DATE: Sunday, July 27, 1997                 TAG: 9707250102

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   93 lines

SUFFOLK'S FEMALE TAXIDERMIST CONSIDERS WORK AN ART FORM

TAXIDERMY, TO Debbie Daugherty, isn't just stuffing dead fish and animals for hunters and fishermen to hang on their walls.

Rather, it's an art form that captures as much as possible the realism of life, form and habitat.

And it frequently keeps Daugherty up all night, takes her thoughts from the depths of the ocean along Virginia's shores to African jungles, and transports her into the lives of families who cling to cherished pets.

Daugherty is Suffolk's only female taxidermist and one of just a handful of women in the profession nationally.

After practicing taxidermy in Virginia Beach for about 15 years, she moved to Suffolk to be closer to another small business in which she has an interest. She took over the business and studio on Pruden Boulevard of Leonard Williams, who was retiring.

Daugherty still recalls how Williams warned her then how busy she would get mounting deer heads in Suffolk in midsummer during ``butter bean season.'' She thought it was odd that her busiest time for deer would be off season for hunters.

But she later understood that hunters frequently freeze game animals to have them mounted. When summer gardens begin to produce, the deer heads are moved out to make way for the beans.

Now, there's seldom a season when Daugherty isn't busy.

``I find myself working odd hours, sometimes all night,'' said the single mother of two sons.

Daugherty, self-employed for most of her life, was raising and training bird dogs 25 years ago in Virginia Beach when her clients routinely asked where they could get trophies mounted.

So she ordered a correspondence course on taxidermy from a hunting magazine. The school provided a booklet a week for study and practice. Both Williams and Daugherty's uncle took the same correspondence course.

The Northwestern School of Taxidermy is still around, Daugherty said.

``It's been real interesting to compare the books and see how the techniques have changed over the years,'' she said. ``Now, they have all kinds of training available on video.''

When Daugherty took over the Suffolk business, she inherited some of Williams' old, wooden forms. Fifty years ago, taxidermists had to stretch the hide of animals over handmade molds of wood, wire and papier-mache'. Today, pre-cast fiberglass forms are available for most subjects.

Daugherty's supplier has about 150 different sizes and poses available for deer heads, for example.

However, she wasn't able to find a pre-cast form for a baby giraffe she mounted.

``He was a zoo loss,'' she said. ``The client was a collector. When I finished, it was about six feet tall - the cutest thing I ever saw.''

There was no form available either for a tarantula.

``This was a 10-year old pet, as large as my hand,'' she said. ``I learned a lot. Apparently tarantulas are very affectionate pets.''

Although sporting trophies represent the majority of her work, it's not unusual for Daugherty to be asked to stuff domestic animals - dogs, cats, birds.

``For some people, it makes it a little easier to let the animal go,'' she said. ``I always explain that it's not going to move; it's not going to be soft like it was. I usually recommend a sleeping position. I think it's sweetly symbolic.''

Daugherty recently completed an African safari for a bow hunter. The collection included antelope with odd names in several sizes and a trophy wart hog.

``The ugliest critter I've ever seen,'' Daugherty said, laughing.

The job is often messy. Daugherty usually gets the head and the hide of animals - and fish straight from the water. Her gender is seldom a handicap except for a lack of muscle power when it comes to larger animals.

``The Fish and Game Commission had a 435-pound black bear mounted,'' she said. ``It was killed on the road. A game warden and I brought the thing into the studio.''

The thing she likes least, especially in summer, is the ``hitchhikers'' who come with her subjects.

``The animal has usually been refrigerated when I get it,'' she said. ``The ticks are cold. They're looking for another warm body. Guess who's next?''

A new fishing trophy trend is to reproduce citation catches in fiberglass. The fish is weighed and registered, then set free. Daugherty takes the vital statistics and produces a likeness.

``A lot of fishermen are releasing trophy fish, particularly bill fish like marlin,'' she said. ``With molds, we're able to cast one proportionately without a fish having to die for it.''

For years, Daugherty participated in competitions and captured national attention with her mounting and habitat recreations. Now, she said, she'd rather give that time and attention to her clients.

``Taxidermy has become an art,'' she said, ``with stiff competition for realism.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot

Suffolk's Debbie Daugherty is a self-taught taxidermist. Here she

brushes out the fur on an otter. Daugherty, one of the nation's few

female taxidermists, says her profession has become an art.

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