Our first group podcast! We had the privilege to be surrounded by many amazing taxidermists at Wes Mote's Alumni Group class in Texas. Wes Mote is World Champion Taxidermist in Whitetail. He is also a great teacher and puts on group classes a few times a year. Wes put on this class for his past students, to teach some of new and exclusive molding and casting techniques. We wanted to be able to share a little bit of the experience and also get into the minds of some of these great taxidermists. Not only do we talk competitions, and the competing mindset, we talk about tips, tricks, answer some questions from Taxidermy Q&A, and much more! It's an episode you won't want to skip! Thank you so much for watching!! -Heather and Ashley  YouTube link -https://youtu.be/KZWsDcpxtdM

If there was one episode that you needed to listen to as a small business owner, this is it!  Evan is a wealth of knowledge on the subjects of retirement planning, investment, and insurance. He really tries to focus on the needs of taxidermists but this episode is suitable for any small business owner or individual who wants to feel inspired to make changes for thier own future!  We really tried to breakdown this topic as a “financial planning for dummies” type of episode. We know we sure left the episode feeling ready to take charge of our own retirement planning and also double checking those business insurance policies!  We highly encourage you to call Evan with any of your own questions about retirement and insurance for your own business. You can go to his Facebook or website at Taxidermist Advisors.  Thanks for watching and we hope you enjoy this episode! Heather & Ashley 

The National Taxidermy Show, New Mexico show, Virginia Show, and so much more! In this episode we were joined by Dalton Jeffers and Dillon Juarez. Dalton showed off his "wrestling belt" and Dillon shared the story behind Hector! For more information about this episode and others, follow us Instagram and Facebook, or go to our Youtube to watch the episode. We would love it so much if you left us a review wherever you listen to the podcast! Thank you so much for watching!! -Heather and Ashley

Taxidermists are typically business owners as well, or they work for a larger taxidermy business. Either way, we are no strangers to the wild things that can happen during customer interactions. Taxidermy-customer interactions can get a little more interesting than what might happen in a more "normal" job. Listen to some stories that our listeners sent in and hear what we might do that in those scenarios. If you have your own crazy taxidermy customer stories, send them to us at wildversepodcast@gmail.com Thank you so much for listening!! -Heather and Ashley

In this months trivia episode we decided to take a page from one of our favorite podcasts “The Meat Eater Podcast” and play their game Meat Eater trivia.  In true Wildverse fashion, we start out with a “would you rather” question that we think will have a landslide of similar answers! We can guarantee you’ll learn something new on this episode as well as maybe feel a little foolish like we did at times…    Play along and let us know how you do! From topics on conservation to wildlife and hunting, see how your scores compare to ours! See if the winner of your episode is Ashley, Heather.. or YOU!

Randy Mitchell is the owner of Wild Rooms - www.wildroomsmi.com He creates those big mountains of habitat that display dozens of mounts, and those scenes that are so lifelike, it makes you feel like you're really there in the forest amongst the animals. If you've ever wondered about the logistics and what goes on behind the scenes of trophy rooms, you won't want to skip this one! Also, we get a tour of a big showroom with HUNDREDS of mounts! View the whole showroom tour on YouTube! Get in contact with Randy at wildroomsmi.com Follow us on instagram and Facebook for more info on today's episode and lots of more great content! Thank you so much for watching! -Heather and Ashley

In this episode we share about our trip to Colorado and how we searched high and * not so low* for cool pieces of twisted juniper!   Hear the why, how and where of our trip along with the fun stories of our adventure along the way. We also share our own tips and tricks that we use when creating the habitat scenes for the mounts we do in our own shops. You never know, you might hear a new way to do your own habitat!  For instance, do you know how to get rid of those pesty hot glue strings? Or how to add flow and balance to your scenes?  Follow along on our Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to see more content about what we discuss in this episode!  Thanks for listening!   - Ashley & Heather 

Have you ever wondered whether you could mount a polar bear? A giant panda? An eagle? What are some animals that I can't legally taxidermy? Well we've got the answers! We dive into some of the most common animals that pose the question - can you mount it? (can you taxidermy it?) And some of the answers may surprise you! We answer the questions: Can you mount a polar bear? Can you mount a giant panda? Can you mount an eagle? Can you mount an owl or hawk? How about a songbird? Can you mount a mountain lion? Can you mount a flying squirrel? Can you mount an African lion? And much more! Follow us on instagram and Facebook for more information regarding this topic of prohibited animals! Thank you so much for watching! -Heather and Ashley

Paul Cales is the founder and owner of PRO-1 Performance Chemicals, which is also the sponsor of this episode and many of our others! PRO-1 sells high quality tanning chemicals, and everything you need to tan animal hides - even down to the pH paper! Paul has also created PRO-1 Hide Paste - one of the most versatile and widely used hide pastes on the market. In this episode, we find out more about Paul and a lot about tanning! Find all the PRO-1 products for sale at http://www.pro1performancechemicals.com Thank you so much for watching! - Heather & Ashley

Heather attended the 2024 Maryland Taxidermy Convention and the 2024 Pennsylvania Taxidermy Convention! So let's talk about it! We talk about the competitions, awards, (OUR AWARD!!), live mounting taxidermy competitions, other fun stuff that happens at the shows, and what is more to come this year in the way of taxidermy conventions. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more information from the shows! Thank you so much for watching!! - Heather and Ashley

Our monthly trivia episode! Test your knowledge in the categories of conservation, biology, anatomy, animals, and taxidermy with random questions. We take turns asking each other questions....see if you can score better than us!   How well did you do?   For more content and more taxidermy facts, follow us on instagram and Facebook.   Thank you so much for watching!! -Ashley and Heather

Being a taxidermist is a relatively safe profession or hobby, yet it still comes with some risks.. we are dealing with real animals, after all. What are some risks of being a taxidermist? Can I contract rabies working with recently deceased animals? How about tularemia or anthrax? What even is rabbit fever? Find out all about this stuff and more in this episode! Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for even more information about the topics we discussed. Thank you so much for watching! -Ashley and Heather

Some of the commonly asked questions we get as taxidermists and about taxidermy in general! Even if you know the answers to a lot of these, the answers we give might be different based on our experience, or the answers might help you to answer these same questions in the future.. the are frequently asked, after all! We cover: 1. What is taxidermy? 2. What do you do with the excess skin? 3. What happens to the meat when you want to have an animal taxidermied? 4. What do you call taxidermied animals? 5. Why is taxidermy called “stuffed”? 6. Do you have to go to college to become a taxidermist? 7. Do you need a license to practice taxidermy? 8. Can you make a good living doing taxidermy? 9. Where do the animals come from that we mount?  10. What’s the hardest animal to taxidermy? (And why) 11. What’s the easiest animal to taxidermy? (And why) 12. How does the skin not rot?  13. Can you taxidermy a human? 14. Can you taxidermy roadkill? 15. Can I have my dog/cat taxidermied?  16. How soon should I get an animal to a taxidermist? 17. Why does it take so long to get my mount back from the taxidermist? 18. Is taxidermy toxic/safe to touch? 19. What can I use to clean my mounts? 20. Can I wash my mounts? 21. How long does a taxidermy mount last? Check out our Wildverse Instagram and Facebook for more information and content about what we discussed in this episode. Thank you so much for watching!! - Heather and Ashley

What is going on in Colorado right now? No, not the snow report... hunting bans and some crazy wildlife management! We talked with Leland Reinier of Craig, Colorado. Leland is a taxidermist, he owns Big Cat Taxidermy, but he's also a houndsman, hunter, and he's lived in Colorado his whole life. Colorado is currently facing a total mountain lion hunting ban - deceivingly called the "trophy hunting ban". That, along with the introduction of wolves recently, Colorado is in quite a harrowing position for outdoorsman - and taxidermists! We talk about all that and more in this episode of Wildverse! Check out our instagram and Facebook for pictures and even more content about this episode! Thank you Leland for joining us, and thank YOU all so much for watching! - Ashley and Heather

Taxidermy Competitions?! How in the heck do those work? In this episode, we discuss how taxidermy competitions work! We talk about how to enter a "comp piece", all the categories and divisions, WHY taxidermy competitions are so helpful, and much more! We both compete and we highly encourage other taxidermists to do the same. Even just attending the comp (and just being a spectator) is a great way to learn! Thank you so much for watching! -Ashley and Heather

Test your taxidermy, animal, and anatomy knowledge with our first game of taxidermy trivia!  See how you score against Heather & Ashley and let us know how you did. What was YOUR score?! Eight questions, and a bonus "would you rather" question. This episode was so much fun!! Thank you for listening!

Judah Payer joins us in this episode to share the story of Payer Eyes - one of the leading eye producers in the taxidermy industry. We learn about Payer Eye's start in Israel and how the recent conflicts affect the company, as well as learning about the logistics and making of glass eyes! This episode was very "eye" opening.. 

Taxidermy gets a really weird reputation in the entertainment industry! Serial killers in real life and fiction, and the random addition of taxidermy in a tv show... it can get a little strange sometimes. We discuss of the influence of how taxidermy is portrayed in media, and the affects it has on us real taxidermists! Taxidermy in fashion, reality shows, and the public perception of taxidermists. We also ponder the question, was Cruella Deville a taxidermist?

We talk taxidermy, hunting in Africa, and all things big cats with the "Leopard King" Daniel Meng! Daniel is a world champion taxidermist, winning Best in World with a leopard in 2015. He specializes in big cat taxidermy and has a huge passion for big cats and the art!  Daniel's taxidermy studio is called Full Snarl Studios in South Dakota. This is an episode you won't want to skip!

In this episode, we cover the most frequented question we get asked - How to Become a Taxidermist!  We discuss getting started in taxidermy. Do you need to go taxidermy school? What tools do you need? And whether you need a taxidermy license or not!