DUIKER

A Duiker (Cephalophinae) consists of 21 small to medium-sized antelope species. Their name comes from the Dutch word for diver because they are known to dive into tangles of Shrubbery.Duikers vary in size. Duikers range from the 3 kilogram Blue duiker to the 70 kilogram Yellow-backed Duiker. Duikers prefer to act alone and aren’t very social at all. Blue duikers have a short, glossy brownish-blue or gray-blue coat and white underside.

Additional information

Mount Type

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Facts

• Duikers mate for life.
• Male common grey duikers mark their territory by defecation.
• Duikers are known for their extreme shyness.
• Females are larger than the males

Taxidermy

Thorough preparation is the key factor to ensuring a high-quality final product. All hides are tanned and oiled using the world’s very best available chemicals and processes to ensure permanence and longevity.Forms are selected to ensure the best fit and posture will be altered to suit you, the client’s preference without additional cost. Natural habitat bases are custom-made for full mount trophies without additional cost.Only the finest materials and 40 years of professional experience are used in defining your trophies in a whole new way. The final trophies are almost Life-Formed. When the restoration is required, every effort is made to repair cuts and abrasions, and to minimise bullet damage. Natural scarring is kept unless otherwise requested.

Habitat

Most species of duiker prefer to dwell in the tropical rainforests and enjoy seeds, berries and leaves of certain trees. Duikers are often captured for bush meat so the duikers are often thought of in terms of conservation.They are also prey for a variety of different animals such as lion, cheetah, eagles and baboons. They are diurnal, due to their food source only being available during the day, and are active most of the day.

Blue Duiker

Professional Blue Duiker Taxidermy

Very small in size, the Blue Duiker, Philantomba monticola, is a herbivorous mammal found in the dense coastal and inland forests of western, southern, and eastern Africa. Because the blue duiker is so elusive, accurate population estimates are problematic. Bushmeat poaching is a major threat to this species. In the forest’s dappled light, their hair takes on a bluish hue, hence the name.

The Blue Duiker is the smallest antelope in South Africa, with a length of 55–80 centimetres, a height of 320–410 millimetres, and a shoulder height of just 13–16 millimetres. Males are smaller than females, weighing roughly 4 kg compared to females’ 4.7 kg

 

Hunting Blue Duiker

Having a lot of patience is essential for hunting Blue Duiker in Africa. They are quiet and rarely give their whereabouts away by movement. Finding this little buck can be tough because he prefers to be alone, stays out of sight, rarely makes any noise, and is difficult to hear. They rarely venture far from the worn routes through the thickets that connect their sleeping, eating, and drinking spots. As a result of their extreme timidity, they run for cover at the first sign of trouble.

They utter a loud meow, similar to a cat’s, when they are trapped or disturbed. When alarmed, they run for safety immediately, which means the hunter will have an incredibly short window of opportunity to fire, as the Blue Duiker will only be visible for very short time.

Blue Duiker hunting is best done with a shotgun. While any rifle calibre would do, a hunter’s speed and accuracy are essential. It is customary to aim for the shoulder or the area immediately behind it when hunting, but when taking aim at a Blue Duiker, you may have to make do with a hit anywhere, which can impact the skin and taxidermy.

 

What is Blue Duiker Taxidermy?

Ultimately, we want our products to look and feel as close to real life as possible. A successful blue duiker taxidermy endeavor always begins with careful planning. Leverage our 40 years of experience in the industry and the highest quality materials available today to create trophies that will be treasured for generations.

Our forms are all carefully selected to provide a snug fit, and we’ll even adjust the posture for free if necessary. Our full mount trophies come with free, natural habitat-themed bases created just for them. Restoration involves minimizing bullet hole damage and fixing abrasions whenever possible. Scars on the animal will be left as they were before unless otherwise stated.

 

Skin preparation for a flawless Blue Duiker trophy

The biggest things that ruin a trophy cape or hide are hair loss and skin breakdown. The most important thing to do is skin the trophy as quickly as possible, followed by an appropriate application of salt to prevent hair slip. If you’re skinning your trophy in the bush, you should move it out of the direct sunlight as soon as possible. The sooner the intestines are removed, the quicker the carcass will cool.

Wash the area as soon as possible to stop any additional bleeding from the bullet wound. The animal should never be dragged along the ground. Make sure your trophy is properly labelled. Hanging the carcass as will keep the hair off the ground and out of the blood.

Specifying your desired mount type is essential in ensuring the skinners can meet your needs. If you can’t make up your mind between a full and shoulder mount, go with the bigger one. A taxidermist can always remove extra skin, but they can’t add any. After skinning, you should trim off any excess meat or fat. Wait 30 minutes after skinning before salting.

The skin should be soaked in a salt solution for at least five hours, preferably overnight. Cover the skin with two centimetres of salt and set it aside somewhere cool and shady. After 24 hours, shake off the salt and hang the cape to dry. When it is dry enough to pack, fold it with the hair and ears facing in. The skin and the storage area should be treated with a pesticide to keep insects from eating holes in it.

 

The Blue Duiker Taxidermy process and methods

Life-Form Taxidermy will create an exact reproduction of the skin based on your specifications. The consultation phase takes up a lot of our time since we want to make sure that we understand the client’s goals for the final product.

The skins are tanned and oiled using only the finest chemicals and processes, which ensures that they will last for many years. Each skin is tested on a manikin to ensure that it has a good fit all the way around. After the eyes and ears have been positioned correctly, the skin is next stitched by a trained specialist. Before making any final adjustments, the taxidermist waits until the animal has completely dried out. Crates are used for the shipment of the trophies by the client’s shipping firm.

 

Taking care of your Blue Duiker trophy

As much as possible, try to keep your mounts out of direct sunlight. The effects of the sun’s ultraviolet rays on mounted animals are an unwanted and awful fade the sun’s rays will make your buck’s hide and rack look old and worn out. When exposed to sunlight for extended periods of time, the hide can become brittle and shrink, just as it would in dry heat. The best spot to hang your mount is somewhere that is cool and dry and out of direct light sources.

Keep your mount away from damp places like basements. A mount should be kept dry at all times to prevent the growth of mould and other problems.

Mounts stay in good shape with regular, light dusting. Use a feather duster to get rid of the dust, and then clean in the direction of the hair with a damp towel. Don’t pull or stretch your hair and style it in the way it naturally grows. You can count on the Medix Africa product to help you keep your trophy in good shape. This item is used by Life-Form Taxidermy, which also sells it.

 

Frequently asked questions

 

How much does a Blue Duiker trophy cost?

The pricing of any trophy is subject to the costing stipulated per taxidermy order, quantity of trophies and preferred mounting options, along with additional requirements. Should you wish to receive a quotation prior to the hunt, the taxidermist can generate such for you.

 

How long does a Blue Duiker trophy take?

The time it takes a taxidermist to mount an animal might range from days to weeks, and possibly several months, depending on the quantity of trophies per taxidermy order, the display preferences, and volumes of client trophies to be produced, simultaneously, per production schedule.

Generally, the completion and packing timeframe combined, ranges from 8-12 months. This depends largely on the “what, how, when” factors. A taxidermy order also only becomes available for production scheduling upon receipt of the required deposit and trophy mounting instructions.

Red Duiker

Professional Red Duiker Taxidermy

The Red Duiker, Cephalophus natalensis, also known as the Natal Red Duiker, is the smallest of the Duiker species, falling between the common or grey Duikers and the Blue duiker in size. His chestnut red skin is the thing that stands out the most. The mini antelope is easily identifiable by the crest of red and black hair that sits atop its head and can sometimes be mistaken for a third horn. In both sexes, the horns are short and straight. Horns on ewes are typically shorter than those on males. Look for a black hair fringe around the outside of the ears.

At times, males will engage in violent horn-to-horn fighting, which can result in serious injuries to both parties. They eat a wide variety of plants, fruits, nuts, insects, and even small mammals. Foraging beneath fruit trees where monkeys are eating is a common occurrence. Because monkeys are notoriously messy eaters, you can always count on some fallen fruit.

African Red Duikers are prey for Leopards and Wild dogs. Babies are easy prey for eagles. The Red Duiker, like other species of Duiker, is extremely timid and flees into the nearby bush at the first hint of danger. They are most active, first thing in the morning and last thing at night, although they have been known to stay up all day if the temperature is just right. As a result of human incursion into their habitat, Natal Duikers have adapted to foraging at night.

 

Hunting Red Duiker

Despite their lack of size and danger, Duikers are a formidable foe to hunt. A hunt for Red Duikers in the woodland will put your patience to the test but is well worth it. Red Duiker, because of their size, make great full mounts, especially when mounted with a small amount of their local habitat. Although skull mounts have a place in a Duiker collection, the true size and beauty of your Duiker trophy variations will only be revealed when they are fully mounted. In addition, remember that Red Duikers are one of the “Tiny Ten” (pygmy) species of animals.

The. 243 Winchester is ideal for hunting Red Duiker in Africa. The hide is vulnerable to expansion bullets fired at high velocities. The Red Duiker is a little creature that uses swift vanishing tactics, therefore shots must be taken quickly. A shotgun is preferable due to the short range (about 30–45 yards).

 

What is Blue Duiker Taxidermy?

Taxidermy is the practise of mounting a dead animal for display purposes. It is a key technique for conserving/preserving the skulls and skins of a trophy taken on safari.

There has been a significant advancement in taxidermy since the practise of using sawdust and rags to mounts trophies. In recent years, taxidermy has made tremendous strides in terms of methodology, chemical composition, and process improvement. The trophies we create now endure 10 times longer than they used to thanks to advancements in traditional skin mount, freeze-dried mount, reproduction mount, and re-creation mounting techniques.

Red Duiker Taxidermy combines a wide range of skills, including those of sculpting, woodworking, sewing, painting, carpentry, and tanning. There’s something fascinating about the way a taxidermist recreates a dead animal to show how it looked before he preserved it.

 

Skin preparation for a flawless Red Duiker trophy

Try not to shoot the Duiker in the face or neck. The resulting holes are notoriously tricky to conceal. Solid bullets are best for shooting small game.

Under no circumstances can the animal be dragged across the ground or onto the loading vehicle.

When loading the animal onto the hunting vehicle, make sure to protect the animal’s head and neck by placing cushioning, such as dry grass or soft leafy branches, under the animal. You should shield the carcass from the sun.

To avoid hairslip caused by microorganisms, the animal should be skinned as soon as possible. It is essential to make certain that every last piece of flesh and fat is removed from the skin.

The standard procedure for preparing a cape for a shoulder mount is to cut a V-shape from the top of the head to the horns, being careful to avoid severing the hair. Then you should make a clean cut from the base of the skull down to far past the apex of the hips. In order to remove the cape, you must first delicately skin around the eyes, turn the ears, and split the lips.

Cut from the base of the tail up the middle of the belly for a fullskin.

The skin should be immersed in a salt solution for a minimum of five hours, and ideally overnight. Cover the skin with two centimeters of salt, then place it somewhere cool and shady. After 24 hours, shake the salt off and hang the cape to dry. Once it is dry enough to pack, fold it with the hair and ears facing inward.

 

The Blue Duiker taxidermy process and methods

Life-Form Taxidermy will carve an exact replica form of the trophy in accordance with your instructions. They spend a lot of time on the consultation phase because they want to make sure they fulfill the client’s dream end result.

The first step in mounting an antelope is taking precise body measurements. During the drying of the skin, the form is prepared. Wire frames and Paper Mache were formerly used to create forms, but polyurethane foam is now the preferred material. Muscles and veins, facial definition and character is sculpted into the forms, making them extraordinarily precise and detailed. Clay is applied on the difficult areas around the eyes.

Then, the horns and the skull are removed. The actual skull portion is cut (capped), and after the skin is stretched over the glue-coated body mould, the horns are screwed to the skull cap and cores which is moulded onto the foam. The trick is to align everything properly and ensure that the skin is taut. After stitching the skin to the form, artificial eyes are placed in the sockets and the Duiker is mounted.

 

Taking care of your Red Duiker trophy.

Keep the trophies out of direct sunlight. The sun’s UV radiation degrades mounted animals. Long-term exposure to sunlight can brittle and shrink the hide, as can dry heat. Hang your mount somewhere cool, dry, and out of direct light.

Keep your mount away from moist environments like basements. Mold and other problems can be prevented by keeping a mount dry.

Regular, mild dusting maintains mounts. Dust with a feather duster, then wipe with a damp towel in the hair’s direction. Don’t tug or stretch the hair. The Medix Africa product will maintain your trophy in good shape. This item is used and sold by Life-Form Taxidermy.

 

Frequently asked questions

 

How much does a Red Duiker trophy cost?

The pricing of any trophy is subject to the costing stipulated per taxidermy order, quantity of trophies and preferred mounting options, along with additional requirements. Should you wish to receive a quotation prior to the hunt, the taxidermist can generate such for you.

 

How long does a Red Duiker trophy take?

The time it takes a taxidermist to mount an animal might range from days to weeks, and possibly several months, depending on the quantity of trophies per taxidermy order, the display preferences, and volumes of client trophies to be produced, simultaneously, per production schedule.

Generally the completion and packing timeframe combined, ranges from 8-12 months. This depends largely on the “what, how, when” factors. A taxidermy order also only becomes available for production scheduling upon receipt of the required deposit and trophy mounting instructions.

 

Grey Duiker

Professional Grey Duiker Taxidermy

The name “Duiker” comes from the Afrikaans word “Duiker” which means “to dive” alluding to the Sylvicapra grimmia species’ tendency to take cover in thick underbrush whenever danger is near. They can survive without water for days at a time by eating a diet of leaves, fruit, and seeds. In contrast to most antelope, they are one of the few known to consume insects and carrion.

The tiny and timid Duiker antelope is the only member of its species to have horns, and those horns are only present in the males.

A Grey Duiker’s only social interaction with another Grey Duiker is during mating, which can occur at any time of the year. After a pregnancy lasting anywhere from three to seven and a half months, the female will give birth to a single lamb.

Mature males stand at a height of 500 mm at the shoulders, while females are somewhat taller at 520 mm. There exists a three-kilogram difference between the sexes, with males weighing 15–18 kilogrammes and females 16–21 kilogrammes.

Upper portions range in colour from greyish-buff to reddish-yellow.  The undersides typically have a white colour. Most of them have a black band on the lower part of their face, near their noses.

 

Hunting Grey Duiker

They prefer to live in areas with plenty of cover from the predators.  Food sources include grasses, bushes, and other plants found in forests and savannas.  The grey duiker is one of the Tiny Ten Antelopes of Africa and hunting one in Africa is required to complete a set of pygmy antelopes.

Grey duikers eat a wide variety of foods. Grasslands are its primary source of nutrition, although it also consumes leaves, tubers, fallen fruit, flowers, frogs, small birds, insects, and animals. They can survive for extended periods without drinking water since most of the moisture they need comes from the plants they eat.

Attempting to bag a Grey Duiker in Africa can be a daunting task. This little antelope can see, smell, and react very quickly. The Duiker can be killed with virtually every hunting rifle, from a.223 to a.375. Since they are typically a “target of opportunity” when hunting for other species, whatever firearm the hunter happens to have handy will end up being the weapon of choice. Intentional Duiker hunting is best done with a shotgun, as most shots will be taken at close range on a moving animal. The high heart/lung shot is taken by aiming for a side target and firing straight up the foreleg, right below the animal’s midline.

 

What is Grey Duiker Taxidermy?

Taxidermy is derived from the Greek word’s taxis and derma. The two words are literally translated to mean “arrangement” and “skin,” respectively. Taxidermists typically mount or stuff preserved animal hides for museum or gallery exhibits.

Grey Duiker taxidermy is the practise of mounting or preserving skulls and skins of this animal for research or exhibition.

The most common types of taxidermy work are mounts made of skin and reproductions. In the traditional mount, the skin is stretched out over a mannikin.

The mounted hides and horns look like they came from real animals, but they are actually reproductions constructed from fibreglass and foam. While crafting a likeness for display, taxidermists must take into account many factors, including the animal’s natural behaviour, its environment, the animal’s skin colour, and the taxidermist’s own knowledge of the anatomy.

 

Skin preparation for a flawless Grey Duiker Trophy

Hair loss and skin deterioration are the two main enemies of a trophy cape or hide. First and foremost, you need to skin (remove all fats and meat) the trophy as soon as you can so that you can apply salt to the skin and prevent the hair from slipping. It’s important to get your trophy out of the sun as soon as possible if you’re skinning it in the veld. The sooner the intestines are taken out, the quicker the carcass will cool down.

Wash the wound to halt further bleeding. Never drag the animal. Hanging the carcass keeps hair out of the blood. Make sure the labels on your trophy are legible and correct.

Specifying your mount type helps skinners suit your needs. Choose a full mount over a shoulder mount if you can’t decide. Taxidermists can remove additional skin, but not add it. Trim extra meat or fat after skinning.

The skin should be immersed in a salt solution for a minimum of five hours, and ideally overnight. Cover the skin with two centimetres of salt and place it in a cool, shady location. Shake off the salt after 24 hours and dry the cape.

 

The Grey Duiker Taxidermy process and methods

Life-Form Taxidermy will replicate your skin exactly. We spend a lot of time on the consultation process to ensure that the trophy is recreated according to the clients desired instruction.

The finest chemicals and methods are used to tan and oil the skins, ensuring their longevity. Each skin is tested on a manikin to guarantee a proper fit. After the eyes and ears are properly positioned, the skin is stitched. The taxidermist waits until the animal is dry before making final changes. The trophies are shipped in crates by the client’s shipping company.

 

Taking care of our Grey Duiker trophy

With regular, light dusting, mounts remain in good condition. Dust with a feather duster, then wipe with a damp towel in the hair’s direction. Instead of pulling or stretching the hair, style it in the direction it naturally grows. Our Medix Africa product will ensure that your trophy remains in pristine condition.

Try to keep your mounts out of the sunlight as much as possible. The consequences of the sun’s UV rays on mounted animals are dreadful and unwelcome. The sun’s rays will age and deteriorate the hide and horns of your buck. The hide can become brittle and shrink when exposed to prolonged periods of sunshine, just as it would in dry heat. The optimal location to place your mount is somewhere cool, dry, and away from direct light sources.

Keep your mount out of moist areas such as basements. A mount must always be kept dry to prevent the spread of mould and other moisture related problems.

 

Frequently asked questions

 

How much does a Grey Duiker trophy cost?

The pricing of any trophy is subject to the costing stipulated per taxidermy order, quantity of trophies and preferred mounting options, along with additional requirements. Should you wish to receive a quotation prior to the hunt, the taxidermist can generate such for you.

 

How long does a Green Duiker trophy take?

The time it takes a taxidermist to mount an animal might range from days to weeks, and possibly several months, depending on the quantity of trophies per taxidermy order, the display preferences, and volumes of client trophies to be produced, simultaneously, per production schedule.

Generally the completion and packing timeframe combined, ranges from 8-12 months. This depends largely on the “what, how, when” factors. A taxidermy order also only becomes available for production scheduling upon receipt of the required deposit and trophy mounting instructions.

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