Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 03/01) - It's been a great year for taxidermists or, as they prefer to be called these days, "wildlife artists."

Michael Wanhella and other taxidermists should be busy until next hunting season. Wanhella worked in-house at remote camps this hunting season. - Dave Sullivan/NNSL Photo

"When people think of taxidermy they might have an image of a psycho guy in a basement playing with dead things," says Michael Wanhella, who came from Weyburn, Sask., to work for record numbers of American hunters who want their trophies mounted and shipped home.

But it's become more than just stuffing, with the craft evolving to include detailed backdrops.

Like any good work of art, hunters treasure animals bagged during their trip to Canada for the rest of their lives. Wanhella was chosen as in-house taxidermist for camps run by Rabesca's Resources because of that artistry.

It's also been a record year for Yellowknife taxidermist Greg Robertson, who will be working straight through next hunting season on 250 caribou.

Wanhella has 150 to work on, and Robertson estimates other taxidermists working at NWT's dozen fly-in camps have another 600 or so.

Yellowknifer caught up with him last week while he had all his clients' caribou racks spread out for the government to count at the RWED wharf in Old Town.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. gave reason for some hunters to stay home toward the end of the season, but neither wildlife artist expects business to slow down.

Wanhella is optimistic about the future because most camps are booked solid for the next couple years. With many clients saving for years and paying in advance, he figures they're not likely to cancel.

Robertson agrees: "The caribou business has really taken off."

Until last year the camps used to bring American taxidermists, but Canadians have worked hard since then to build trust with the camps owners, he said.

Wanhella believes Canadian taxidermists have a "fantastic" future because many hunters "would rather leave it to a local guy who really knows what a caribou looks like, rather than a taxidermist at home in Alabama."

Sometimes the taxidermy business is so good it's frustrating for Wanhella. He likes to hunt, but rarely gets a chance these days.

Since recently giving up on the bare-bones Sask-atchewan market to concentrate on Americans visiting the North, business has boomed. He charges between $500 and $700 for a caribou head.