For Mike Carroll, taxidermy is more than preservation, it’s an art that brings nature’s beauty back to life.
Carroll is enrolled in Piedmont Community College’s (PCC) taxidermy program where he has been learning the skills need to take something dead and restore it into something beautiful. Throughout the course he has learned the proper techniques of measuring, fleshing, preserving, form selection, mounting and finishing.
“I watched a friend of mine mount a deer I killed when I was in high school,” Carroll said. “Watching him with the techniques and the artistry bringing the animal back to life sparked an interest. For years I wanted to get into it, but the timing never matched life at the time, so I just had to put it on hold until recently.”
Carroll works full time and drives about 45 minutes to PCC for class. The class is offered in the evenings to allow students who work during the day to attend.
After being inspired by the art of taxidermy 31 years ago, Carroll is grateful to finally have the opportunity to pursue his passion and learn from Darrell Madden, taxidermy instructor. Carroll says that Madden gives students autonomy and pushes them as far as they want to go.
Madden is a lifelong taxidermist who began working within the field when he was just a child. What started out as a hobby initially, eventually led to a full-time job where he worked as a taxidermist professionally for 20 years. Since then, he has worked at PCC in multiple capacities, with one role being a carpentry instructor within Dan River Prison Work Farm’s satellite training facility.
Madden’s favorite thing about teaching taxidermy is being able to witness the excitement and pride experienced by students like Carroll who successfully perform a new skill, or the elation shown upon completing a project. He hopes that each student leaves the program with the skills needed to continue the art of taxidermy either as a hobby or professionally. In a way, Madden sees himself as passing the torch to future generations.
“What makes PCC’s current taxidermy program unique is the flexibility in project choice that is afforded to the students,” Madden said. “Unlike many other programs in the state that offer courses that are only specific to certain types or sizes of animals, PCC’s taxidermy program allows its students to bring their own legally obtained specimen and to work on any small to medium game that they so wish, whether that be a duck, bobcat, or white tail deer. PCC’s taxidermy program teaches its students those principles, techniques, and skills needed to tackle any number of taxidermy projects either at the level of a hobbyist or as a business venture.”
With the skills Carroll has learned in the class, he has recently been able to open his part-time business, Lakefront Taxidermy.
For more information about PCC’s taxidermy program, visit www.piedmontcc.edu/taxidermy.
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