FOR a banker-turned-taxidermist, John Whitfort doesn't have your average backyard shed.
Instead of being crammed with old paint tins and tools, his shed is full of gleaming glass eyes on an assortment of lifelike furry or scaled creatures that seem to follow you about.
A quick "head count" of the critters reveals at least three foxes, 15 giant fish, three mounted deer heads, three giant crayfish, two cats and a fluffy white Maltese terrier.
Mr Whitfort, 63, isn't quite ready to retire after 20 years of honing his craft, but he is scaling back his taxidermy efforts.
Recent clients include Mt Martha plumber Shannon Burriss, featured in The Mail on April 7 with a 20kg mulloway he and his brother-in-law caught in Western Port. But Mr Whitfort says there will be no more "big fish" jobs. "Some weigh 30kilograms and it's getting harder lifting them out of the freezer. I'll just mount their heads from now."
The Langwarrin resident works about 24 hours a week and has a long waiting list of clients from all over the Mornington Peninsula and many other parts of Victoria.
He is happy to accommodate growing demand from hunters to mount deer heads.
"But I'm looking at doing less cats and dogs. It's more time consuming and you have to get it exactly right.
"It's actually a huge emotional strain as clients often arrive crying when they bring their dead pet in and leave crying tears of joy when they see their pet looking like it used to. I do feel very satisfied when they are happy, particularly for the old ones who have nothing else left."
The animals are normally brought in frozen after "passing away" at veterinary clinics.
Mr Whitfort said the Maltese terrier (pictured right on the table) was almost ready to be collected by his loving owner. "It takes about half a day to do the skinning. You have to skin right down to the toenails and do the ears."
The skin is salted twice over a couple of days, dried and sent to a tanner. When it returns it's leathery underneath with the fur intact on top.
Then it's time to shape the body with absolute precision, using foam carved from blocks for fish and woodshavings tightly bound with cotton for animals. Moulds of the animals' heads are filled with expanding foam and joined to the body, the skin is attached and finishing touches applied. "You have to make it look pretty, which is the battle. The eyes, ears and nose have to be exactly right."
The Maltese, which has pins on its face to stop the skin from shrinking, will be finished off with black spray paint around the eyes before being sent home as good as new.
Cost of immortalising a small dog or cat is $700. Deer heads are $700 and anglers can pay $500 to prove their catch really was "this big".
You'll get no argument from him that taxidermy is a dying art. "There are very few taxidermists left in Victoria and some of those are retiring."
But he is passing his extensive knowledge on to a female trainee and says more women seem to be entering the specialised field.
"I think women will be the future."
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