Business profile 6-21-2009
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share thisMeet Brian McLaughlin ...
Job title: Owner of McLaughlin Taxidermy
Age: 42
Family: Wife, Adrian; children, Austin and Meredith
Residence: Wapwallopen
What made you get into taxidermy?
I just always liked the outdoors.
How long have you been in the business?
Twenty years. Five years ago, I started teaching taxidermy. I get students from up and down the east coast and inquiries from California and Texas. I run the school out of the same building as my taxidermy but the name is East Coast Institute of Taxidermy. We have an average of 10 to 20 students per year. It's not a school where you have book work. It's students working on their own piece supplied by me and I'm working next to them on a customer's piece.
What's the price range?
It depends on the animal. A squirrel is $200 and an elephant $100,000. I do a lot of African pieces. We just got done doing three lions. It took about 15 days to put it all together.
What's the strangest animal you have done?
A lot of the animals we get are from Africa. We get calls about dogs and cats all the time. But the thing is nothing is strange because something that is normal to one person may not be to the other.
The biggest?
We just did a giraffe and soon we will be doing an elephant.
How long does it normally take to go through the process?
The average animal deer head takes eight to 10 hours, but everything is done in steps so my return time for everything is eight to 10 months.
How does your family feel about your business?
Everybody likes it. I started it on my own. (However,) my dad can't even stand being around the animals; he doesn't like the blood and guts. My kids are the talk of the school, especially for show and tell. We don't have any pets so they bring in pictures of lions and tigers.
Does your house have any animals in it you've done?
The only things in our house are my son's squirrel and fish. There isn't anything else in the house because one, my wife doesn't appreciate it and two, I see it everyday and I don't want to see it at home.
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