KILLEEN, Tx - To some, that trophy deer head on the wall is more than a stuffed animal. It represents a time-consuming, meticulous craft.

Some Killeen-area taxidermists have 30 years of experience perfecting that craft.

Marvin Echols owned an automotive glass repair shop about 30 years ago. But when that business went under, his hobby turned into a full-time job.

"I never wanted to be a taxidermist," Echols said. "I'm a good artist; that helps."

Echols caught a couple of fish he was proud of and decided to have them mounted. He thought the fish needed to be painted, so he figured he would probably have to do it.

"I knew if I could mount the fish, I could paint it better than anybody," Echols said.

He researched fish taxidermy and did the job himself. When friends saw what he had done, they asked him to use his taxidermy skills on their trophy catches. The hobby turned into a part-time job and then a full-time job.

"Everybody heard I did it full time and just bombarded me," Echols said.

He operates out of a shed in the back of his house off U.S. 190 between Killeen and Belton.

George Bendele, who operates Absolute Taxidermy in Florence, has also been in the business for about 30 years. He started out working for free at taxidermy shops wherever he was stationed in the military.

He spent 20 of his 27 years in the service working almost full time as a taxidermist in addition to his military duties.

He was interested in taxidermy because he likes to hunt and fish, but "when you get into this, you don't have time to go hunting or fishing," Bendele said.

Taxidermy is gratifying labor, Bendele said. "This is a job where you've got job satisfaction when a kid or hunter comes in and says, 'Wow, that looks great.' "

And there's a lot of satisfaction this time of year.

In the first few weeks of deer season, both businesses have been busy. Absolute Taxidermy has received more than 100 deer.

"You go snowblind if you just do deer," said Bendele, noting that he does about 500 white-tailed deer a year.

He said he also works on fish, birds and exotic animals.

Echols said if you can do a fish, you can do just about anything. It must be cleaned and primed, he said. Then the fins are attached and holes filled in. Painting is the toughest part, he said.

"When you paint them, you've got to get all the pigmentation in the fish to make it look real," he said.

Taxidermists also get birds, snakes, badgers and bobcats. People bring in animals such as bears they killed on trips outside of Texas. And the animals get more exotic, including polar bears and lions.

Bendele said his oddest animal was a Nile Lechwe, an endangered antelope from Africa. It was living at a preserve but broke its hip in a fight with another animal. It's injuries were critical, and it was euthanized.

Echols said his most unusual taxidermy project was a wild hog rug.

"It was real greasy," he said.

Read original story