

The same is true in habitat re-creation. Why should you go to the trouble to expertly mount and display a gorgeous bobcat nestled into a soft bed of glossy green moss, when in a year, the moss will turn into a heap of brown dead moss if using the real material? There is an alternative. It involves duplicating or replicating the moss with only a slight bit of added effort. That is the essence of this article. First, I would like to relate a little technical knowledge about molding materials and separators. With the many varieties of mold making materials being used today comes the obvious need for a multitude of separators. I will try to address some of these in...