Some people like to dance, some like to play video games, some like to cook, Andrew Eichenlaub, a Sophomore, likes to practice taxidermy.

“It all started when a buddy of mine came up to me and told me he shot his first squirrel, he then proceeded to ask me if I would be interested in turning it into a display” says Eichenlaub. He wanted to make this special for his friend.

“I knew my friend was a golfer so I wanted to surprise him with it,” says Eichenlaub. From there it was only a matter of setting up the scenery to make the squirrel look like he was playing golf. He then proceeded to bring it to his friend at Westminster. Of course the process for creating something like that requires precise craftsmanship. You start out by skinning the animal and proceeding to clean the pelt. You then place it on a sort of mannequin that is then put in the position of the taxidermists choice. Some taxidermist’s creations do not consist of the animals whole body, some show just the head.

“I’m in the beginning stages of taxidermy right now, which means I don’t have much experience, but making the squirrels took around 7 to 8 hours,” says Eichenlaub. He has also worked on robins and rabbits.

“The process was entirely self taught, mostly off of Youtube,” said Eichenlaub. Some people take taxidermy as an art form Eichenlaub simply does it as a pasttime.

“Its always been something I have been interested in, and since I love the outdoors it works out nicely” says Eichenlaub. This talented young taxidermist is starting to make his name known throughout Westminster as the man who hunts and then creates a his own Build-a-Bear.

“I want to continue this in the future, and hopefully learn more about and possibly improve on this craft… I have always thought taxidermy interesting because of the idea of preserving the animals you kill and be able to show that off,” says Eichenlaub.

While this outdoors man has accomplished many a feat in the taxidermy world, he also has worked on other things relating to the wilderness.

“I have made my own bows and arrows, fashioned the arrowheads out of the bottom of [glass] bottles or bones from deer I killed on a hunting trip,” says Eichenlaub. He got the wood for the bow from a hickory tree, arrow shafts from a honeysuckle plant, and the quiver from a coyote skin.

“I glued the goose feathers used for the fletching on to the arrow shaft with homemade glue I managed to get from the toxins that come from a boiled deer hide, this glue is stronger than modern superglue,” says Eichenlaub. He has also made his own moccasins. Which most grown men can’t even do.

“I made them out of leather I got from a deer skin a friend gave me, I then had to remove all the hairs and rub it with fat and continue to smoke it, to make it waterproof,” says Eichenlaub. He just recently finished the a model of the world renowned Daniel Boon coon skin hat.

“My next project will be getting together with a friend to learn in detail the art of taxidermy, he told me if I get the chance, pick up a deer on the side of the road and use it for practice,” says Eichenlaub.