Taxidermy shop is open to visitors in Wilton

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Jessie Salisbury photo
Rick Bewersdorf of Big Game Custom Taxidermy and Restoration in the showroom at his proposed shop on Wilton Main Street. The mounted heads are for display only.

Enlarge

WILTON – When taxidermist Rick Bewersdorf was about 5 years old, his grandparents took him to a natural history museum in Boston.

“I sat on a bear,” he said, “and I thought that was just the coolest thing.”

He got involved in taxidermy when he was about 10, and now, more than 30 years later, he is a professional.

On Nov. 15, he had a preliminary meeting with the Planning Board, and next month, hopes to complete the process for opening Big Game Custom Taxidermy and Restoration in the Yellow Building at the end of Main Street. There is still some paperwork that has to be completed. He also has a shop in Nashua.

While he says he is “an avid hunter and fisherman,” he does not look for trophies for himself. Those on display in his showroom belong to other family members. Those include a black bear, a deer, an elk, an African antelope, fish, pheasant and grouse.

A sign in his shop proclaims: “Work is for those who don’t know how to fish.”

While Bewersdorf performs all of the steps required for the preservation of an animal or bird, only the final steps will be done in Wilton – the fitting of the hide on the form.

The preliminary parts are done in his Nashua location.

Bewersdorf started work on his new showroom about six weeks ago, painting the interior, making movable display walls and preparing a work space.

He has been talking with members of the community, including pre-schoolers, who stop to look at the animals.

He was born and grew up in Nashua, he said, graduated from Nashua High School, and graduated from Community College of the Finger Lakes in Canandaigua, N.Y. He worked for some years with other taxidermists to learn the trade.

While he has the Nashua shop, he wanted to get out of the city. He is familiar with Wilton, he said.

“When I was in high school, I used to bike up from Amherst with a friend to swim in The Horseshoe,” he said.

Bewersdorf also restores trophy heads, including older ones or those that have gotten damaged.

He does custom work only and does not sell pieces, he said, but encourages those who have one to sell to do so over the Internet. “That is easier for everyone.”

His shop is open for visitors to look at and to ask questions.